The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2017

58 JULY-AUGUST 2017 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL STAY INFORMED. STAY CONNECTED. Retirees Light Up the Map For the second year, AFSA encouraged Foreign Service retirees to send letters to the editor of their local news- paper on the occasion of Foreign Service Day in May. AFSA sees this as an oppor- tunity to bring education and understanding of the Foreign Service to our fellow citizens in every corner of the country. Last year’s pilot project resulted in 15 placements; this year, we far exceeded our expectations with letters from retirees being published in 40 newspapers across 19 states, from Rhode Island to California. Newspapers such as the Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Portland (Maine) Press Herald, Tulsa World and Providence Journal featured letters from retired diplomats, explaining what the Foreign Service does for the nation and why it’s impor- tant to our national security and economic prosperity. Combined, the 40 papers have a circulation of more than two million. This initia- tive will continue next year, and we hope to reach even more Americans in 2018. Speakers Bureau Hits Milestone Seven Months Early! Thanks to the willingness of AFSA retiree members to share their expertise and volunteer their time, AFSA has already hit its year-end goal for Speakers Bureau membership numbers. At the beginning of the year, the bureau had 382 members, and we set a goal of 425 members by the end of 2017. To our surprise and delight, we hit our goal on May 17. The Speakers Bureau now has more members than at any time previously. We plan to focus on increasing speaking engage- ments for the rest of the year, and will rely on members of the bureau to seek out opportunities in their home towns and make a connec- tion with AFSA. If you have not yet joined the Speakers Bureau but would like to help AFSA tell the story of the Foreign Service, or if you would like to request a speaker for a school, college or community group, visit www.afsa.org/speaker. Spotlight on Florida “Super Team” of Retirees Last month at our annual awards ceremony, AFSA bestowed the award for con- tributions to the association to John S. Wood, a leader of The Foreign Service Group– Texas in Austin, Texas. Here we want to highlight a group of Foreign Service retir- ees in Florida who have risen to the challenge of engaging in local outreach and advo- cacy—not just for AFSA, but in collaboration with our stra- tegic partners such as Global Ties U.S. and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition. Their enthusiasm and efforts have already paid off; it is no accident that our letters-to-the-editor campaign resulted in eight letters pub- lished in Florida newspapers! We want to thank Mike Boorstein, Judy Carson, John Caulfield, Ambassador Har- riet Elam-Thomas, Ambas- sador Samuel Hart, Ambas- sador James McGee, Donna Oglesby, Jeff and Linda Olesen, Dorothy Watson and Frank Young for their willing- ness to join us in telling the Foreign Service story across Florida, and we invite other Florida retirees to join these efforts. Foreign Service Association of Northern California The Foreign Service Associa- tion of Northern California held a well-attended lun- cheon on May 13 featuring a fascinating presentation on Korea and the United States by retired FSO and former Ambassador to Korea Kath- leen Stephens, who is now a Stanford University fellow. FSANC also elected its new officers and advisory board, including the Honor- Members of the “Florida Super Team” put forward ideas for outreach to the American public, including key audiences and ways to work with strategic partners. AFSA/CATHERINEKANNENBERG