The Foreign Service Journal, June 2023

AFSA NEWS 52 JUNE 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Help for Mission Sudan Local Staff Donate to the FSN Emergency Relief Fund Following the escalation of violence in Sudan as rival military leaders battle for control, the Locally Employed (LE) staff (still known as FSNs) at the U.S. mission in Khartoum and beyond face immense risk. Some have already experienced property damage as a result of the fighting, and many have been stranded at home with limited access to food, water, and electricity. For anyone looking for a way to provide direct, meaning- ful assistance, consider donating to the Foreign Service National Emergency Relief Fund. Please note that LE staff in other countries and private sector employees can contrib- ute, as well. All contributions are tax-deductible, and 100 percent of contributions are allocated for disbursement directly to staff in need, as the fund is administered internally by the department. Outlined below are several ways to contribute to the relief fund. For additional information, please visit www.bit. ly/FSN-Relief-Fund. Online. Secure online electronic donations can be made directly from your bank account or by credit/debit card via https://bit.ly/Pay-Gov-FSNRF. Checks. Please send checks to the State Department’s Gift Fund Coordinator, Crystal Jobe, Room 1821, 2201 C Street NW, Washington DC 20520. Make checks payable to the U.S. Department of State, designation for the FSN Emergency Relief Fund. Include a return address or email to receive a let- ter of acknowledgment for tax deduction purposes. Payroll Deductions. All employees on State’s payroll can make contributions by payroll deduction. U.S. direct hires may request a one-time or recurring deduction from net pay by submitting a request in the CGFS Payroll Customer Support Portal, found at https://bit.ly/CGFS-CustomerSupport. For LE staff wishing to donate through payroll deductions, post should send a cable on behalf of the employee indicat- ing the desire to make an “FSN Emergency Relief Fund” donation. Please include the employee’s name and ID as well as the start and ending dates of the withholding. Cash. Cash contributions in dollars or local currency can be made through the embassy/consulate cashier or at the State Department Federal Credit Union. In the Washington area, donors can drop foreign currency in collection boxes in the Employee Service Center or the SDFCU branch at Main State or other branches. The SDFCU has partnered with the department and covers the cost of converting the donated currency to U.S. dollars. n AFSA Meets with Americans by Choice Group On Feb. 21, 2023, AFSA leadership met with the board of Americans by Choice (ABC), a new employee organization at the State Department. Founded in June 2022, Americans by Choice already had almost 200 mem- bers by April 2023. Their priority is to advocate on behalf of the department’s growing community of foreign-born employees, whom the group describes as an often “invisible demographic” within the department. ABC board members discussed the group’s challenges with AFSA. While they offer unique perspectives and skill sets to foreign policy work, they also face challenges such as accent-based bias, unequal benefits, and policies that fail to take into account the needs of employees who earned their citizenship by virtue of naturalization rather than birth. The board discussed the need to address accent bias in the bidding interview process. They worry that a move to audio-only interviews to remove bias has not achieved its intended goal; rather, it may have led to increasing bias against those with U.S. regional and foreign accents. ABC’s mission is threefold: • Raising awareness of the contributions of foreign-born professionals to foreign affairs; • Offering a support network to our members and fostering a sense of inclusion and belonging across the department; and • Advocating for equitable access and opportunities for our community while working to remove the obstacles stemming from discrimination and unjust biases. ABC membership is open to all Civil Service and Foreign Service employees in the department. To learn more, email ABC@state.gov . n Transportation Safety Act in Honor of FSO AFSA encourages its members to consider supporting the bipartisan Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act (H.R. 1668). The bill, named for a Foreign Service officer tragically killed in a bicycle accident in August last year, will encourage state and local governments to fully leverage federal funding for complete biking and walking plans. Those looking to assist can visit https://bit.ly/SDL-bill -support to voice your support to your representative. n