The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2010

A F S A N E W S 68 F OR E I GN S E R V I C E J OU R N A L / J U L Y - A UGU S T 2 0 1 0 AFSA Post Representative of the Year James A. Fox F oreign Service Information Technology Manager James Fox is on a mission at a mission— the U.S. Mission to NATO, to be precise. In just a short time, Fox, as AFSA post repre- sentative there, has made a difference in employee morale and conditions at post, and has even saved his American colleagues some money. Not content to sit by when community life can be improved, Fox has met regularly with post management, including the ambassador and deputy chief of mission, to address community concerns. He has managed at the same time to advance more equal treatment of specialists and generalists: for example, he questioned why the much-sought-after parking spaces at USNATO were given automatically to FS-1 generalists and their deputies, but not immediately to FP-1 specialists and their deputies. Thanks to Fox, the parking space assignment process has been made more transparent. He also realized that by paying for very expensive, specially marked trash bags — the only ones that can be used for official waste pickup in the city of Brussels —U.S. employees were, in effect, paying for waste disposal service, fromwhich they are usually exempt while overseas. He was able to get this policy adjusted so that employees receive a refund on trash bags. Says Information Management Specialist David Jesser, “Since Jim became the USNATO AFSA rep in 2009, he has been the go-to person on labor issues that [pertain to] not only AFSA members, but [to] our Department of Defense colleagues, as well.” Working with management on community concerns has been rewarding for Fox. Especially satisfying, he says, has been “to see how eager Ambassador Ivo Daalder and DCM John Heffern have been to address issues of fairness in the way gener- alists and specialists are treated by the host nation government.” Fox, who served in Libreville, Pretoria and Kabul before his current assignment in Brussels, is particularly proud of what he accomplished in Kabul, where he implemented a secure video link between the presidents of the United States and Afghanistan. “This link is still playing a major role in the rebuilding of Afghanistan and the effort to rid the country of dangerous insurgents,” he says. “I have sel- dom seen an AFSA repre- sentative approach this responsibility with as much zest and zeal as Jim,” says Jesser. “He will not hesitate to engage the front office, the Joint Administrative Services section or the management officer on labor issues. When he felt morale was sinking, he had no hesita- tion in being frank with the front office.” ❏ 2010 AFSA OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE AWARD WINNERS M. Juanita Guess Award FOR A COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICER Sarah Genton E xperts say multitasking is impossible. They apparently have not met Sarah Genton. Not only has she begun and man- aged more innovative programs than most embassies see in a decade, but she has also gone above and beyond the usual role of a Community Liaison Officer to provide compassionate sup- port to several families beset by crisis or tragedy during her tenure in Madrid. Her first task was to focus on welcoming new families. Genton explains, “If employees and family members arrive on a positive note, and feel supported, they are likely to make a better transition to their new home.” She launched a sponsors pro- gram, trained sponsors at a brown-bag lunch session, and fol- lowed through with support for incoming families, including a weeklong orientation program and a touring schedule that took groups to an olive farm, an archaeological dig and a winery. Last October, she founded Embassy Madrid’s first Volunteers in Action group. This group has held a blood donation drive, a holiday food drive and charity fundraisers such as a burrito breakfast and “Taco Tuesday.” That and the usual holiday parties would be enough for any CLO, but Genton also organized evening patio events “to help people forge new friendships,” she explains. “We invited diplo- matic colleagues from other missions, who joined in our embassy’s first Trivia Night, a yearly flamenco show, and themed karaoke evenings, including ‘Madrid Idol.’” Yet in the midst of these popular community events, some embassy families have faced tough challenges in the past year. When a family had to curtail unexpectedly due to illness while in the States, Genton managed their complete packout, including selling their car and holding a yard sale to shed excess household effects. To help offset the cost of shipping their pets back to the United States, she raised funds through a “sangria mix-off.” Says the FSO whose tour was cut short, “Quite literally, we don’t know what we would have done without her.” Genton also handled the heartbreaking arrangements and support for an officer whose baby died suddenly. Ambassador Alan Solomint describes Genton as “not only knowledgeable, but approachable and discreet.” He praises the many programs she has designed, particularly a popular re-entry workshop for families returning to live and work in the U.S. adding, “She has fostered a great spirit of camaraderie.” ❏ AFSA Post Rep James Fox in an AFSA and post man- agement meeting. Left to right: Management Officer Robert Glacel, Deputy Chief of Mission John Heffern, Fox, and Amb. Ivo Daalder (permanent representative to the North Atlantic Council, U.S. mission to NATO), May 10, at NATO headquarters. Genton at the CLO sponsored Egg Hunt on April 11, sharing candy prizes with Clara Nathan, as Jack Roll looks on. MONIQUE KOVACS NATHAN CARL HALE