The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2006

J U L Y - A UGU S T 2 0 0 6 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 73 A F S A N E W S A s the budget and human resources officer at Embassy Minsk, Kevin Morgan earned a reputation as a strong protector of, and advo- cate for, the local Belarusian staff in the embassy. When a delicate situation arose involv- ing the credibility of allegations made by an embassy Foreign Service National, Morgan argued strenuously that no action should be taken until a thorough investigation could be made by someone from outside the embassy. While some in post management argued that the local employee should be summarily dismissed for making the allegations, Morgan insisted that this course of action would send the wrong message to the embassy work force: that reporting misdeeds could result in punitive action. The 2006 Tex Harris Award has been given to Kevin Morgan for taking a brave and difficult stand to protect the rights of a local employee. In advocating due process for the employ- ee, who was described as a valuable and model mem- ber of the embassy staff, Morgan took career risks to do what he believed to be the right thing. He demon- strated courage and integrity in an effort to protect and defend the rights of a local employee. Belarus is an extremely difficult environment in which to operate; relations between the host govern- ment and the U.S. are tense. This hostile atmosphere contributed to an initial post reaction to prevent this sensitive matter from being exposed to a wider audi- ence, including the Belarusian authorities, and to limit the extent of the internal investigation. “Kevin’s willingness to fight to protect one of the embassy’s most valuable and trustworthy local employees showed his true character,” the nomination states, “as a person who will stand his ground in the face of overwhelming odds when it is the right thing to do.” Morgan was successful in his efforts, and post management reversed the earlier position. Kevin Morgan was born in Ft. Monroe, Va., while his father was stationed there in the Army. He grew up in Fairfax, but his maternal grandmother was born in Belarus. Morgan has a degree in accounting fromGeorge Mason University. He is a CPA, and prior to joining the Foreign Service worked in the finance office of the National Science Foundation for seven years. Then he spent six years in the Regional Inspector General’s Office of USAID, serving in Budapest. In this position, he worked in Yerevan, Sarajevo, Warsaw, Moscow and Kiev. Morgan joined the State Department as a financial specialist in 2002, and went to Harare for his first tour. Embassy Minsk is his sec- ond post with the Foreign Service. He and his wife, Tatiana, have a 3-year-old daughter. Morgan at a local bread factory in Minsk. Morgan (center) with FSNs at the Drina River in Visegrad, Republika Serbska, while working with USAID. Morgan with daughter Valentina at the World War II Khatyn Memorial outside Minsk. Tex Harris Award FOR A FOREIGN SERVICE SPECIALIST KevinMorgan AFSA’S 2006 DISSENT AWARD WINNERS