The Foreign Service Journal, June 2010

J U N E 2 0 1 0 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 53 A F S A N E W S V.P. VOICE: FCS ■ BY KEITH CURTIS More Good News I reported good news on the budget last month, and now there is more good news on the leadership front at the Foreign Commercial Service. We are al- ready blessed to have a Secretary, Gary Locke, who has been willing to fight for the funding we need, as well as a deputy secretary, Dennis Hightower, who has taken a keen interest in our Service. Now we have an under secretary and a di- rector general. Under Secretary Francisco Sanchez meets with almost every sen- ior commercial officer who comes through D.C. As the head of the National Export Initiative, he knows that the effort focuses on the Commercial Service and our support on the ground. We have found him accessible, positive and sup- portive. Now that he is official, we hope he will travel more to see our operations overseas. We are especially excited that our new assistant secretary and director general, Suresh Kumar, has been confirmed. The first real international business- man we have had at the helm in the past 20 years, he has worked at Warner Lambert/Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and KaiZen Innovation. He has covered the globe working in India as a broadcaster, focusing on Indonesia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. He has even been a professor of international business at Rutgers University. This guy knows our business. Now — will he understand government? That is a big challenge. I have al- ready had the chance to talk to him several times, and he is open, receptive, smart and “can-do.” I know that he puts a high value on the work we do and appreci- ates the conditions under which we do it. But will he fully “get” the situation we are in and how much his job must involve championing us in order to get us re- sources? We will find out over the course of this very important year for our Service. We had an excellent and substantive first meeting with the director gen- eral in late April. He promised to push toward expediently resolving our key is- sues, from senior pay to the seven-year rule. Most importantly, we agreed to work toward the common goal of strengthening the Foreign Commercial Service and increasing our resources. It was a very good start. Finally, I am happy to report that we now have biweekly meetings with man- agement to keep our issues on the radar screen. The administration’s Partnership Program has created a more flexible approach. We have moved forward on pay issues, and there is keen interest in addressing the sorrowful state of our training conditions. We are hiring new officers and giving them training before sending themout! We sent a survey out concerning AFSA priorities and continue to wel- come your input. I know you do not see the relief in the field yet, but there are signs that the cavalry is coming. Hang on! ❏ Student response to the presentation was very positive, according to Nolan. One typical post-session review read: “Overall, an excellent and well-paced, information-packed seminar that ex- ceeded my expectations.” “The amount of interest we received in this course from across the U.S. was overwhelming, and we hope to make it and other courses available around the country,” reports Nolan. Other FPAU courses inNewYork this spring include“How to Land a Job at the United Nations” and “How to Land a Job in Global Development.” Each sem- inar is facilitated by an industry insider, able to provide instruction and insight unavailable in the traditional classroom. For more information, visit www.fpa. org. ❏ Our new assistant secretary and director general, Suresh Kumar, is the first real international businessman we have had at the helm in the the past 20 years. FS Career • Continued from page 49 pened in a very rapid time frame.” Another priority onNegroponte’s list is restoring USAID to the vitality it once enjoyed. “I’m delighted that the Secre- tary of State seems to have such a strong interest in development,” he remarked. “Let’s further increase the size of USAID … and give it the lead in the whole area of stabilization and development.” Both Negroponte and Gnehm called for career-spanning training. Negro- ponte recalled a time in the 1960s when he told a superior he was considering going to Stanford for a year of training there. “What’s thematter—are you ill?” asked the officer. “That was the ethos,”pointed out Ne- groponte. “You were supposed to get your training on the job. Actual training was for people who were sick and could not serve overseas!” (Some say that this attitude hasn’t changed much in 40 years.) An extended Q&A period followed the talk. Both ambassadors concluded by urging those present to continue to push formore resources and better train- ing. “We have an unprecedented oppor- tunity now,” said Gnehm. “We need to take advantage of it.” The April 7 event may be viewed at www.afsa.org/video.cfm. ❏