THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2025 63 AFSA NEWS Meet the 2025-2027 AFSA Governing Board The American Foreign Service Association is proud to introduce the elected officers and representatives of the 20252027 AFSA Governing Board. The Governing Board meets on the third Wednesday of each month from 12 to 2 p.m. at AFSA headquarters. AFSA members are welcome to attend any board meetings. JOHN DINKELMAN PRESIDENT John “Dink” Dinkelman assumed his duties as president of the American Foreign Service Association on July 15, 2025. It was his honor to serve in various domestic and overseas positions over his 37 years as a Foreign Service officer with the State Department. His overseas assignments included the United Kingdom, the Marshall Islands, the Netherlands, Türkiye, Mexico, and the Bahamas. Domestically, he served at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the Bureau of Administration, and the Bureau of Global Talent Management. Most recently, he served as the diplomat in residence at Howard University at the time of his election. An “army brat,” Dink was raised in various locations— none of which he can claim as his hometown. Nevertheless, his heart is tugged toward Provo, Utah, where he graduated from Brigham Young University in the far too distant past. Dink and his wife, Elizabeth, whom he describes as an intimidatingly intelligent math professor, are the very tired parents of three allegedly grown children. SUE SAARNIO SECRETARY Sue Saarnio served for 36 years in the Foreign Service, retiring in 2021 after serving as consul general in Tijuana. A career economic officer, she worked at U.S. embassies in Mexico City, Panama, and Ottawa, and at U.S. Consulate General Jerusalem. She served as principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Energy Resources and deputy assistant secretary for Mexico, Canada, and regional economic policy in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. In the Economic Bureau she served as deputy special representative for commercial and business affairs and special adviser for conflict diamonds. Prior to government service, she worked as a journalist in Montana and Minnesota. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and she also spent a year at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, through a study abroad program. Sue has served three previous terms as a State representative on the AFSA Governing Board. JOHN NALAND TREASURER John Naland just completed eight years as AFSA Retiree VP and earlier served as AFSA president (twice) and AFSA State VP. He retired from the Foreign Service in 2015 after a 29-year career that included service in Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico (principal officer at U.S. Consulate Matamoros), and Iraq (leading the warzone Provincial Reconstruction Team in Basra). Washington, D.C., assignments included the State Department Operations Center and the White House Situation Room. He is co-author of Career Diplomacy: Life and Work in the US Foreign Service (Georgetown University Press, 2021). A U.S. Army cavalry officer serving in West Germany during the Cold War, he is a graduate of the Army War College. Born in Wichita, Kansas, John grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he graduated from Tulane University. He and his wife have two daughters. ROHIT NEPAL STATE VICE PRESIDENT Rohit “Ro” Nepal is a passionate advocate of the Foreign Service, which he has proudly served since September 2002. Most recently, he was deputy chief of mission and chargé d’affaires in Amman. His prior tours include serving as a consular officer in Mexico City, general services officer in Islamabad, political officer in Chennai and Rome, as well as multiple domestic assignments. Ro ran for AFSA State VP motivated by his experience of the human toll of the dismantling of the USAID mission in Amman, which was one of our largest globally. He hopes to use his knowledge of the Foreign Service and the skills he gained as a civil rights litigator prior to joining the State Department to defend AFSA’s members during these unprecedented times.
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