The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2019

54 JULY-AUGUST 2019 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS Letters to the Editor Campaign Spreads Awareness Once again, AFSA urged its members to place letters to the editor in their hometown papers on the occasion of Foreign Service Day. Based on notifications from our members and online searches of newspapers, we found that more than 50 letters appeared in newspapers around the coun- try this year. The letters appeared in papers from coast to coast. The readers of the Laramie (Wyo.) Boomerang read about the U.S. Foreign Service, as did those of the Orlando Sentinel , the Petoskey (Mich.) News Review , the Santa Fe New Mexi- can , the Knox County (Me.) Courier-Gazette and the Red Bluff (W.Va.) Daily News —see the graphic for more. We want to thank our many members who accepted this challenge and sent in personalized versions of AFSA’s template letter, using their own experiences and back- grounds to make the letter compelling to their friends and neighbors. Telling the story of the Foreign Service so that it resonates in one’s own community enables us to educate our fellowAmericans about the importance of diplomacy and a strong, professional career Foreign Service. n New Resources for AFSAOutreach AFSA has recently updated and expanded its online outreach resources for Speakers Bureau members (www.afsa.org/outreach- resources-speakers), provid- ing a one-stop destination for resources and information to members who are active in telling the story of the Foreign Service. With this update, AFSA talking points and resources are now easier to find. For example, the page includes links to the AFSA president’s monthly column in The Foreign Service Journal , AFSA’s latest congressional testimony, talking points and the ever-popular ambassa- dor tracker and list of senior official appointments. Also included are links to the content AFSA has devel- oped on economic diplo- macy, including an original three-minute video on what diplomats do and why it mat- ters, as well as articles from the January-February 2019 double issue of the FSJ fea- turing “tales from the field, ” examples of successful eco- nomic diplomacy. Information on Inside a U.S. Embassy and The Foreign Service Journal ’s digital archive are also readily available. The page contains resources for creating local outreach opportunities, including a list of organizations interested in speakers and tips and best practices from members of the AFSA Speakers Bureau. The “State and USAID Resources” section includes fact sheets from both agencies, as well as the always-useful “State by State” map, which outlines how the work of the State Department benefits the American people in each state. Finally, find links to resources produced by AFSA’s strategic partners, such as the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition and the American Academy of Diplomacy. We encourage members who are active and/or inter- ested in outreach efforts on behalf of the Foreign Service to visit the updated Outreach Resources page. n