Winners of the 2025 William R. Rivkin Award for constructive dissent by a mid-level Foreign Service officer at the October 1, 2025, AFSA Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. From left: Meghan Waters; Andrea Cristancho; Abtin Forghani; Ambassador William H. Rivkin, who presented the awards; Jessica Carlson; Heather Wirick; R. Clark Pearson; Joshua Schramm; and Sam Kaegel. Eric Burkett and Andrea Capellán were unable to attend.
AFSA / Joaquin Sosa

William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent by a Mid-Level Officer

Eric Burkett, Andrea Capellán, Andrea Cristancho, Jessica Carlson, Abtin Forghani, Heather Wirick, Meghan Waters, Joshua Schramm, R. Clark Pearson, and Sam Kraegel: Defending Development

In March 2025, a coalition of USAID and Department of State Foreign Service officers—Eric Burkett, Andrea Capellán, Andrea Cristancho, Jessica Carlson, Abtin Forghani, Heather Wirick, Meghan Waters, Joshua Schramm, R. Clark Pearson, and Sam Kraegel—submitted a Dissent Channel cable opposing the dismantling of USAID, the termination of foreign assistance programs, and improper reduction-in-force (RIF) actions.

For this act of constructive dissent, they have received the 2025 William R. Rivkin Award, which recognizes mid-level Foreign Service officers (FS-3 to FS-1) who have demonstrated intellectual courage and integrity in addressing substantive foreign policy or management issues.

This group formulated their opposition in a well-reasoned, fact-based cable, providing concrete examples of how the elimination of USAID and foreign assistance programs would jeopardize national security, endanger U.S. personnel, undermine U.S. economic and diplomatic strength, violate the legal protections of federal employees, and exacerbate ongoing humanitarian crises.

The Dissent Channel message sparked essential discussions within the U.S. government, increasing scrutiny of decisions to dismantle USAID and halt foreign assistance. It prompted congressional inquiries and strengthened the discourse on the importance of U.S. leadership in global development and diplomacy.

Eric Burkett, who served as attaché at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv when the dissent was sent, said, “It makes me feel proud to have stood against the tide, no matter how fruitless it appears to have been, to stand up for my FS colleagues’ careers, their honorable service, and against the destructive way with which USAID was dismantled.” A member of the Foreign Service since 2011, Burkett’s career has included assignments in Washington, D.C. (twice), Fort Lauderdale, Mexico City, Islamabad, Matamoros, Hermosillo, and Kyiv, with Porto Alegre next on his schedule. A former Coast Guard reservist, he joined the Foreign Service after realizing he wanted to continue serving the American people while experiencing the cultures of the world through federal service.

Andrea Capellán, supervisory contracting and agreement officer at USAID/Mexico at the time of the dissent, reflected: “The whole group is incredibly humbled and grateful to receive this award because the cable’s existence was publicly denied by the Secretary of State. … Receiving the Rivkin Award is an extraordinary honor—one that affirms the value of speaking truth to power, especially when the stakes are high.” Capellán joined the Foreign Service in 2012 after serving in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, where she found her calling to a life of public service. Her USAID career has included assignments in Dakar, Lima, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City.

Eric Burkett, Andrea Capellán, Andrea Cristancho, Jessica Carlson, Abtin Forghani, Heather Wirick, Meghan Waters, Joshua Schramm, R. Clark Pearson, and Sam Kraegel

“Receiving the 2025 William R. Rivkin Award is one of the most meaningful honors of my career,” said Andrea Cristancho, contracting and agreement officer at USAID/Mexico at the time the Dissent Channel message was sent. “It’s a profound recognition of the belief that principled dissent—when rooted in integrity, humility, and care—can be an act of commitment, not conflict.” Cristancho, an international development professional with more than a decade of experience in program management and procurement strategy, has served as vice president of the Hispanic Employee Council of Foreign Affairs Agencies and is an alumna of the International Career Advancement Program.

