THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2026 69 AFSA NEWS across the department. Her white paper, circulated prior to her retirement, outlined concrete reforms to strengthen management practices and ensure employee support. The William R. Rivkin Award, presented by Ambassador Charles H. Rivkin, honored 10 USAID and State Department officers—Eric Burkett, Andrea Capellán, Jessica Carlson, Andrea Cristancho, Abtin Forghani, Sam Kraegel, R. Clark Pearson, Joshua Schramm, Meghan Waters, and Heather Wirick—for their courageous Dissent Channel cable opposing the dismantling of USAID and the termination of foreign assistance programs. Their joint action, grounded in professionalism and fact, underscored the role of constructive dissent in defending U.S. policy integrity and global leadership. In addition, AFSA presented a Posthumous Dissent Award to 12 U.S. diplomats whose actions during the Holocaust embodied humanitarian courage: Ambassadors Laurence Steinhardt and Leland Harrison; Ministers Herschel Johnson and Myron Taylor; Rives Childs; Raymond Geist; Roswell McClelland; George Messersmith; Paul Squire; Myles Standish; Pinkney Tuck; and George Waller. Attendees gathered in Lohrfink Auditorium to celebrate the 2025 award winners. Working under immense risk, often without support from Washington, these diplomats individually defied restrictive policies to issue visas, transmit evidence of Nazi atrocities, and save Jewish lives. Pres. Dinkelman highlighted their example as “a reminder that the Foreign Service’s truest measure lies not only in policy but in conscience.” AFSA/JOAQUIN SOSA The ceremony closed with a reception in Georgetown’s Fischer Colloquium, where colleagues, students, and guests celebrated the 2025 award recipients, each representing, in Dinkelman’s words, “the best of who we are as diplomats, public servants, and citizens.” Profiles of this year’s winners, begin on page 20. n Government Shutdown Harms Diplomacy In response to the 43-day federal government shutdown, AFSA issued a series of statements defending the integrity and well-being of the Foreign Service workforce and warning of the mounting diplomatic, economic, and human costs of the crisis. Between September 25 and October 31, AFSA released multiple press statements condemning threats of mass federal employee dismissals, urging an end to the shutdown, calling out misleading claims about Foreign Service recruitment, and documenting the real-world impact of the work stoppage on America’s ability to conduct diplomacy. As part of this effort, AFSA gathered firsthand accounts from more than 125 active-duty Foreign Service members around the world. Their experiences, which AFSA has shared widely on social media and elsewhere, reveal the far-reaching consequences of stalled diplomacy, reduced security, and eroding morale. Read excerpts from the collection on page 47. Find all AFSA press statements at https://afsa.org/ press. n NEWS BRIEF
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