The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2023

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2023 77 AFSA REPORT enjoy a substantial “live” audience, and their recordings continue to attract many views. Our partnership with the American Diplomat pod- cast, which reaches yet another audience, continues to be productive, allowing us to share relevant stories, highlight speakers, and promote AFSA’s work. Our traditional Speakers Bureau programming has recovered from the effects of the pandemic. We con- tinue to receive requests and place speakers now both in-person and virtually, taking advantage of greater flex- ibility in finding expertise regardless of location. After inactivity during the pandemic, our partnership with Road Scholar remains strong, with AFSA designing three programs each year in Washington, D.C. To keep our growing audience engaged, we devel- oped an outreach newsletter that features new AFSA programming, content from The Foreign Service Jour- nal , and items of interest from AFSA partner organiza- tions. This newsletter has nearly 3,000 subscribers in 47 states across the U.S. In February, AFSA formally kicked off planning for the 2024 Foreign Service centennial. The centennial celebration is an excellent opportunity for public out- reach, to raise awareness of the work of the U.S. Foreign Service on behalf of America for the past 100 years. In early 2023, AFSA renewed its agreement with the Cox Foundation, which will support AFSA activities in preparation for the centennial this year. Professional Policy Issues D uring this board term, the Professional Policy Issues (PPI) and Advocacy teams organized several opportunities for the AFSA Governing Board to engage in detailed reviews of AFSA’s advocacy and reform priorities. In shaping the agenda for these events, PPI drew on member survey feedback, consultations with employee groups in mul- tiple Foreign Service agencies, and a review of current external reform-oriented reports, such as the American Diplomacy Project’s Blueprints for a More Modern U.S. Diplomatic Service . PPI also closely consulted with AFSA’s advocacy director to steer the choice of agenda items in the direction of clear congressional interest, so that if AFSA pursued reform solutions legislatively, there would be at least a fair chance of congressional support. PPI has continued to refresh AFSA’s advocacy priori- ties via feedback from a continuing series of town halls, first- and second-tour (FAST) employee brown bags, employee group meetings, and engagement with agency management. We believe that through our deepened member engagement, AFSA is now successfully reflect- ing—and, in some cases, anticipating—the issues that most concern our members. During this period, AFSA has conducted multiple, complex surveys, including the Survey on Bias in the Foreign Service Workplace, the Foreign Service Leader- ship and Management Survey, and the Future of Foreign Service Work Survey. In many ways, these surveys were groundbreaking Social media has proven to be an important tool, particularly when it comes to younger audiences who use social media for the latest news and education about issues and events. Our followers and engagement with our content on social channels have grown significantly. In the past two years, we expanded our presence to LinkedIn and Instagram, allowing us to connect with dif- ferent and important new audiences. The two virtual series we launched in 2021, Inside Diplomacy and Diplomats at Work, continue to be popular. Inside Diplomacy invites foreign policy leaders to offer perspectives on current issues and the role of the Foreign Service in those issues. AFSA hosted USAID Administrator Samantha Power, then–Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley, and then–Assistant Secretary of State Monica Medina, among others. The series has proven to be a good plat- form for foreign policy leaders who want to update the foreign affairs community on new strategies, programs, and developments. Diplomats at Work, which focuses on attracting younger audiences through storytelling, has hosted active-duty FS members from across the foreign affairs agencies and gathered a solid following of educators and students from around the country. Members also see the benefit of this series and have frequently contacted AFSA to ask to be featured on a program. Both series