The Foreign Service Journal, April 2009

A FSA successfully completed the pilot phase of its Profes- sional Development Initiative with the final approval of a total of $5,000 in grants to 47 Foreign Service missions. These grants have been used at each post to create the nucleus of a Professional Reading Library to be maintained perma- nently. The funding, which was provided by the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, was disbursed to the State Department’s Ralph J. Bunche Library and to the following posts: • EUR: Adana, Athens, Belgrade, Bucharest, Frankfurt, Geneva, Kyiv, Lisbon, London, Moscow, Naples, Oslo, Rome, Valletta, Zagreb • AF: Abidjan, Accra, Asmara, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Nairobi, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Praia • WHA: Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Ciudad Juarez, Hermosillo, Merida, Monterrey, Mon- treal, Panama • EAP: Guangzhou, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Rangoon • NEA: Cairo, Doha, Muscat, Rabat, Sana’a • SA: Chennai, Hyderabad, Karachi Each post matched AFSA’s $100 grant with at least an equal amount. The funds were used to purchase books featured on the Foreign Affairs Professional Reading List that AFSA Presi- dent John Naland and Under Secretary of State for Political Af- fairs William Burns co-sponsored in June 2008. That reading list is a key resource for career-long, self-directed professional development for employees of the foreign affairs agencies. It can be viewed on AFSA’s Web site at www.afsa.org/reading list.cfmand is also on the State Department’s intranet site. Since it was posted, the list has been one of the most visited pages on both of those sites, with a combined total of more than 11,000 page views. The 47 overseas posts that applied for AFSA co- funding are nowusing the books that they purchased in their local Professional Development Discussion Groups (book clubs). Collectively, the 47 book clubs have 507 members. One group recently reported, “Our club meets monthly and we read roughly one book every two to three months.” OVERSEAS POSTS RECEIVE FUNDING FOR LIBRARIES Professional Development Initiative: Pilot Phase Complete A P R I L 2 0 0 9 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 39 Continued on page 43 American Foreign Service Association • April 2009 AFSA NEWS A FSA welcomes all State Department retirees to the an- nual homecoming event, Foreign Affairs Day, on May 1. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will deliver the keynote address. The AFSA Memorial Plaque ceremony takes place during Foreign Affairs Day to honor those Foreign Service personnel who have lost their lives while serving their country abroad. As part of AFSA’s effort to add names that have been over- looked, three “older” names will be unveiled during this year’s ceremony: Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), a special envoy sent by President Andrew Jackson to negotiate a treaty with Japan, who died of dysentery in Macau while en route; Thomas W. Waldron (1814-1844), the first U.S. consul in Hong Kong, who died of cholera while visiting Macau; and Felix Russell Engdahl (1907-1942), U.S. consul in Shanghai, who died in a Japanese internment camp. The ceremony will be held at the site of the Memorial Plaques in the State Department’s C Street lobby. Foreign Affairs Day invitations were mailed out in early March. If you haven’t received yours yet, please e-mail the fol- lowing information to foreignaffairsday@state.gov : last name, first name, retirement date, whether you are Civil Service or Foreign Service, street address, phone number and e-mail ad- dress. All State Department retirees are cordially invited to a re- ception hosted by AFSA from 3 to 5 p.m. at the newly reno- vated AFSA headquarters, 2101 E Street NW, across from the department. There will be a hosted bar and a scholarship cer- emony. Please stop by to reconnect with colleagues and catch up on the latest Foreign Service news. ANNUAL HOMECOMING FOR RETIREES MAY 1 Join AFSA for Foreign Affairs Day