The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2017 33 ence accounts for your dedication to mentoring Foreign Service officers? NJP: I’m sure it played a part, for I will always be a teacher at heart; but the real motivation came from people like Ambassa- dors Peter Burleigh, (the late) Arnie Raphel and Beth Jones, who not only helped me and many others, but also encouraged us to embrace mentoring as part of being a Foreign Service officer. I think my teaching helped me in other ways in the Foreign Ser- vice. With five classes to prepare for each day, I learned to man- age my time and plan ahead. And, standing in front of restless teenagers who wanted to be anywhere but social studies class taught me about leadership, creativity and presence. FSJ: What inspired you to pursue a career in diplomacy? NJP: I wanted to be a teacher from the time I started kinder- garten. I think I knew frommy elementary teachers that it was a role I could assume as a female, plus I loved school. I enjoyed teaching, but there were few opportunities to advance in secondary education for women at that time in Iowa. Women were elementary principals, and social studies teachers tended to be male coaches. I didn’t know about the Foreign Service until I participated in a U.S. government-sponsored program for sec- ondary teachers in Pakistan in 1975. We met FSOs at the embassy and consulates, who could not have been better recruiters as they described their careers. One of them gave me the application for the written test, which I took in 1975. I was initially most inter- ested in the “Foreign” part of the Foreign Service. It saw it as an opportunity to see the world, to live in different cultures and to do interesting work, even if I wasn’t completely sure what that work would be. FSJ: What year did you join the Foreign Service? How did you find the examination and hiring process? How many women were in your A-100 class? NJP: I was part of the 129th class, which started in January 1977, with five women among the 37 members. Three of the women left the Service fairly quickly, but Michele Bond and I remained. As a teacher, I was fascinated by the examination process and how it was being used to evaluate candidates. Like everyone else, I thought the hiring process took far too long, but now know I was one of the lucky ones who went through quite quickly. Five-Time Ambassador FSJ: What were your first two overseas postings? Were they a good introduction to the Service for you? If so, how? NJP: I joined the Foreign Service and went all the way to Ottawa. It turned out to be an excellent introduc- tion as I rotated through the consular, political and economic sections. It allowed me to learn about the Foreign Service culture in a familiar environ- ment. My second assignment was as vice consul in Kathmandu, Nepal. Later, the court reviewing the women’s class action suit [filed by FSO Alison Palmer in 1976 and charging discrimina- tion in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act] determined there had been a pattern of assigning female political-coned officers to second consular tours. However, Kathmandu was an excellent assignment and proved extremely important for my career. I was a member of the country team and led a consular section with many unusual challenges as we dealt primarily with American Diplomacy 3.0 had started before I became DG, but it faced serious problems of coordinating recruiting, on-boarding, assigning and training the new hires. Ambassador Nancy Powell with A-100 classmates at the AFSA awards ceremony. From left: Ambassador (ret.) Michele Bond, Ambassador (ret.) Lino Gutierrez, Amb. Powell, and Ambassador (ret.) Jimmy Kolker. AFSA/SHAWNDORMAN