The Foreign Service Journal, December 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2019 43 In addition, she organized—and wrote excellent remarks for—a major reception that promoted women’s empowerment while spotlighting efforts to combat obstetric fistula, a devastat- ing condition that afflicts many Ethiopian women at childbirth. Despite this difficult focus, the event was exhilarating thanks to Ms. Koehler’s success in ensuring the right preparations, guest list and messaging. Ms. Koehler also became an Equal Employment Opportu- nity counselor and has provided EEO training to more than 100 local staff members, many of whom had never had such training before. She hosted a charity clothing swap that donated 300 pounds of clothes to charity. “Winning the Nelson B. Delavan Award is an incredible honor,” Ms. Koehler said. “I could not have come this far in my career without the expert guidance of fellow OMSes and inno- vative supervisors who allowed me to seek out new responsi- bilities and empowered me to make changes when and where I was able.” She would especially like to thank Susan Walke, Tiffany Byrd, Jacob Rocca and Kathleen Morenski for their leadership and guidance, as well as her current supervisor, Amb. Michael A. Raynor. Katherine Elizabeth Koehler joined the Department of State as an office management specialist in 2013. She served previ- ously in Kathmandu, Islamabad and Warsaw, and is currently serving in Addis Ababa. A native of Charleston, South Carolina, she also spent two years working at the Global Financial Service Center as a con- tractor. She has two degrees in music (vocal performance) from Florida Southern College and Georgia State University. M. Juanita Guess Award for a Community Liaison Office Coordinator Michelle Ross Extraordinary Steps Ease an Ordered Evacuation M ichelle Ross is honored for her extraordinary efforts to assist Embassy Caracas personnel and family members who were quickly evacuated after the Venezuelan government broke diplomatic ties with the United States in January 2019. Ms. Ross, a Foreign Service spouse who joined the Caracas Community Liaison Office team in August 2018, was a key ally to evacuees during the difficult transition that followed, working with the management section and the Family Liaison Office to facilitate the swift evacuation of 79 Americans and 22 pets. “I can think of no one more deserving of this award,” said James Story, chargé d’affaires of the Venezuela Affairs Unit, the interim diplomatic office of the U.S. government to Venezuela, based at Embassy Bogotá. “At every step of Michelle’s assign- ment, she demonstrated leadership and a genuine dedication to her community.” Ms. Ross had maintained a spreadsheet of all incoming and outgoing personnel since her arrival at post. She knew the whereabouts of officers on travel and had updated personal “Winning the Nelson B. Delavan Award is an incredible honor. I could not have come this far in my career without the expert guidance of fellow OMSes and innovative supervisors who allowed me to seek out new responsibilities and empowered me to make changes when and where I was able.” –Katherine Koehler AFSA/JOAQUINSOSA Michelle Ross, addressing the audience in the Dean Acheson Auditorium of the State Department after receiving the 2019 Guess Award.