The Foreign Service Journal, September 2017

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2017 83 AFSA NEWS AFSA EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE AWARDS THE M. JUANITA GUESS AWARD FOR A COMMUNITY L IAISON OFF ICE COORDINATOR AUBREY DOWD Boosting Morale in Bangladesh It is a testament to Aubrey Dowd’s skills as a community liaison officer (CLO) in Dhaka that AFSA received two sepa- rate nominations for her to receive the M. Juanita Guess Award. In her first week on the job in August 2016, Ms. Dowd was tasked with organizing a “meet and greet” for the embassy community with then-Secretary of State John Kerry. On short notice, she planned detailed logistics for a great event that drew 400 people and was a significant morale boost for the com- munity. It was a taste of what Embassy Dhaka could expect from their new CLO. In the past two years, Dhaka has changed from a post where children attended a local school and families walked freely to one with a curfew and movement restric- tions. Following an attack on July 1, 2016, at aWestern style restaurant in which 22 people (including a U.S. citizen) were killed, the post was approved for authorized departure. On her own initiative, Ms. Dowd created a comprehen- sive database of all personnel that filled critical information gaps and allowed embassy leadership to quickly answer questions relating to depart- ing families. During this time, she also acted as the lead point of con- tact for embassy families left stranded outside the country when authorized departure was declared in the middle of the school holidays. Ms. Dowd provided regular updates and guidance on rules and regulations for travel and allowances. “The calm throughout the stormy aftermath of autho- rized departure” is how one nomination described Ms. Dowd. Her approach proved so successful that the Family Liaison Office and Office of Human Resources at the Department of State are developing best practices based on her methods. Under increasingly severe security restrictions, it would have been easy to give up on arranging events. Instead, Ms. Dowd worked overtime to boost the morale of the community.Working closely with the Regional Security Office to arrange trips to local shops and restaurants, she increased the number of events from three to 15 per month. She even donated her own laptop to ensure that an embassy trivia night could go ahead after the failure of the provided equipment. As authorized departure continued into late 2016, Ms. