The Foreign Service Journal, September 2014

70 SEPTEMBER 2014 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA NEWS AFSAAssociate Members Add Value to Diplomacy One of the American Foreign Service Association’s critical missions is to raise public awareness of the importance of diplomacy for national security and prosperity. AFSA’s associate mem- bership program plays an important role in this regard. Associate members add voices to the more than 16,000 AFSA members who actively participate in U.S. foreign affairs and diplomacy. “Our associate members play a great role in increasing interest in the U.S. Foreign Service, and we appreciate all they do to support AFSA and the Foreign Service,” says Janet Hedrick, director of member services at AFSA. Associate members provide a pool of talented speakers and panel experts for AFSA events. They con- tribute to The Foreign Service Journal as writers and often as regular advertisers. During the past year, AFSA associate members have coordinated and hosted special events paying tribute to the 90th anniversary of the U.S. For- eign Service. On May 22, in conjunc- tion with AFSA associate member Maria St. Catherine McConnell, the Massachu- setts State House Historical Society hosted “A Massachu- setts State House Tribute to Commonwealth Statesmen, Stateswomen and Diplomats on the Occasion of the 90th New York City High School Students Visit AFSA In early July, a group of New York City high school students from the Interna- tional Youth Leadership Institute visited AFSA to learn more about the State Department and the Foreign Service. AFSA State VP Matthew Asada and Aroosha Rana, a State Department public diplomacy officer, discussed a wide range of topics with the students, including the importance of learning new languages in a multilingual world, the role of U.S. missions overseas and educational pathways that could lead to a future in diplomacy. Asada and Rana also related personal and professional experiences, noting that as immigrants, like many of the visiting students, their own families’ first inter- action with the State Department was through an embassy’s visa section. The students later said their visit to AFSA was one of the highlights of their trip to Washington, D.C. (Learn more about the International Youth Leader- From left to right: IYLI group leader Irijah Stennett; FSO Aroosha Rana; and students Safiya Noel, Jazmyn Blackburn, Malakai Lomax, Yemane Charles and Terrell Lewis; and AFSA State VP Matthew Asada. Anniversary of the U.S. For- eign Service.” Copies of the May 2014 90th-anniversary edition of The Foreign Service Journal were distributed and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sent a recorded video greeting to the event. You can see Kerry’s recorded mes- sage at www.state.gov . n – Cecilia M. Daizovi, Communications Intern ship Institute at http://www.iyli.org/ and on Twitter @ iyli2010.) – Lindsey Botts, Labor Management Executive Assistant JASONHIGGINS