The Foreign Service Journal, September 2013

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2013 79 AFSA NEWS AFSA EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE AWARDS : THE M. JUAN I TA GUESS AWARD FOR A COMMUNITY LIAISON OFFICE COORDINATOR Elizabeth Jenkins Faced the Challenges of Caracas Head On In the daunting and danger- ous environment that is Caracas, Community Liaison O ce Coordinator Beth Jenkins helped the embassy community manage its secu- rity and reduce their fear, find foodstuffs and pleasant pastimes, and educate their children and find day care for them. In 2012, Beth helped lead the post’s efforts to respond appropriately to the spiral- ing number of kidnappings, murder and violent crime. She collaborated with the regional security o cer to communicate the nature and extent of the crime threat, organize a crisis manage- ment exercise, train staff and family members on how to respond to a kidnapping, and provide comfort to an American staff member who was carjacked. “There were many days when I thought that the chal- lenges Caracas posed were perhaps too great and that I could no longer serve in such a pivotal and important posi- tion effectively,” reflects Beth. “It was a remarkable posting, and one that—in my 25 years of overseas life—was the hardest.” Beth’s accomplishments are all the more remarkable considering that post morale was at a very low point when she came on board. Beth brought an analytical approach to organizing the o ce, defined the shared duties of the two co-CLOs and approached challenges that had seemed insur- mountable to others before her. Thanks to her strong advocacy and persuasive skills, as well as a large mea- sure of tact and diplomacy, morale within the American community is improving. “As a trained teacher and special education case man- ager, my work experience has led me to value direct communication and posi- tive, team-oriented problem solving. I found these skills really served me as CLO,” concluded Beth. “The Juanita Guess Award bestowed on me really belongs to many people. Most important was my colleague, Nancy Slack, who has since taken up the reins of CLO Caracas, followed by Kelly Kostal, our customer service employee. And we all benefited from the sound guidance and advice pro- vided by Deputy Chief of Mission Kelly Kederling.” Beth adds that with the support of the Family Liaison O ce, AFSA and supportive post management, the CLO program can be a significant benefit to an embassy com- munity. n Elizabeth Jenkins recieves the M. Juanita Guess Award from Jon Clements, CEO of Clements Worldwide. In the dangerous and difficult environment that is Caracas, Elizabeth’s skills helped to raise morale within the mission. NEWS BRIEF AFSA is pleased to announce a new service for our members: a daily e-mail sent to you with a digest of news items (articles, opinion pieces, blogs and more) impacting the Foreign Service. Every day, we are sending out a list of up to 10 news items that we believe our members might find of interest. If you do not have time to peruse all of the news, we do it for you. If this service sounds interest- ing to you, all you have to do is send a request to join to mediadigest@afsa.org. Remember, this service is available to AFSA mem- bers only. New Service for AFSA Members: News Digest Sent to Your E-Mail