The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

You will find AFSA’s Annual Report for 2002 in the center section of this month’s Foreign Service Journal . In it, we try to give a sense of the wide scope of our efforts to actively promote the interests of active-duty and retired members of the career Foreign Service and their families. If you have ever asked What has AFSA done for me lately?, our Annual Report is a good place to look for the answer. That said, AFSA can never rest on its past accomplishments because there is always more to be done to make the Foreign Service a more effective agent of U.S. international leadership while simultaneously making it a better supported, more respected, and more satisfying place in which to spend a career. With that in mind, I am pleased to report to you the following highlights of AFSA’s ongoing action agenda. While this agenda is subject to revi- sion by the new AFSA Governing Board that takes office this summer, the candidates’ campaign statements make it clear that these broad goals will remain solidly on AFSA’s “To Do” list during the course of 2003: • Member Services : Continue to listen to our members and actively promote their interests in ways big and small. Act with a sense of urgency, get results, and make a difference. Expend our resources where they will have maximum impact. • Legislative Affairs : Increase the effectiveness of our congressional advocacy in order to a) make the case for a sustained infusion of resources for security, people, and infrastruc- ture and b) secure enactment of the “bread and butter” items on AFSA’s legislative agenda. • Outreach : Expand outreach to the American public through news- paper op-eds, media interviews, and AFSA’s Speaker’s Bureau in order to build broader public understanding of the work of diplomacy and diplomats. • Professional Issues : Continue working to assure that the Foreign Service a) has the mix of abilities, out- looks, and organization to carry out its role of implementing U.S. foreign policy and b) is a profession affording a reasonable balance between the rewards and burdens of service. • Institution-Building : Maintain the flow of information on our activi- ties to employees in order to increase AFSA membership and, with it, our clout with agency management and with Congress. While this list focuses on what AFSA seeks to accomplish for the Foreign Service here in Washington, our ability to achieve these goals depends in large measure on the active support of our members around the globe and throughout the U.S. Members function as our “eyes and ears,” alerting us to problems needing to be addressed. Members provide us with input that helps to shape our responses to emerging issues. Members volunteer as AFSA reps at post. Members participate in our Speaker’s Bureau after retirement. Members contribute thought-provoking articles to AFSA’s Foreign Service Journal . Members write to their law- makers or participate in AFSA’s Day on the Hill effort. Members nominate colleagues for our prestigious annual awards. Members pay the dues and respond to the contribution appeals that fund the excellent work by AFSA’s superb professional staff. We look forward to another challenging, productive year. As always, I and the AFSA staff welcome your comments and input. You may contact me by e-mail at naland@afsa.org, by mail at 2101 E Street N.W., Washington DC 20037, by fax at (202) 338-6820, or by phone at (202) 338-4045, ext. 502. P RESIDENT ’ S V IEWS AFSA’s Goals for 2003 B Y J OHN K. N ALAND M A R C H 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 5 John K. Naland is the president of the American Foreign Service Association. If you’ve ever asked “What has AFSA done for me lately?” our Annual Report is a good place to look for the answer.