The Foreign Service Journal, April 2023

AFSA NEWS 46 APRIL 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA Welcomes USAID Office Manager AFSA is pleased to welcome Roslenn Richardson to the Labor Management team as the USAID office manager. Roslenn will provide operational and case management support to AFSA’s USAID LM adviser and to our office at the Department of State. Roslenn earned a master’s degree in international affairs in 2021 from the School of International Service at Amer- ican University. While at SIS, she worked with the Democracy Council to advance post-conflict reforms and investigated international labor standards as an intern with Project Hope. Prior to that, Roslenn briefly supported governance policies in St. Maarten; she has also worked as a federal contractor at the Department of Labor and at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Roslenn is excited to join AFSA as we commemorate AFSA’s 50-year anniversary as the exclusive bargaining unit for the Foreign Service. She can be reached at richardson@afsa.org . n EARTHQUAKE RELIEF FOR MISSION TÜRKIYE LOCALLY EMPLOYED (LE) STAFF Following the devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, many U.S. mission locally employed (LE) staff in Gaziantep and Adana, Türkiye, lost their homes or suffered other major damage. If you are looking for a way to provide direct, meaningful assistance for earthquake survi- vors, consider donating to the Foreign Service National (FSN) Emergency Relief Fund. The extraordinary number of recent crises and disbursements to affected LE staff have left the fund in immediate need of replenishment. As a reminder, 100 percent of all contributions are allocated for disbursement directly to LE staff in need, as the fund is administered internally by the department. For additional information about the Relief Fund, please visit the Foreign Service National Emergency Relief Fund page at www.bit.ly/FSN-Relief-Fund. n ANNOUNCEMENT AFSA Celebrates 50 Years as a Union Below and at right: Some of the more than 150 members who attended our first in-person happy hour of the year. On Feb. 2, 2023, AFSA hosted our first in-person happy hour of the year. AFSA President Amb. Eric Rubin and Act- ing Deputy Secretary for Resources and Management John Bass—a proud career- long AFSAmember himself— joined to welcome the more than 150 members who came by AFSA headquarters to be together and celebrate AFSA’s 50 years as a union. In his remarks, Amb. Rubin noted that this year marks the 50th anniversary of AFSA’s becoming a union, and he pointed the crowd to the January/February Foreign Service Journal focus on that. He said that “The need for AFSA, whose sole mission is to defend the Foreign Service and its people, continues to this day. We are fortunate that we have the financial and political power, and the authority of a union to do this work.” n Acting Deputy Secretary for Resources and Management John Bass addresses the gathering. LOLAMICHEL-INFANTE