The Foreign Service Journal, January-February 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 65 AFSA NEWS AFSA Foreign Commercial Service Vice President Steve Mor- rison, standing, speaks at a Nov. 2 panel on trade at the Hall of the States building in Washington, D.C. Panelists included rep- resentatives from the House Ways and Means and the Senate Finance Committees, who spoke on major trade negotiations with other countries, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership. More than 50 participants from the private sector and gov- ernment attended. The event was organized by the Associa- tion of Government Relations Professionals and co-sponsored by AFSA, KnowWho, Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, Leadership Circle for Industry Excellence, Cansler Consulting and Bloomberg Government. n AFSAJoins in Trade Policy Dialogue AFSA/ALLANSAUNDERS On Nov. 5, American Foreign Service Association President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson (center) met with Thursday Luncheon Group president and vice president, Stacy Williams (left) and Bernadette Cole Byrd (right). Founded in 1973, TLG promotes participation of African- Americans and other minorities in the formulation, articula- tion and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. During their meeting, the three discussed a broad range of topics of mutual interest, including recruitment and retention, men- toring, leadership, career paths and diversity in the Foreign Service and the Department of State. AFSA highly values its ongoing collaboration with TLG. n Steadfast Partners on Diversity AFSANewsletter 2.0: AGood Thing Gets Better Retiree members will soon notice a change in how they receive news from AFSA. As part of the asso- ciation’s ongoing effort to improve and streamline communications, the AFSA Newsletter will go all-digital in March. At the same time, the March AFSA News will inaugurate a regular feature titled “Retiree Corner,” which will appear in every other issue of The Foreign Service Journal. Since its inception in 1988, the AFSA Newsletter has been printed and mailed to all retiree members, as well as to others who requested a hard copy of the publication, on a bimonthly basis. As of March, the newslet- ter will no longer be distrib- uted in paper form. Instead, look for it every other month in your email inbox. It will also continue to be posted on the AFSA website at www. afsa.org/newsletters. Between the electronic AFSA Newsletter , the Retiree Corner and the long-established Retiree VP Voice Column in the Journal , AFSA members can expect even more robust coverage of issues such as federal benefits and entitlements, life after the Foreign Service and highlights of outreach efforts undertaken by fellow retirees, among others. To ensure you continue to receive the AFSA Newsletter in its new electronic form, please provide your email address to member@afsa. org. If you already receive email communications from AFSA, you do not need to provide your email address again. n —Maria C. Livingston, Associate Editor AFSA/ÁSGEIRSIGFÚSSON