The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2014 55 AFSA NEWS FCS VP VOICE | BY STEVE MORRISON Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA FCS VP. Contact: steve.morrison@trade.gov or (202) 482-9088 I recently met one-on-one with John Anderson, the Foreign Commercial Ser- vice’s new principal deputy assistant secretary for global markets. As many of you may not know John, I thought I would share a few insights I gleaned from the meeting. John sits in a new, mission- critical position overseeing our entire field structure in all five regions (and several staff offices). Nearly 1,500 Full-Time-Equivalent employ- ees report, at least indirectly, to him. John is a long-time Inter- national Trade Administration Off to a Strong and Healthy Start executive who has worked his way up through the ranks from desk officer, Uruguay Round negotiator and office director to principal deputy assistant secretary. He knows the meaning of hard work and the important role advancement plays in a healthy organization. John’s oft-repeated use of terms such as “coop- eration,”“collaboration” and “teamwork” is a healthy and positive sign of things to come. Together, John and Acting Director General Judy Reinke have been convening multiple meetings in an effort to address the many needs and desires of our stakehold- ers during this once-every- 30-years transformation. When I met John, he had just finished prepping for upcoming testimony on Capitol Hill, had been to the White House for an impor- tant briefing that afternoon and was heading to another meeting down the hall in the under secretary’s office. I find it meaningful, that with all that he has on his plate, he made the time to meet with me on short notice. As for the future, John is making a concerted effort to reach out to officers in the field. He met some of you at the recent Select USA event and met others while in Los Angeles at the America’s Business Forum. It is my understanding that during that event John went out of his way to spend quality time with a number of officers, sharing his insights into the new organization’s mission, vision and value statement. At the close of our meet- ing, John was careful to ask, “How’s it (the reorganiza- tion) going?” and “What can I do to make things better?” With that kind of attitude, the reorg is off to a strong and healthy start. n Views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the AFSA Retiree VP. Contact: lawrencecohenassociates@hotmail.com or (703) 437-7881 RETIREE VP VOICE | BY LARRY COHEN AFSA NEWS As a group, AFSA retirees are the largest single con- stituency to donate to AFSA’s scholarship fund. The AFSA financial aid scholarship program for undergraduate college study consists of 78 named perpetual scholar- ships and five named annual ones. In addition, through AFSA, DACOR provides $40,000 in scholarship fund- ing for students pursuing a foreign affairs career. This year AFSA will bestow more than $190,000 on rising col- Retirees Support AFSA’s Scholarship Program lege freshmen, sophomores and juniors. One application allows students to be con- sidered for all of the above scholarships. High school seniors may compete for AFSA’s one-time only merit awards that recog- nize academic accomplish- ment or artistic achievement. All of AFSA’s scholarships require that the student be a child of an AFSA member. AFSA’s Fund for American Diplomacy has three mis- sions: to inform Americans of the Foreign Service and what our diplomats do; encourage students to consider a career in the Foreign Service; and to honor constructive dissent and exemplary performance within the Foreign Service. The FAD also supports AFSA’s memorial plaques, the Road Scholar program and speakers bureau, minority internships, AFSA’s national high school essay contest, speaker series, book events and our own best- selling book, Inside a U.S. Embassy: Diplomacy at Work . AFSA membership dues do not support the AFSA Scholarship Fund or the F und for American Diplomacy, which are solely dependent on your contributions. Appli- cations for these awards are available online at AFSA’s website. The deadline for merit award applications is Feb. 6 and March 6 for finan- cial aid scholarships. n