The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2009

J U L Y - A UGU S T 2 0 0 9 / F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L 53 A F S A N E W S AFSA Post Rep of the Year Ken Kero-Mentz O ver the past year, political offi- cer Ken Kero-Mentz per- formed superbly as the AFSA post representative at Embassy Berlin, a large and busy diplomatic mission. He effectively conveyed the concerns of AFSAmembers on a wide range of issues to the AFSA leadership, and conscientiously negotiated with post management on both collective and individual member issues. In his capacity as AFSA rep, Kero- Mentz dealt with numerous member issues, including the impact of war- zone assignments, bidding problems, same-sex partner status and health worries related to a diesel fuel spill in the chancery. He made a point of following up on these issues and going to whatever lengths needed to get them resolved. And he helped to mediate conflicts between AFSA members and supervisors, orga- nized member meetings at post, and sent out weekly AFSA updates. During the 2008 U.S. presi- dential campaign, the front office issued a highly controver- sial notice prohibiting employees from attending a public speech that was scheduled to be given by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama, even though it would take place after working hours in a city square in Berlin. The notice provoked the anger and consternation of dozens of members at post. Kero-Mentz took the lead in confronting post management, challenging the legality of the ban and working with AFSA leadership to clarify the rights of employees with the highest levels of the department. Kero-Mentz feels his experience has helped him be an effec- tive AFSA rep. “I've been at the department long enough to know that you cannot win all your battles; that it’s best to pick and choose which ones are worth fighting; and that if the answer you get from the first person you talk to is not the one you were hoping for, find someone else.” Kero-Mentz joined the Foreign Service in 2000, serving in Rio de Janeiro, Baghdad andWashington. He is departing Berlin this summer to serve as economic and commercial officer in Colombo. Earlier this year, he received the State Depart- ment’s Superior Honor Award for his work on arms control and disarmament issues. Prior to joining State, Kero-Mentz was a legislative staffer on Capitol Hill. He grew up in Vermont and graduated from The George Washington University, where he earned a B.A. in inter- national affairs and an M.A. in public administration. In his spare time, Ken and his husband David like to travel (and rest up from traveling). Delavan Award FOR A FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICE MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST Megan Gallardo M egan Gallardo was asked to curtail her assignment at The Hague to support newly minted Embassy Podgorica, a setting so challenging that even she, with considerable experience as an Office Management Specialist, could not have anticipated it. Gallardo was the first front-office OMS ever assigned to Montenegro, and the only Foreign Service OMS there. She was working for a first-time ambassador. And Podgorica was, as Amb. Roderick Moore describes it, “a neglect- ed little mission whose elevation in status from consulate to embassy the previous year was real only on paper.” Gallardo’s transformation of Embassy Podgorica from an iso- lated, undervalued post to a modern-age mission was a one- woman tour de force. She revolutionized paper and information flows by digitalizing virtually everything, standardizing proce- dures and making the entire archives of the embassy accessible to all employees. Podgorica had never previously had an ambassador’s residence. The staff was untrained, there were no guidelines for representational events and no sen- sible system for inviting guests. Gallardo secured training for the staff at nearby posts; oversaw the hiring of a new house manager; developed a detailed checklist for representational events that numerous other embassies have copied; introduced a new com- puterized system for handling residence finances; and procured a vast range of needed equipment. The residence is now consid- ered Montenegro’s premier diplomatic representational facility. According to Amb. Moore, the four words Gallardo hates most in the workplace are, “That’s not my job.” She planned a well-publicized Earth Day event that brought together local schoolchildren, environmental groups and journalists, and orga- nized an American breakfast for the mission’s election event, showing up at the residence at 4 a.m. to cook pancakes for high- level guests. “My favorite part of the day is teaching English classes,” she says of her lunchtime lessons for local staff. “I am proud of this particular accomplish- ment because the posi- tive results will rever- berate not only within the embassy, but in the students’ lives, as well.” Gallardo joined the State Department in 2001 fromMexico City, where she was an American Citizen Hire. Her previous posts include Brasilia, Belgrade and The Hague. She holds a B.A. in English from Suffolk University (Boston) and speaks fluent Spanish. 2009 AFSA OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARD WINNERS (By Francesca Kelly) David Kero-Mentz and Ken Kero- Mentz on theirweddingday, Berlin, Oct. 12, 2008. MeganGallardo (fourth fromright) with some of the members of the Local Guard Force English class, which she teaches five days a week. From left: Dario Vlahovic, Nebojsa Petrovic, Drasko Ivanovic, Natasa Raznatovic, Gallardo, Mila Djurisic, SladjanMilicevic and Igor Dijanic, May 11. Touring Plantaze Vineyards, Montenegro, 2008. From left: Gallardo, Consular Officer Gina Werth, USAID Officer Joe Taggart, Diplomacy Coordinator Carlos Gallardo. TIM BONURA ELKE JUNG WOLFF Ken Kero-Mentz in front of the ReichstagBuilding, Ber- lin, on a rare sunny day, in April 2008. DAVID KERO-MENTZ