In his office in the U.S. Embassy in Pakistan, the ambassador's chief of staff proves while he may be traveling the world for the U.S. Department of State, his heart is still in Western Pennsylvania.

Scott Kofmehl, a McCandless native and North Allegheny High School graduate, has a Terrible Towel hung on the wall of his tiny work space in Islamabad.

He strengthened ties even more during his holiday break Friday night by speaking with a group of Pakistani-Americans in Pittsburgh about how they can help rebuild connections between the two countries, despite a year of consecutive blows to their relationship.

"I think it's really important for us at the embassy to engage people in the diaspora, because they can be the envoys," Mr. Kofmehl said. "The more connections we can make between our two countries, the more understanding we'll have."

Among the group that met with the chief of staff were members of a local think tank, formed this fall by a small part of Pittsburgh's Pakistan diaspora, which two members estimate at about 300-500 total families in this region.

Jinnah Initiative for Diplomacy is named for Muhammad Ali Jinnah, considered the father of Pakistan when it was created in 1947. The group formed in the spirit of the founder, whose values included equality, mutual respect for faith and cultures, and harmony.

Thus, JID's name has meaning, "instead of another alphabet soup," said Safdar Khwaja, a founder of the think tank, who offered his Murrysville home for the evening.

"This has been a difficult year in this relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan," said Salma Khwaja, Safdar's sister-in-law and the group's co-founder, who's lived in the area for eight years. "To us, our mission is to improve that image and to inform."

It was roundly considered an abysmal year for U.S.-Pakistani relations, beginning with the death of ambassador and U.S. special representative to Pakistan Richard Holbrooke in December 2010; then the discovery that Osama bin Laden had been living in a compound near Islamabad; and the death of 24 Pakistani troops killed in a NATO air strike in late November.

Still, one word heard here time and again was "opportunity." Where a strong relationship once existed with Pakistan, it can be rebuilt, members said.

Mr. Kofmehl got involved with JID when another of the group's founders, Riffat Chughtai, visited Pakistan a few months ago to jump-start that effort. A friend of Sen. Bob Casey, the Pennsylvania Democrat who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on South Asia and the Middle East, Ms. Chughtai organized ongoing meetings with him and others in what became JID to discuss U.S.-Pakistani relations. It was the senator who introduced her to State Department officials.

"My hope is to make real gains in friendship rather than just nice speeches," she said in an interview prior to Friday's gathering because she was visiting family in Pakistan. "The key is to educate the legislators."

Ms. Chughtai, who is a UPMC primary care manager and volunteer manager of the free clinic operated by the Muslim Council, arranged to meet with the chief of staff on her recent visit. One look at his office and she learned firsthand the reach of human connections.

"And I said, 'Oh my god, I find a Pittsburgher over here!' " she said.

During their meeting, Mr. Kofmehl mentioned he would be visiting Pittsburgh over the holidays and would like to meet with Pakistan-American activists here.

At 31, Mr. Kofmehl was among the youngest in Mr. Khwaja's warm living room, where women and men in sharp suits gathered in a circle for discussion and dinner, flames crackling in the nearby fireplace.

Mr. Kofmehl spoke carefully but deliberately, answering questions and occasionally asking some of his own. He also was candid at times, telling the reporter in the room that certain topics were off the record.

But what flowed freely was a mutual concern about public health, energy, water -- a "fundamental commodity" in Pakistan -- Afghanistan and educational opportunities.

"They actually cost a whole lot less than warfare," said Mr. Khwaja, speaking of educational collaborations.

Waheed Abbasi of Murrysville, an "aspiring" JID member, spoke of the dynamic cultural center in which he remembered growing up in Pakistan.

In libraries and universities around the world, "American Corners" offer inquiring minds a collection of cultural and educational resources about the United States. Though similar "Lincoln Corners" popped up in two Pakistani universities in the 2000s, most in the group agreed Pakistan was missing what Mr. Abbasi called the "welcoming arm of America."

"What was the essence of that, and how can we recreate that in the space we're in now?" Mr. Kofmehl asked.

After joining the State Department in 2006, Mr. Kofmehl worked in Jakarta, Indonesia, then in the consular office in Mexico City. He and his wife, Aryani Manring -- a foreign service officer from Seattle who works in the consular office in Islamabad -- relocated to Pakistan in late May.

Mr. Kofmehl's post in Pakistan was scheduled for one year, but he requested to sit through July 2013.

"It's one of our top foreign policy challenges -- that's what drew me to it," he said.

As chief of staff, he acts as the "eyes and ears for things going on," plans travel for Ambassador Cameron Munter, prepares him for meetings and works with colleagues at the Department of Defense.

A 2003 graduate of Juniata College in central Pennsylvania, Mr. Kofmehl also holds a master's from Harvard's Kennedy School and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics.

With these academic and professional experiences dotting the globe, he remains markedly grounded, modest and approachable, discussing weighty matters but unafraid to discuss the Steelers -- he's caught almost every game this year -- and his favorite pizza place on Brownsville Road.

With a starting membership of seven, JID is still in the formative stages. The group is filing for nonprofit status, plans to launch a website this year and is writing a paper on the current state of U.S.-Pakistani relations.

There is an enormous need and opportunity for such think tanks, said Michael Brenner, an international affairs professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has written about the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan.

"One group can't make much difference, but if nobody does anything, then how do you create an informed public looking critically with some knowledge about matters with some national importance?" he said.