The Foreign Service Journal, May 2014

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2014 55 AFSA NEWS Show Me Diplomacy! To celebrate the 90th anniversary of AFSA and the Foreign Service, AFSA is assembling a slide- show that will be shown at AFSA events throughout the year and posted on our website. Please share a Foreign Service memory with us by sending a photograph that represents diplomacy and a memory from your career. Our goal is to show the last 90 years of the Foreign Service through your lens. We want all types of photos: happy or sad, a person, place or animal or object. Show us diplomacy in action! Please send just one picture and include your name and a caption giving the location of the photo and the year it was taken. Submit your photo by e-mail to 90FS@afsa.org, use #90FS on Instagram, or leave your photo as a comment on AFSA’s Face- book page. n NEWS BRIEF AFSA Honors Toni Tomasek on Foreign Affairs Day Each year on Foreign Affairs Day, we have the solemn duty and honor to recognize some of the best of the Foreign Service—those who gave their lives while on duty, in pursuit of the highest goals of American diplomacy and development. On May 2, AFSA Presi- dent Robert Silverman leads AFSA’s memorial ceremony in gratitude for the service and sacrifice of the 244 individuals already inscribed on our memorial plaques in the Department of State’s C Street lobby. This year, another name joins this roll of honor as Antoinette “Toni” Beaumont Tomasek becomes the 245th honoree at our 81st memorial ceremony. A returned Peace Corps Volunteer and specialist in international public health and intercultural educa- tion, Toni began her Foreign Service career with the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2009. In postings from Indonesia to Haiti, she worked to better the lives of others. In Haiti she ensured that a local clinic had adequate supplies to treat the children of the community. Tragically, on June 29, 2013, at the age of 41, she was killed in a car accident on her way back from that clinic to the USAID mission in Port-au-Prince. In Indonesia, where she was a development leader- ship initiative officer, she established a groundbreak- ing program that offered grants to local organizations working to prevent and treat tuberculosis. She was also one of the principal authors of Indonesia’s Global Health Initiative strategy, which continues to guide the work of USAID Indonesia. Toni was tireless in her fight to make the world a better place, and brought to the Foreign Service years of experience designing and implementing health programs. Before becoming a dip- lomat, she studied in Spain and Brazil, served as a PCV in Paraguay, worked in the United States with migrant and seasonal farming commu- nities, and was a health lead for the Inter-American and Pacific region at Peace Corps headquarters inWashington, D.C. Toni’s career speaks to her nature as a humanitar- ian and exemplary diplomat. Her unwavering dedication to development and for- eign assistance positively improved the lives of many vulnerable families. Her husband, Adam, and their two children, Alex (9) and Amelie (7), cherish the memory of her commitment, kindness and energy. Toni Tomasek’s legacy is a true testament to the sacrifice and accom- plishment inherent in a Foreign Service career. Secretary of State John Kerry and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah will both make remarks in Toni’s honor during the May 2 memorial ceremony. We ask that all mem- bers of the Foreign Service community take a moment on that morning to remember Toni and the 244 indi- viduals who precede her on the memorial plaque. n –Perri Green, Special Awards and Outreach Coordinator Toni was tireless in her fight to make the world a better place. COURTESYOFTHETOMASEKFAMILY