The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

42 JULY-AUGUST 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Secretary Blinken saluted TLG’s impact over 50 years: “As the oldest employee affinity group, the TLG has helped launch other employee organiza- tions and served as a model to those helping Americans of all backgrounds find a home here in the depart- ment. What’s so encourag- ing to me is to see some of our younger colleagues come up here today and show that this is an ongoing story. Over the past half century the Thursday Luncheon Group has quietly, steadily changed Ameri- can diplomacy. We see that first and foremost in TLG’s mem- bers—devoted diplomats who have always offered a hand-up to the next generation. “TLG has also encouraged the department to improve how it recruits, how it retains, and how it promotes employees of color so that, yes, our department actually looks more like the country it represents,” he continued. “This is literally the future of our foreign policy. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this.” Secretary Blinken received an honorary lifetime TLGmem- bership fromAmbassador Ruth Davis. “Early in your tenure as Secretary of State,” Davis explained, “you said, ‘We simply cannot advance America’s interest and values around the world without a workforce that is truly representative of the American people. Beyond diversity we are committed to inclusion.’ TLGmembers know that institutional attitudes are guided by their leaders. Therefore, we feel very fortunate to have you at the helmof this great institution that we all love so well. And that is why we take great pleasure in conferring on you a lifetimemembership in TLG.” As guests rose to give Amb. Davis a standing ovation, Direc- tor General of the Foreign Service Marcia Bernicat presented her with a bouquet of flowers and a tribute: “We think it is only fitting that as TLG celebrates its 50th anniversary and its service to the international affairs community, we also pause to recognize a trailblazer, past TLG president Ambassador Ruth Davis. Hers is a long list of firsts. She was the first female senior watch officer in the Operations Center, the first African American director of the Foreign Service Institute, the first African American female Direc- tor General of the Foreign Service, and the first African American woman to be named a Career Ambassador. Who in this room does not stand on the shoulders of this giant?” In closing the ceremony, TLG President Yolonda Ker- ney reflected on the group’s role: “When I first joined the Foreign Service I was told—and I still believe it to be true—this is the greatest way to serve this country. I was also admonished: ‘Even if it costs you, speak truth to authority. If it costs you the ambassadorship, speak truth to authority. It is the right thing to do.’ And the truth is, at many inflection points in our history, TLG hoisted a mirror and asked the foreign affairs community and the agencies to look at themselves. And we did not always like what we saw. “But in it we also found things of great beauty,” Kerney con- tinued. “We saw the dignity and the moral force and the clarity of wisdom of Ruth Davis and Aurelia Brazeal and Teddy Taylor and Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Larry Palmer. We saw Pamela Bridgewater serve with distinction in apartheid South Africa. And we saw Steve McGann lead in Asia and the Pacific with maritime policy in ways that we had not seen before. We saw a network of people who support each other and cheer each other on in a thousand small and huge ways.” Programs and Initiatives Always a cornerstone of its mission, policy deliberation has been ongoing. The value of TLG’s foreign policy analysis is the interplay between and among its Civil Service members who serve as institutional brain trusts, and its Foreign Service specialist and generalist members who bring the value of ground truth from post. As Secretary Blinken stated in his keynote: “On every issue in every region, TLGmembers have made our foreign policy smarter. They’ve made it more creative. They’ve made it more effective.” TLG regards dispassionate policy examination as its legacy. In an effort to attract a more diverse next generation of career Foreign Service members, in 1992 TLG partnered with the American Foreign Service Association to establish a joint intern- ship program for minority college students at State. “AFSA has supported a TLG intern every year since 1992,” says AFSA Presi- dent Eric Rubin. “To date, the program has supported 32 interns, many of whom have gone on to join the State Department. AFSA has enjoyed a long and fruitful relationship with TLG and looks forward to the next 50 years of partnership.” The Thursday Luncheon Group Executive Board (left to right): Jacques Etienne, membership chair; Bernie Cole-Byrd, treasurer; Candice Helton, Civil Service vice president; Yolonda Kerney, president; Krystle Norman, Foreign Service vice president; Russell Brooks, programming chair. JAVONROWE