The Foreign Service Journal, May 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MAY 2019 29 FOCUS D uring his confirmation hearing in April 2018, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo talked about “unleashing talent” at the State Department. His plan to accomplish this included an immediate lifting of the hir- ing freeze, which would allow the department to once again hire into the Foreign Service and Civil Ser- vice, as well as opening positions for eligible family members (EFMs). Secretary Pompeo could tap into the department talent pool in another significant way by maximizing the enormous poten- tial of tandem couples. Tandems represent nearly 15 percent Kathryn Fitrell has been a tandem Foreign Service officer since 2003 (and a Foreign Service spouse since 1996). She has served or lived in Denmark, Ghana, Zambia, Guatemala, Mauritius, Portugal and Ethiopia. She is currently the public affairs adviser in the Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues inWashington, D.C. Kathryn and her husband, Troy, have a 19-year-old daughter and 16-year-old son. Kanishka Gangopadhyay met his future wife during A-100 in 2005 and became part of an official tandem couple in 2007. Since becoming tandems, he and his wife have served together in Mumbai, Pristina and Washington, D.C. They are currently serving in Coto- nou, where Kanishka is the public affairs officer. He and his wife are raising three boys, ages 6, 3 and 2. The authors thank their colleagues from the Working in Tandem board for their contributions to this article. The number of tandems in the Foreign Service is growing. State could make better use of their tremendous potential. BY KATHRYN F I TRE L L AND KAN I SHKA GANGOPADHYAY ON PROFESSIONAL DIPLOMATS: LEADERSHIP & LESSONS Tandem for State Serving in