AFSA NEWS 66 MAY-JUNE 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Changes at AFSA’s Office of General Counsel After almost 34 years with AFSA, General Counsel Sharon Papp retired on May 1, 2026. This is a momentous change at AFSA, as the association long relied on Sharon’s immense historical knowledge and institutional memory of all things related to AFSA’s labor-management work. Sharon has been a wonderful colleague and mentor, and she will be greatly missed. In great part thanks to Sharon’s dedication to fostering the next generation of AFSA’s legal talent, AFSA is proud to announce the promotion of two colleagues into senior roles in the Office of General Counsel (OGC). Deputy General Counsel Raeka Safai will step into the General Counsel role and lead the association’s legal team. After almost 18 years with AFSA, Raeka has proven capable of assuming this responsibility. Succeeding Raeka as deputy is Neera Parikh, who serves as AFSA’s senior attorney adviser. She has been with AFSA for 26 years. Further, AFSA Counselor for Alumni and Retirees Brian Himmelsteib will join OGC in the role of grievance counselor on a part-time basis, in addition to retaining his current portfolio, and therefore become a full-time member of the AFSA staff. Raeka Safai: General Counsel In her role as deputy general counsel, Raeka Safai has handled a broad range of matters: labor-management relations and collective bargaining with several foreign affairs agencies, complex individual member grievances, investigations, congressional inquiries, and discipline and security clearance cases. She also counsels AFSA leadership and Governing Board members on policy matters affecting the Foreign Service workforce. Raeka is AFSA’s expert on social media policies, outside activities, and the effects of the Hatch Act on Foreign Service members. Raeka is a Certified Information Privacy Professional focusing on U.S. privacy laws. She is a member of the Society of Federal Labor and Employee Relations Professionals and the Women’s Bar Association. She is barred in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Prior to joining AFSA, Raeka was an associate at a Washington, D.C., law firm where she represented Foreign Service members in administrative, civil, and criminal matters. Raeka received her JD from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. A first-generation Iranian American, she speaks fluent Farsi and French. Neera Parikh: Deputy General Counsel Neera Parikh joined AFSA as a law clerk and developed an appreciation for the organization and its work. This led her to pursue an attorney position, and she has remained with AFSA ever since, her portfolio centered on individual client work. She has advised and represented members with grievances; security clearance suspensions and revocations; Diplomatic Security, Inspector General, and anti-harassment (AHP) investigations; discipline matters; and financial issues. Neera is AFSA’s expert on equal employment opportunity (EEO) matters including formal complaints, disability/workplace accommodation issues, harassment inquiries, and alternative dispute resolution. Neera has also assisted with policy changes and updates related to antibullying, sexual assault/harassment, tenure precepts, and reconstituted board procedures. She served on the OGC team for collective bargaining negotiations on behalf of our Foreign Agricultural Service members and on the Discipline Working Group. Neera earned her JD from the American University Sharon Papp Raeka Safai Neera Parikh Brian Himmelsteib
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