The Foreign Service Journal, July/August 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2018 87 AFSA NEWS Results fromAFSA’s Retiree Engagement Survey Over a third of all retiree members—37 percent— filled out the AFSA Retiree Engagement Survey in May. The results clearly show that you consider The Foreign Service Journal and other communications from AFSA—the Daily Media Digest , the Newsletter and AFSAnet updates on our efforts to defend and pro- mote diplomacy and devel- opment—as your primary member benefit. One question asked what type of programming you’d like AFSA to offer. We received more than 500 responses! While we have long had the Federal Benefits Series and this year offered programs on Reviewing Your Retirement Plan and Long-Term Care, your responses gave us great ideas to continue to expand these types of pro- grams. We are committed to acting on your suggestions and bringing you top-notch information. We also heard that engagement is important. Some of you would like to be more involved in advo- cacy, others in community outreach, and still others are looking for local oppor- tunities to get together with other retired members. These are programs we are working on, and we will look to work with those inter- ested to facilitate more local engagement. In addition, we will continue to offer events at our headquarters build- ing in Washington to bring retirees together for profes- sional development events and informative sessions, as well as networking and socializing. Look for a detailed report in September’s AFSA News. n AFSA/JEFFLAU Retirees Spread the Foreign Service Message For the third year running, AFSA encouraged For- eign Service retirees to send letters to the editors of their local newspapers on the occasion of Foreign Service Day on May 4. In their letters, retirees shared information about the Foreign Service with their fellow citizens in every corner of the country, fromCalifornia to Maine; Texas to Minnesota. As of May 25, at least 36 letters from retirees had been published in 18 states. Newspapers including the Auburn Citizen , the Vero Beach Press Journal , the Gainesville Times and the Tennessean , as well as those in the graphic at right, featured letters from retired diplomats, explaining what the Foreign Service does for the nation and why it is important to our national secu- rity and economic prosperity. We hope that all AFSAmembers will continue to help us tell the story of the Foreign Service. n