The Foreign Service Journal, March 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH 2016 33 the attendance of more women at post, and the increased mem- bership has enabled us to expand our goals and initiatives. • Document meetings and ensure follow-up prior to the next meeting. One way to ensure we hold ourselves accountable as a group is by taking notes and assigning ourselves tasks at the end of each meeting. Before each upcoming meeting, we remind ourselves of items still pending on the agenda. • Create andmaintain an updated listserv to facilitate com- munication and to disseminate information and opportunities that benefit groupmembers. The FWP has brought together women from diverse backgrounds, offices and agencies within Mission Panama who otherwise would not have the opportunity to interact and exchange their knowledge and expertise with one another. Our listserv has given us an effective means to share and distribute information such as employment opportunities and has helped create a cohesive network of women within the mission. • Look for opportunities to facilitate meetings between FWP and State Department visitors. Whether it is the attorney adviser from the Office of Civil Rights or an office director, the FWP takes advantage of every opportunity to ensure our visitors get a chance to hear directly from our officers, specialists and EFMs regarding their concerns. Through these interactions, group members are able to obtain accurate information first-hand while our Washington visitors can take note of issues at post. • Solicit support for the FWP from the front office. In In September, Thao Anh Tran, third from right, joined young Panamanian leaders from varied backgrounds who are members of the embassy’s Youth Advisory Council to celebrate U.S. Hispanic Heritage Month. COURTESYOFPUBLICAFFAIRS/U.S.EMBASSY INPANAMA Panama, we have been fortunate in this regard because the more senior members of the FWP have been active in bringing our collective concerns to the attention of the front office, whose occupant has been responsive to the group’s needs. For example, following our request for establishment of a mentoring program, our chargé immediately expressed his support and asked how the front office could be of assistance. Currently, formal training is available only for EEO counselors at post. This is helpful, but is limited to resolving problem situations for female employees and does nothing to mentor, equip and empower the next gen- eration of females for leadership. It’s Up to You Ultimately, the FWP is what you make of it at the post level. Until Foreign Service demographics more closely match the gender makeup of the U.S. population, there will continue to be a distinct need for initiatives such as the Federal Women’s Program. By creating a local embassy-level forum for women to communicate their needs and goals, we can more effectively communicate and plan with the front office to support them. Our hope is that more posts will adopt similar models of a robust FWP working group, the front offices at other embassies will encourage and support the FWP and the State Department will consider hosting either regional or global conferences for FWP coordinators to share best practices. n