The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2021

66 JULY-AUGUST 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA TERM REPORT Outreach A FSA has continued to expand its outreach efforts. Moving to virtual speaking engage- ments opened new opportunities for AFSA to engage with new and expanded audiences. With support from the Una Chapman Cox Foundation, AFSA developed a new outreach campaign titled “U.S. Foreign Service: Our First Line of Defense.”The campaign, launched in 2020, focused on introducing new audiences to the work of the Foreign Service by highlight- ing the role it plays in America’s national security. By leveraging virtual programming, AFSA has suc- cessfully delivered our content to our members, tradi- tional partners and people not familiar with the work of the Foreign Service. We are also working to increase AFSA’s profile as a subject matter expert by increasing engagement in relevant discussions and strategically partnering with organizations with similar missions. This year, AFSA developed and launched two speaker series. The first, Inside Diplomacy, hosted by the AFSA president, is tailored to connect with a more traditional international affairs audience. Featured speakers have been Liz Schrayer, president and CEO of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and Jim DeHart, U.S. coordina- tor for the Arctic region. Our second series, Diplomats at Work , aims to introduce new, diverse audiences to the Foreign Service through storytelling. The first event drew more than 250 participants from around the country, including students, professors and professionals from across different fed- eral agencies. We have also partnered with the American Diplomat podcast to reach yet another audience— young professionals interested in interna- tional affairs and/or a career in the Foreign Service. While our traditional Speakers Bureau program- ming—the collaboration with Road Scholar and Smith- sonian Associates, for instance—had to be canceled in 2020 and the spring of 2021 due to the pandemic, we are now planning for fall 2021 programs and beyond. We also continue to seek out speaking opportunities; the virtual nature of current engagements has allowed us to match the requests to speakers well, since they are no longer constrained by geography. A FSA is now considered a thought leader on the role of the U.S. Foreign Service in diplo- macy. Our data has been used extensively by media outlets in articles and editorials about the Foreign Service. AFSA has based its advocacy on evidence and data gleaned from member surveys and from various reputable sources. The use of evidence-based decision-making and the heightened reputation of AFSA as a source of reliable information about the Foreign Service have helped raise AFSA’s pro- file in the foreign affairs community. During the pandemic, PPI surveyed AFSA members and provided evidence that FS members were over- loaded with their work responsibilities and their roles as parents. Many of the comments from members high- lighted the extra burden that women FS members, in particular, were carrying. The survey also tapped into a wellspring of support for continued flexibility on tele- work, a topic that had been cursorily explored prior to the pandemic. This information, along with the concerns expressed by members regarding temporary duty and permanent change of station travel during the pandemic, provided our constituent agencies with valuable insights into priority needs of the FS during the pandemic. Following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd and the national attention brought to racial injustice, AFSA conducted a workplace bias survey. The results showed stark differences in perception of bias among different demographic groups within the AFSAmembership. The U.S. Coordinator for the Arctic Region Jim DeHart joined AFSA on May 26 for a virtual discussion. It could be watched live from anywhere, including in a moving vehicle. AFSA/SHAWNDORMAN Professional Policy Issues