Jessica Carlson, who was deputy director of the Office of Acquisition and Assistance at USAID/Ukraine, has more than 14 years of experience managing federal funds and modernizing agency systems. “Doing the right thing, the just thing, is not easy,” she said. “Risk-taking, together with an incredible group of courageous FSOs, is worth the possible repercussions of speaking out. Transparency is fundamental to democracy.” Carlson recently returned from a 16-month unaccompanied tour in Kyiv, where she supported Ukraine’s wartime operations and efforts to build long-term resilience.

Abtin Forghani, who was at FSI preparing for his onward assignment as deputy director of the Office of Assistance and Acquisition for USAID/Dominican Republic and Eastern Caribbean when he was RIFed, said: “It is deeply meaningful to know that our institutions still uphold the values we swore to defend: fairness, diverse perspectives, and the power of constructive dissent. It is a reminder that integrity still matters.” Forghani, born in Iran and raised in California, has 15 years of experience in oversight and procurement roles at USAID, the State Department, and NASA Offices of Inspector General.

“In a time of fear, repression, and surveillance, I am proud to be one of the few voices who stood up for my beliefs and values in support of an agency I love,” said Heather Wirick, team lead and contracting and agreement officer at USAID/Southern Africa when the dissent message was submitted. “USAID’s Foreign Service is one of our country’s smartest investments in national security, economic strength, and global stability.” Wirick joined USAID as a Foreign Service officer in 2016 after supporting global humanitarian crises as a civil servant and serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin. She served in Haiti, Colombia, and South Africa.

Meghan Waters, a USAID contracting and agreement officer who served in Peru and Uganda, said, “This award reminds me that I have the ability to stand up for what I know is right, even when it’s difficult. It reassures me that I stood on the right side of history.” During her service, Waters managed portfolios for multiple South American countries, coordinated U.S. responses to Peru’s largest oil spill, and led emergency assistance efforts for LGBTQ+ communities in Uganda.

For Joshua Schramm, contracting and agreements officer with the USAID Management Bureau’s Office of Acquisition and Assistance at the time, the award “means recognition of the value of standing up for one’s values amid the torrent of fear, greed, and confusion that was the dissolution of USAID.” Schramm has served in Liberia, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, and Washington, D.C., and is a returned Peace Corps volunteer from Mongolia.

It represents recognition that I stood up for my beliefs and values, fighting for my agency and for the people we serve. The goodwill and growth we create abroad return tenfold to the American people.
–Sam Kraegel

 

“I’m honored to be included with such an impressive group of contracting officers who stayed true to their integrity, regardless of the personal risk,” said R. Clark Pearson, who was supervisory contracting officer with USAID/Ukraine when the dissent message was sent. Pearson has served as supervisory contracting officer in Colombia, Central Asia, Iraq, and Ukraine over his 16-year career as an FSO. “Development should be firewalled from politics and diplomacy. The world’s greatest country should help others because it can, independent of whether or not it serves a specific political agenda,” he added.

Sam Kraegel, then deputy director of the Regional Contracting Office at USAID/Caucasus, reflected, “It represents recognition that I stood up for my beliefs and values, fighting for my agency and for the people we serve. The goodwill and growth we create abroad return tenfold to the American people.”

The dissenting group’s efforts embody the Foreign Service ideal of integrity in service to mission and law. By using the Dissent Channel to defend their agency and their colleagues, they demonstrated the intellectual courage to challenge—within the system—decisions that still threaten the effectiveness and legitimacy of U.S. foreign assistance.

In honoring Eric Burkett, Andrea Capellán, Andrea Cristancho, Jessica Carlson, Abtin Forghani, Heather Wirick, Meghan Waters, Joshua Schramm, R. Clark Pearson, and Sam Kraegel, AFSA recognizes their commitment to the values of transparency, accountability, and the public trust that underpins U.S. diplomacy and development.

Carrie Muntean and several state secretaries of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, cutting the ribbon for the U.S. booth at Expointer, the largest agricultural fair in South America, August 2024.

