The Foreign Service Journal, September 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2016 69 AFSA NEWS Promoting the AFSA Brand ACH I EVEMENTS AND CONTR I BUT I ONS TO THE ASSOC I AT I ON AWARD JOHN NALAND “John’s first term as AFSA president coincided with Secretary of State Colin Powell coming into office,” said AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, intro- ducing John Naland, recipient of AFSA’s Achievements and Contributions to the Associa- tion Award. “John was a strong advo- cate of the need to grow and properly invest in training the Foreign Service. He was also a superb defender of the career and profession. His quiet dip- lomatic ability to boldly and clearly express on behalf of AFSA the needs of the Foreign Service was powerful and influential,” she added. Mr. Naland served as AFSA president from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2009. During his second term, he focused on Overseas Comparability Pay or the “pay equity gap” for members of the Foreign Service that had continued to grow. His consistent focus on this issue made an enormous difference, and it was at the end of his term in 2009 that the first tranche of funds needed to begin to close the gap was appropriated, a significant and historic victory for the AFSAmembership. During that same time frame, the situation in Iraq was at its most difficult for the Foreign Service. Mr. Naland was on the front lines of the debate about war-zone service, consistently stand- ing up for the Foreign Service when some in Congress and the media questioned their willingness to serve in Iraq. Leading by example, Mr. Naland announced that he would leave the AFSA presi- dency three months early to be a team leader for one of the many Provincial Reconstruc- tion Teams in Iraq. By volun- teering to serve in Basrah, away from his young family, he showed great integrity. Under Mr. Naland’s stew- ardship, AFSAmembership grew significantly, and the association’s resources were protected. He was directly involved in developing seminal AFSA/JOAQUINSOSA AFSA EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE AWARDS reports from the American Academy of Diplomacy and the Foreign Affairs Council and was a strong advocate for assisting other organizations that serve the larger Foreign Service community. He supported the Associa- tion for Diplomatic Studies and Training and the Foreign Service Youth Foundation, as well as the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide and the Senior Liv- ing Foundation of the Ameri- can Foreign Service. Each of these organizations received a special mention in Mr. Naland’s remarks on accept- ing the award. Mr. Naland’s support for the FS community and AFSA has continued.While serving as director of the Office of Retirement at the Department of State, he found ways to address issues he knew were of direct importance to AFSA members nearing retirement and in transition. Always accessible and extremely well-informed, Mr. Naland’s unassuming style and quiet demeanor are his strengths. They are, in fact, personal qualities that deserve public acknowledge- ment. Currently president of the Foreign Service Youth Foundation, Mr. Naland served as a Foreign Service officer in Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua, as well as in Washington, D.C. n