THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2026 73 Port-au-Prince. There, he conducted political reporting and risk analysis on governance and labor issues and collaborated with civil society and governments across the region to advance human rights protections. In Washington, D.C., Mr. Mendoza served in the State Department’s Operations Center, worked on issues related to Central America, and oversaw coordination on a foreign assistance portfolio. In his final assignment, from 2023 to 2025 at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations (UN), he first supported the U.S. ambassador to the UN as a personal assistant and during the second year served as a lead U.S. Security Council negotiator on conflict-related sexual violence, gender, and children in armed conflict. After this assignment, in July 2025 he took leave without pay to explore private sector opportunities in artificial intelligence and started work at an AI company in December 2025. With a tireless commitment to bringing people together and leading with integrity, Mr. Mendoza also devoted his energy to the broader Foreign Service community. He volunteered within the State Department with the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) and the Hispanic and Latin Employee Council of Foreign Affairs Agencies (HECFAA). Mr. Mendoza was the 2019 winner of AFSA’s Averell Harriman Award for Constructive Dissent by an Entry-Level Officer and received the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide’s Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA) in 2020. In 2022 Mr. Mendoza joined the AAFSW Board. As chair of the SOSA program, he took responsibility for organizing every aspect of it until his untimely death. He will be honored posthumously, in November 2026, with AAFSW’s Lesley Dorman Award. He also co-founded the Foreign Affairs Support Network. At the April 11 memorial organized by AFSA, HECFAA honored Mr. Mendoza posthumously with a special award created in his honor, the Service Without Borders Memorial Award. Friends and family members remember Mr. Mendoza for his dedication, generosity, steady commitment, and deep love and care for his family. (Tributes are published in the May-June FSJ.) Mr. Mendoza is survived by his spouse of more than a decade, Hendrik Sy of New York, N.Y., and parents, Jeannette and Anthony Mendoza, sister, Viviana Mendoza, and brother, Isaiah Mendoza, all of Tucson, Ariz. n Esther Roberts, MD, 83, a medical doctor and member of the Senior Foreign Service, died on March 11, 2026, in hospice care in Fairfax, Va., following a period of declining health. Born on November 9, 1942, in Little Rock, Ark., Ms. Roberts spent her formative years in segregated Nashville, Tenn. Her father, a psychologist, and her mother, a university librarian, brought the world to her in a home filled with literature, all genres of music, and art. From an early age, Ms. Roberts was interested in reading and science, and developed skills as an artist and sculptor. She eagerly participated in community affairs affecting poor and homeless citizens and in sit-in demonstrations to reverse segregation. As a teen, she entered a nationwide contest creating a plaster of Paris crosssection of the human eye, complete in every detail, including nerves and veins. She was disappointed in taking only second place. Ms. Roberts determined early on that her professional path was in medicine. After graduating as salutatorian of her high school class, she majored in biology at Fisk University. There, she served as student council president, was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa National Honor Society, and graduated summa cum laude in 1964. In 1968 Ms. Roberts received her medical degree from Meharry Medical College followed by a residency in social and community psychiatry. She also earned an MS degree and a master of public health degree from Columbia University. Dr. Roberts joined the Department of State Bureau of Medical Services in 1980 to develop a mental health program based on the value of having mental health clinicians with the ability to address both medical and psychological issues. On January 20, 1981, when the 52 American hostages held in Iran were released and flown to Wiesbaden Air Base in Germany, Dr. Roberts was there as lead of the interagency mental health team for psychological debriefing and support for the American heroes. Though she went on to become the deputy assistant secretary for medical services and had a long and distinguished career, she often spoke of her work with the hostages as the privilege and honor of a lifetime. At State, Dr. Roberts oversaw the establishment of an employee consultation service for Foreign Service and Civil Service employee assistance. These “in-house” services provided counseling and psychotherapy, as well as emergency support to Foreign Service personnel experiencing trauma overseas, such as the terrorist attacks in Beirut (1983) and Nairobi (1998). During Dr. Roberts’ stewardship, the program grew exponentially, with the
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