The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2021 71 U.S. Agency for International Development D uring the 2019-2021 AFSA board tenure, AFSA USAID VP Jason Singer welcomed six new classes of USAID officers, hosted a number of USAID-specific town halls, met with a range of employee resource groups and strengthened coordination and relations with the USAID Alumni Asso- ciation. AFSA also met with former Administrator Mark Green, former Acting Administrator John Barsa, Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick, Acting Administrator Gloria Steele, Chief of Staff Bill Steiger, Counselor Chris Milligan, Chief Advisor to the Acting Administrator Ann Marie Yas- tishock and multiple members of Congress and their staff. In the context of USAID’s reorganization, AFSAmet with bureau and independent office leadership from across the agency. Discussions centered on priorities of both the incoming and previous administrations. We emphasized the need for a larger Foreign Service with better workforce planning and greater diversity—particu- larly in the senior ranks. We met biweekly with the Employee-Labor Relations Division of the Human Capital and Talent Management Office, and monthly with both the chief human capital officer and head of the Foreign Service Center, on a range of institutional and member concerns including the desir- ability of improved customer service. We strengthened relations with the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity and Staff Care to promote work-life balance for employees and family members. AFSAmet repeatedly with HCTM officials responsible for reform of the performance management and promotion systems. We negotiated revisions to nine Automated Directives System chapters, addenda and related documents, also arguing that codi- fying the chapters as formal agreements between AFSA and the agency was a sound labor-management practice. Since March 2020, AFSA USAID has been most active in helping the agency and employees manage all manner of workplace challenges connected with the COVID-19 crisis. AFSA USAID advised and advocated for between 60 and 90 members per month, and for several groups, such as one group of more than 60 members who were concerned by the lack of promotion opportunities and promotion delays, or smaller groups caught up in com- missioning delays and confusion over time-in-class extensions. AFSA has filed two implementation disputes against USAID, one charging that heavy reliance on Foreign Service Limited appointments violates the terms of this hiring mechanism as described in the ADS and in an AFSA-USAID memorandum of understanding, and the second charging that the manner in which promotion boards are composed lacks transparency and potentially undercuts diversity. Foreign Commercial Service A FSA continues to aggressively advocate for the Commercial Service before Congress, ral- lying stakeholders and leveraging key com- mittee contacts on Capitol Hill. Our efforts, spearheaded by AFSA FCS VP Jay Carreiro, went a long way toward beating back proposed cuts that would have seen significant post closures abroad as well as the closure of domestic offices in several states. While there’s still a long a way to go, particularly with locally employed (LE) staff overseas and Export Assis- tance Center personnel, FCS has increased its officer count to 260 from a record low of 224. However, the Department of Commerce needs to do more. Its current FY 2022 budget request is tepid, at best; and we were AFSA TERM REPORT On Sept. 13, 2019, AFSA and the Washington Nationals joined up for the fourth annual Foreign Service Night. Pictured on the field at Nationals Stadium (from left) are AFSA President Ambassador Eric Rubin, AFSA Director for PPI Julie Nutter, AFSA State VP Tom Yazdgerdi and his wife Julia Reed, and FSO Kristin Roberts and her son, Elias. AFSA/CAMERONWOODWORTH FS Recognition