The Foreign Service Journal, January 2011

“There was always a Foreign Service or Civil Service person inviting me to lunch, to church, to dinner and, as an intern, you like that attention you’re get- ting,” he recalls. That initial positive experience as an AFSA/TLG intern led Williams further down the path that would eventually be- come his career. The following summer he interned at the embassy in Zambia, returning to Washington in the fall to serve in the Office of the Inspector Gen- eral as a Presidential Management In- tern. That two-year program gave Will- iams a breadth of experience. He help- ed coordinate the U.S. and international response to Y2K, and he studied the se- curity procedures of embassies world- wide. The latter job permitted him to travel the world, which is what he de- scribes as “the most valuable piece to this whole thing.” At the conclusion of his fellowship, however, he decided to continue in the Civil Service rather than join the Foreign Service. “I had a passion for being here in Washington and being able to travel the world and come back,” he said. Williams’ passion has never waned. During the past year, as he worked on humanitarian response and reconstruc- tion issues following the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti, Williams says that CNN’s depiction of life on the ground gave him the inspiration and motiva- tion to come in and work longer hours. Working as Haiti policy adviser “was a very valuable, rewarding experience,” he says. “And that really gets to the heart of what public service is.” Throughout his experiences, Will- iams never lost sight of what got him this far in Washington. Almost imme- diately after concluding his internship 15 years ago, Williams took on the vol- unteer role as AFSA/TLG internship co- ordinator that he continues to fulfill today. “And tome that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “How can you not only gain from an experience but also invest in it later and empower it and expand it and encourage other people to see the value of the program?” J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 A F S A N E W S V.P. VOICE: FCS BY KEITH CURTIS The Good and the Bad A s the old joke goes: Do you want the good news or the bad news first? The answer: Tell me the good news first; the bad news will refuse to leave. We have one of the best director generals we have ever had in Suresh Kumar, the first true international businessman (which should be a basic re- quirement of the position). We have the best deputy DG we have ever had, Chuck Ford (though, of course, there’s still time for him to mess up). And we have a president who, with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke’s backing, is re- questing the largest budget increase in our history via the National Export Initiative. The bad news was Nov. 2 — Elec- tion Day. Coming into town soon are possibly the biggest group of budget cutters we have ever seen. With a little luck, the lame duck session will pass our NEI funding before they get here. But don’t hold your breath; we may be on a continuing resolution for the rest of the year. That would be bleak, in- deed. Our hope is that both sides of the aisle understand the NEI’s impor- tance to the economy. This might be the time for each of us to think of how to remind incoming members of Congress that the best way to help our economy grow is through exports. I know that is what AFSA will be doing. I had a meeting in November with Representative Frank Wolf, R-Va., who was a great help to us last year and now appears poised to become the chair of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science in the House of Repre- sentatives. Many of our members in Northern Virginia may well have him as their representative. Those inMaryland have Senator Barbara Mikulski, chair of the Senate’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science. Dare I ask what happens if the bad news refuses to leave? Well, you can spec- ulate for yourselves — and I encourage you to let me know what you envision. We might just thin down and focus on 50 top-priority markets — consoled that at least we can have the resources to get the job done there. But that reminds us of the downward spiral that got us where we are in the first place. We might seriously consider a list of all the things that we are not going to do —maybe market research (the Internet does it) or Invest in America (nice, but it has been an add-on in the last three years). Or maybe we charge more for every- thing. Or…no, I amnot going to go there yet, but they do say that history repeats itself. We do have to be thinking hard and preparing for tough decisions. We need to knowwhere you think AFSA should position itself on these issues and what di- rection FCS should take. Please get in touch at Keith.Curtis@mail.doc.gov . This might be the time for each of us to think of how to remind incoming members of Congress that the best way to help our economy grow is through exports.