The Foreign Service Journal, June 2019

50 JUNE 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSA President in Sarasota AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson and U.S. Marine Corps Major General (ret.) Martin Steele addressed members of the Sarasota business community, World Affairs Council, retired military officers, academics and local community and faith leaders in Sarasota, Fla., April 23 at an event sponsored by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. Sarasota Mayor Liz Alper and World Affairs Council President Nat Colletta intro- duced Amb. Stephenson and Gen. Steele, who engaged community leaders in a dis- cussion about why American global leadership matters locally. They focused on the importance of U.S. diplomacy in promoting national secu- rity and economic prosperity at home and strengthening democratic and humanitarian values worldwide. Gesturing to a banner with the words of former Defense Secretary James Mattis— “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition”— Gen. Steele emphasized the value to American leadership of fully funding U.S. diplo- macy. While in Florida, Amb. Stephenson also spoke at Sarasota’s New College to a diverse group of students, faculty and SarasotaWorld Affairs Council members and met with members of the Florida Foreign Service Retir- ees Association in a reception at the home of FSO (ret.) Judy Carson. n for retirement. He provided a detailed checklist outlin- ing the things prospective retirees need to do and the websites they need to visit to prepare for a successful transition. More than 80 mem- bers attended the event. A recording of the talk is avail- able at www.afsa.org/video. Handouts are at http://bit.ly/ retire-checklist. n Retirement Planning: 5 to 10 Years Out AFSA is pleased to announce a two-part initiative that aims to boost the visibility of busi- nesses owned by members of the Foreign Service and their eligible family members. (1) Big Discounts on FSJ Ads: The Foreign Service Journal will reserve up to four 4-color quarter-page ads per issue solely for FS- and EFM- owned small and medium enterprises. The regular rate for such a placement is $1,530. However, qualified advertisers will be offered the highly reduced rate of $250 for a one-time placement. These ads will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information about this opportunity, please contact Communications and Marketing Manager Allan Saunders at saunders@ afsa.org or (202) 719-9712. (Note: The business owner or Boosting Community-Owned Businesses spouse/parent of the owner must be an AFSAmember; the company must also be a new advertiser in the maga- zine.) (2) A New Resource on the AFSAWebsite for FS- and EFM-Owned Busi- nesses: AFSA has launched a new section on its web- site that lists any business owned by a member of the Foreign Service (active-duty or retired) or their eligible family member. See examples at www.afsa.org/fsbusiness. Please send the following information to lau@afsa.org to get your business listed: 1. Name of business 2. Website 3. A high-res version of the company’s logo (if any) 4. Email/telephone/other contact information 5. Physical address (if any) 6. One-paragraph descrip- A full house turns out in Sarasota, Fla., to hear AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson and U.S. Marine Corps Major General (ret.) Martin Steele. USGLC/LIZCASSIN tion of the services/products offered. 7. Category into which the business falls, e.g., educa- tion, counseling, real estate, financial. We hope these opportuni- ties will help FS- and EFM- owned businesses reach a larger audience and new potential customers. n On April 11, AFSA Retiree VP John Naland returned to AFSA for an encore of his popular seminar,“Retire- ment Planning: 5 to 10 Years Out.” Mr. Naland, a former director of the Office of Retirement at the State Department, took active- duty members through the steps they need to take now to ensure they are ready