44 JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Group AFSA Exemplary Performance Award AFSA’s Crisis Response Team Protecting the Foreign Service in a Tumultuous Time In the early days of 2025, as sweeping executive actions and policy reversals from an administration hostile to both unions and the work of the Foreign Service threatened the structure and stability of the U.S. Foreign Service, a small group at the American Foreign Service Association stepped forward to meet the moment. Working late nights, weekends, and holidays, they formed AFSA’s Crisis Response Team: an internal task force dedicated to defending the Foreign Service and keeping members informed amid unprecedented political and institutional turmoil. From January through May, the team coordinated AFSA’s communications, media engagement, legal response, and member outreach at a relentless pace. They responded to events in real time, anticipated challenges, and ensured AFSA remained a stabilizing voice for the community it represents. They were the first to arrive, the last to leave, and the ones holding the center when everything else felt uncertain. Recipients of the 2025 AFSA Exemplary Performance Award. From left: Jahari Fraser, Kim Sullivan, Erin Oliver, Nadja Ruzica, Raeka Safai, Nikki Gamer, Sharon Papp, Christine Miele, and AFSA President John Dinkelman. AFSA/JOAQUIN SOSA Other members of the AFSA staff were crucial to the success of these efforts, but these individuals formed the core group. When AFSA created the task force on January 21, 2025, the association faced an onslaught of developments: executive orders curtailing elements of the Foreign Service, threats to USAID’s structure and staffing, and uncertainty about pay and benefits. The Crisis Response Team crafted daily updates, managed media inquiries, and coordinated with Hill offices, all in support of the thousands of members seeking guidance and reassurance. The Crisis Response Team worked seven days a week from morning until night. They planned, drafted, and strategized as events unfolded, making sure members, the media, and Congress all understood what was happening and what AFSA was doing to defend the Foreign Service. The team worked across departments to sustain a unified response. AFSA’s leadership credits their collaboration with
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