THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2024 35 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. 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. With open arms, AFSA agreed to let HSFSA actively work with its Speakers Bureau to procure qualified and motivated lecturers and even offered to send copies of AFSA’s Inside a U.S. Embassy book and monthly Foreign Service Journal to chapters. Resolutely committed to maximizing access, we chose to reject any policy of charging for the nascent organization’s offerings. We named it deliberately to solidify the synergistic bond with AFSA. On Nov. 3, 2021, the High School Foreign Service Association was born. The first chapter of the organization was founded at my own school, the Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. The organization began spreading throughout the state. Soon a chapter was created in California; then another appeared in New York. HSFSA had passed the point where it was under threat of collapse; its growth across states and time zones became unstoppable. By November 2022, when HSFSA celebrated its first anniversary, we were up to 30 chapters, well beyond our original goal of 10. They came in all shapes and sizes—some had five members, and others had 50. Our chapters are hosted by schools of all types, public and Students at Arroyo High School in California at their chapter’s first lecture, by Ann E. DeLong about the importance of the Foreign Service, in October 2022. DeLong is a Foreign Service officer and former director of the Family Liaison Office (now the Global Community Liaison Office). LUIS DERLA HSFSA’s primary value comes from the guest speakers AFSA helps us find.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=