AFSA NEWS 62 JULY-AUGUST 2026 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL was curtailed and proposed for suspension based on what Sharon believed were ulterior-motive complaints. The grievance board agreed, restoring the officer’s record and awarding back pay and additional compensation. Sharon has also overseen the substantial growth of the Labor Management Office itself, from the five-person operation she joined in 1992 to a team that today has been rebranded as the Office of General Counsel (OGC) and includes five attorneys and four additional professional staff. “Our entire legal team was built, year by year, case by case, in the trenches of some of the hardest moments AFSA has faced. I have watched them grow into extraordinary advocates, and I leave knowing that you are in the very best of hands,” Sharon said in a farewell message to AFSA and its members. Steering Through the Storm The final stretch of Sharon’s tenure brought Reflections on Sharon Papp challenges unlike anything AFSA had faced in its century of existence. Beginning in early 2025, the association became engaged in a series of coordinated federal lawsuits responding to administration actions affecting the Foreign Service workforce and the institutions that employ it. By the spring of 2026, this litigation encompassed five active federal cases affecting more than 14,000 Foreign Service personnel across the State Department, USAID, and the U.S. Agency for Global Media. The matters at stake have been existential: the revocation of collective bargaining rights for 97 percent of AFSA’s bargaining unit through executive order, the unlawful dismantling of USAID, the shutdown of USAGM, mass reductions in force, and challenges to the legal architecture that has long governed federal labor practice. Sharon and her team have steered AFSA through every one of these challenges, coordinating with outside counsel, supporting affected One of the best experiences of my State Department career was a four-year daily collaboration with Sharon when I served as AFSA State VP. She displayed remarkable professionalism, resourcefulness, and unflappable determination in defending our service during one of the most challenging periods in our history. She always stood firm in protecting FS members from the frequent unfairness and capriciousness of the system, even when it required her to confront very senior officials. Sharon well earned her reputation as the legal champion of the Foreign Service. —Steve Kashkett, AFSA State VP (2005–2007) When I became AFSA president in 2003, Sharon provided tactful advice and guidance that was enormously helpful. —John Limbert, AFSA President (2003–2005) The list of her successes over her tenure could fill a hundred FSJs, and the words of thanks and appreciation from current and former members of the Foreign Service could fill a hundred more. She’s done more than earn our gratitude; she’s become a friend to so many of us along the way. Sharon’s work to support glifaa made it possible for LGBTQI+ FSOs and specialists to finally join the Foreign Service and serve openly. During my two tours as State representative, Sharon and I built on that support and helped expand benefits for same-sex spouses and partners. —Ken Kero-Mentz, AFSA State VP (2017–2019), AFSA Secretary (2019–2021) During her nearly 34 years as AFSA general counsel, Sharon Papp personally assisted over a thousand members with legal concerns, taking on some of the most difficult and time-consuming cases, especially in the areas of discipline and security clearance investigations. Over those 27 years [working with AFSA], I saw firsthand the positive impact that Sharon had on individual members and on protecting the Foreign Service as an institution. —John K. Naland, AFSA President (2001–2003, 2007–2009), AFSA State VP (1999–2001) As AFSA president for four years, I came to appreciate the impressive mix of experience, commitment, passion, and caring that Sharon brought to her work. Her legacy is enormous. —Eric Rubin, AFSA President (2019-2023) Sharon Papp was devotedly committed to AFSA, the Foreign Service, and the concept of union democratic governance. Throughout her career, Sharon counseled hundreds of individual members as well as advanced the interests of the union and the professional association. —Matthew Asada, AFSA State VP (2013–2015)
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