THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2025 63 AFSA TERM REPORT pushing for many years. The January 2025 FS orientation class was the first to receive this benefit, and as a local FS hire myself, I am exceedingly glad that this injustice has been righted after decades. With the advent of the new administration, we are dealing with a new set of issues that, as mentioned above, represents an existential challenge to our members, AFSA, and the Foreign Service. One of our priorities is to help our members who are near retirement but not quite there by pushing for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) that would lower the age and years of service so they can retire in dignity, if they choose. AFSA will also fight against any effort to politicize the Foreign Service, including any changes to how new members are brought into the Service and the ambassadorial nomination process for our career diplomats. It has been an honor and a privilege to serve you— first as AFSA State vice president for two terms and then president. I will do my utmost to ensure that incoming President John Dinkelman and members of the new Governing Board are fully briefed and ready to take up their duties on July 15. Executive Director’s Report The board term that is coming to an end this summer has been truly eventful. AFSA has experienced great highs and unexpected challenges that have focused all parts of the organization to achieve specific goals, always with a view to supporting our members. This Governing Board came in at an auspicious time. We were well established in our post-pandemic work routines and dove into plans for the centennials of AFSA and the Foreign Service in 2024. In fact, much of the first year of this board was focused on that important celebratory occasion. You will see many of the centennial-related successes detailed in the following pages, but we were all tremendously proud of the main event: A centennial gala dinner in the Ben Franklin Diplomatic Reception Rooms at State, featuring then–Secretary of State Blinken, then–CIA Director Bill Burns, and hundreds of Foreign Service members representing all six foreign affairs agencies. It was a truly memorable evening honoring a century of service and excellence. We followed that with a birthday happy hour for our members, which took place on the roof of the Watergate Hotel on a beautiful May evening. The second half of this board term coincided with some historic challenges for our workforce. Again, many of the details will be enumerated in the rest of this report. Suffice to say, AFSA was forced to be more “out there” than we have ever been, raising our collective voice to defend our members. This is why AFSA exists, and we are all resolved to keep doing everything we can to stand up for your rights. But of course, AFSA’s day-to-day work continues. We are always looking to refine our operations, being mindful of safeguarding our resources. From updating investment principles to further expanding employee parental leave to match that of the federal government, we work hard to ensure that AFSA is well placed to be the strongest possible advocate of the Foreign Service while holding on to our ability to recruit and retain the most talented staff we can. This has been a tumultuous time, and we foresee that the challenges will not end in the short term. AFSA will continue to find ways to be your voice and advocate, representing you individually and as a whole. We appreciate your membership and your support. We could not do any of our work without you. One plea at the end: Please encourage your friends and colleagues to join AFSA if they have not yet done so. This applies particularly to our retirees, whose membership often lapses inadvertently upon retirement. Ask your friends if they are receiving the media digest, the FSJ, and other AFSA communications. If not, they are almost certainly not members. We need everyone right now. The more members we have, the stronger our collective voice. Thank you. Ásgeir Sigfússon
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