The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2017 69 AFSA NEWS 2017-2019 AFSAGoverning Board Takes Office Members of the 2017-2019 AFSA Governing Board gather for the first board meeting at AFSA headquarters on July 19. From left: FCS Alternate Rep. Matthew Hilgendorf, Retiree Rep. Amb. (ret.) Al La Porta, BBG Rep. Steven Herman, State Rep. Josh Glazeroff, State Rep. Tricia Wingerter, State Rep. Martin McDowell, President Amb. Barbara Stephenson, Secretary Amb. (ret.) Tom Boyatt, Retiree Rep. Phil Shull, Retiree VP John Naland, Treasurer Amb. (ret.) Tony Wayne, State VP Ken Kero-Mentz and FCS VP Daniel Crocker. On July 19, the first meet- ing of the 2017-2019 AFSA Governing Board took place at the association’s E Street headquarters. Welcome: AFSA President Ambassador Barbara Ste- phenson welcomed the new board members and thanked them for stepping forward to serve. Minutes Approval Com- mittee: Without objection, a Minutes Approval Committee was created and FCS Vice President Daniel Crocker and State Representatives Tricia Wingerter and Martin McDow- ell were appointed to it. Management Commit- tee: Secretary Ambassador (ret.) Tom Boyatt proposed the establishment of a Man- agement Committee consist- ing of the president, secretary and treasurer and to include constituency vice presidents when matters within their purview are discussed. The motion was approved. AFSA PAC: Amb. Tom Boyatt moved to recreate an AFSA Political Action Com- mittee and appoint Amb. Tony Wayne as chair and treasurer, Executive Director Ian Hous- ton as assistant treasurer and Kalpna Srimal as keeper of records. The motion was approved. n AFSA/CALEBSCHLABACH Meet the 2017-2019 AFSAGoverning Board The American Foreign Service Association is proud to intro- duce the elected officers and representatives of the 2017-2019 Governing Board. The AFSAGoverning Board meets on the thirdWednesday of each month from 12 to 1:30 p.m. AFSAmembers are welcome to attend any board meetings and may request copies of the minutes fromJennie Orloff at orloff@afsa.org . AMBASSADOR BARBARA STEPHENSON PRESIDENT Barbara Stephenson has served as president of AFSA since July 2015. As dean of the Leadership School at FSI (2013- 2015), she launched a department-wide dialogue—the Leadership Roundtable—to improve leadership and management to unleash the tremen- dous talent at State. She served previously as ambassador to Panama and deputy chief of mission/chargé d’affairés in London. She won a Distinguished Honor Award for delivering the “civilian surge” to Iraq—without breaking the back of the Foreign Service. She also served as consul general in Belfast and CG and COM in Curaçao, and received a Superior Honor Award for her work on the peace agreement in El Salvador. With more than 30 years of service, she entered as a political officer and has since served interfunctionally, meeting the needs of the Service whenever and wherever called. In her second term, Ambassador Stephenson will work to seize every opportunity presented by these challenging times to make the Foreign Service stronger in fact and in reputation. She will also continue efforts to improve governance at AFSA to ensure that member dues are used as efficiently and effec- tively as possible for the benefit of the Foreign Service. AMBASSADOR THOMAS BOYATT SECRETARY Ambassador (ret.) Tom Boyatt entered the Foreign Service in 1959 and retired in 1984 with the rank of Career Minister. As an FSO, he served in every cone and at posts in four of the five geographic bureaus. He served as U.S. ambassador to Burkina Faso (1978-1980) and