The Foreign Service Journal, April 2014

18 APRIL 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The organizers strove for an even split in the sessions between substantive policy issues and leadership practices. vice Institute, the Powell Fellows Pro- gram selected a dozen or so mid-level Foreign Service officers and specialists, Civil Service employees at the GS-12 or GS-13 level and at least one officer from USAID, all of whom were seen to have leadership potential. The selectees always included officers in Washington and overseas, and they were nominated by bureau assistant sec- retaries. A small committee made up of the Foreign Service director general, the Foreign Service Institute director and the executive secretary then vetted the nominations and proposed a slate to the Secretary of State. Once the group was set—the first year saw 13 participants selected from 70-plus nominations—participants were brought together three or four times throughout the year for three days of training. These sessions would feature high- level State Department leaders, includ- ing the Secretary of State, who would speak to the group for a minimum of an hour. The sessions focused on specific themes developed jointly by FSI and the department’s seventh floor, such as the workings of the interagency process or management challenges across the Civil Service-Foreign Service divide. The organizers strove for an even split in the sessions between substantive policy issues and leadership practices. In total, the program cost about $50,000 per year, according to former FSI Direc- Take AFSA With You! Change your address online, visit us at www.afsa.org/address Or Send changes to: AFSAMembership Department 2101 E Street NW Washington, DC 20037 Moving? tor Ruth Whiteside, who was intimately involved in running it. According to former Powell Fellows, the program more than accomplished its goals, and created an alternative way for the department to recognize its star achievers. As one participant put it: “While promotions have a mandatory wait of at least three years, and State’s awards system is ineffective, the Powell Fellows program gave the department a useful and helpful way to, once a year, select the best of the best.” Beyond the actual content of the quarterly training sessions, participants report that the program gave them an instant network of top leaders, which brought with it links and opportunities they would not have otherwise had. One told me that many of his colleagues had landed highly sought-after positions and opportunities at State and other agen- cies due to contacts they’d made during the program. So what happened to the Powell Fel- lows Program? After three yearlong runs (2005-2008), it simply ended during the transition from Secretary Rice to Secre- tary Hillary Rodham Clinton. One Fellow told me it “fell through the cracks” despite transition memos passed between the two administrations and Clinton staffers being briefed on the program. Bring It Back The State Department should bring back the Powell Fellows Program and, in