The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2021 63 Finance Members of the 2019-2021 AFSA Governing Board at AFSA headquarters on July 15, 2019. From left: Steve Herman, Kristin Michelle Roberts, Jason Singer, Virginia Bennett, Joshua Archibald, Eric Rubin, John Naland, Jay Carreiro, Ken Kero-Mentz, Mary Daly, Tamir Waser and Tom Yazdgerdi. AFSA to have the ability to attract and retain the top-level talent we know our members expect us to employ. As this term report is published, the AFSA staff is settling into our “soft” summer opening before we do our best to return to pre-COVID normalcy after Labor Day. The working world will be different at AFSA, as it will be most everywhere else. We are looking forward to the new management and organi- zational challenges posed by that new reality. There is a lot of opportunity to advance new policies and ways of doing business, and we intend to take advan- tage of it. AFSA will look different as an organization but our priorities remain the same: Taking care of our members and being good stewards of the association’s resources, whether human or capital. is to educate the American public about the role of the Foreign Service—stands at $420,000. AFSA had gone through major restructuring from 2016 to 2019 as we worked rigorously to find efficiencies in operations. This board approved prudent spending reductions in 2020 and 2021. Recognizing that we will need sufficient resources to meet the challenges facing the Foreign Service, we will continue the effort to create more efficient operations in the years ahead. In late 2019, the publications team brought on a new advertising and circulation business development man- ager to take on the advertising portfolio after 16 months without that position at AFSA. During this board’s term, advertising revenue has climbed back up in spite of the pandemic and a struggling economy. Annual ad sales grew by almost 50 percent from 2019 to 2020, and the upward trend was strong in 2021. With the strong support of AFSAmembership, we were able to sustain a professional staff of 34 and a planned $5.2 million operating budget for calendar year 2019. We continue to maintain AFSA assets, the build- ing and equipment with attention to repairs and prompt maintenance. T he most significant financial development during this board’s tenure was a one-time membership dues increase that took effect on Dec. 31, 2020—in addition to the annual consumer price index increase. The dues increase has generated enough income to expand AFSA’s labor management, membership and advocacy teams. Despite the volatility experienced globally and in the markets in 2020—largely due to the pandemic—AFSA was in excellent financial health at year end (and con- tinues to be), with the operating reserve fund still at $4.3 million. Some modest savings were realized from curtailed operational activities due to the pandemic. Investment gains were robust, appreciating 12.6 percent net of all investment-related expenses. The AFSA scholarship fund, founded in 1924 to help Foreign Service children pay for college, has grown sub- stantially and by the end of 2020 stood at $11.8 million. In 2020 the fund awarded $217,000 in need-based financial aid and $123,000 in merit scholarships. At this point, the fund is self-sustaining. The Fund for American Diplomacy—whose mission AFSA TERM REPORT