Christian A. Herter Award for Constructive Dissent by a Member of the Senior Foreign Service

Carrie Muntean: Speaking Truth to Power to Strengthen the Service

Carrie Muntean

Throughout her nearly 25-year diplomatic career, Carrie Muntean demonstrated the courage to question entrenched systems and her conviction that the Foreign Service can, and must, do better. After decades in consular and public diplomacy assignments worldwide, she concluded her career not with quiet retirement but with a call to action, urging the State Department to re-examine how it develops, manages, and supports its people. At the October 1 AFSA awards ceremony, she received the association’s 2025 Christian A. Herter Award for Constructive Dissent by a Member of the Senior Foreign Service.

Muntean’s act of dissent began after an abrupt removal from her post serving as principal officer in Porto Alegre, Brazil. In the months that followed, she heard from other senior colleagues, deputy chiefs of mission and principal officers, who had faced similar involuntary curtailments with little transparency or recourse. Her personal reflection evolved into a departmentwide effort to improve accountability and leadership culture.

Drawing on her experience as a Senior Foreign Service officer and former director of the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ Office of 1CA: Leadership, Management, and Innovation, responsible for developing leadership and management skills for more than 15,000 consular employees, Muntean convened a working group of Foreign Service, Civil Service, locally employed staff, and family member colleagues to identify systemic fixes. Together, they produced a 20-page white paper titled “Improving Leadership and Culture at State,” which Muntean circulated throughout the department’s seventh floor shortly before retiring in April 2025.

The paper proposed practical, forward-looking reforms: requiring committee approval for curtailment of deputy chiefs of mission and principal officers; expanding mandatory leadership training; instituting annual 360-degree feedback for all senior leaders; and mandating professional coaching for those in top positions. Recognizing resource constraints, Muntean also advocated for establishing an Employee Support Unit as a hub to guide employees to the right offices for issues ranging from harassment and workplace conflict to emergency travel logistics. She envisioned an AI-based triage interface to streamline inquiries and save valuable staff time.

“It became obvious that State lacks a good structure for constructive dissent focused on people-related processes,” she later noted. “The Dissent Channel exists only for policy concerns—another example of the department undervaluing its most precious resource, our people.”

Her proposals, though welcomed by many, met predictable resistance from some senior officials. Muntean persisted, confident that institutional improvement depends on honest self-examination. “Dissent,” she emphasized, “does not mean disloyalty or disobedience.”

AFSA honors her for modeling the essence of constructive dissent at the Senior Foreign Service level: advocating systemic change with integrity, intellectual rigor, and respect for the institution. Her approach was collaborative, not confrontational. She gathered wide input and built what she described as “a true coalition for change.”

Dissent does not mean disloyalty or disobedience.
–Carrie Muntean

 

Her nominator observed, “Carrie could have chosen to quietly finish her career. Instead, she challenged long-standing assumptions about leadership accountability, pushed for safeguards to protect her colleagues, and presented solutions that, if adopted, could transform workplace culture.”

Muntean joined the Foreign Service in 2001 after earning degrees from Adelphi University and The George Washington University, serving overseas in Luanda, London, Panama City, Moscow, and Managua, and leading the U.S. consulate in Porto Alegre. Domestically, she held multiple roles in the Bureau of Consular Affairs and served as deputy director for Central American Affairs. Over the years she received more than 10 Superior Honor Awards and meritorious step increases.

Since retiring with the rank of Counselor, she has continued her lifelong commitment to leadership development by coaching with the Foreign Service Institute and contracting with ESGI Potomac to help federal employees transition to the private sector.

At the October 1 AFSA awards ceremony, Muntean expressed gratitude to colleagues Maura Harty, Laura Dogu, Hugo Rodriguez, Marta Youth, Johanna Villalobos, and Stacy Williams, who were among those who inspired her dedication to leadership reform, and to her family for their patience with her passion for leadership development.

She encouraged current Foreign Service members to stay engaged: “Keep your heads down and your eyes and ears open for opportunities.” Reflecting on the award, she said, “It is validation that there was value in my efforts in the final year before I retired, even if the powers that be did not see it.”

Carrie Muntean’s work reminds us that dissent is a form of stewardship. By confronting uncomfortable truths about leadership accountability and employee well-being, she captured the spirit of the Christian A. Herter Award.