This organization for international affairs is giving the U.S. Foreign Service a fresh, new boost among young people.
BY IVAN PANKOV
The High School Foreign Service Association (HSFSA) is celebrating its second anniversary this year. A national organization, it now counts 77 chapters in 21 states, connecting a vibrant community of more than 1,500 aspiring diplomats. In partnership with the American Foreign Service Association, our group has managed to provide a plethora of events, ranging from guest speaker lectures to awareness campaigns, seeking to spread knowledge about the U.S. Foreign Service and offer support to those who dream to join its ranks.
In the Foreign Service’s centennial anniversary year, we remain committed to bolstering the institution’s enduring vitality. HSFSA did not reach its present scale overnight. It started off slowly and required great persistence from all its members, but the remarkable results have vindicated our efforts. Let us delve into the origins of this venture, where a simple idea took root and blossomed into a national movement that is playing a unique role in forging the next generation of American diplomats.
HSFSA’s primary value comes from the guest speakers AFSA helps us find.
In the Beginning
In the summer of 2021, I noticed a gap in the opportunities available to high school students exploring diplomacy as a career field. There were plenty of organizations focused on domestic politics across the country, but, in the case of career exploration of foreign policy, students were relegated to a sparse web of school clubs and programs with unequal access to resources. I was lucky that my school had one, but I knew that something had to be done to improve the national situation. So I decided to start such an organization myself. I reached out to the American Foreign Service Association, pitching a vision of a community that would unite, encourage, and guide future diplomats across the United States from the high school level.
AFSA Awards and Scholarships Manager Theo Horn would play an instrumental role in what was to come. “What initially caught my interest in HSFSA was how much it aligned with our outreach goals, and how there was nothing like it in the high school sphere. At the initial pitch meeting with Ivan, I was impressed with his organizational ability and clear vision for what the club could become,” Horn recalls, adding, “Even after that I did not expect how rapidly the club would grow from a few scattered branches to dozens of chapters across the United States.” Together, we worked on developing a framework for the enterprise.
By November 2022, when HSFSA celebrated its first anniversary, we were up to 30 chapters, well beyond our original goal of 10.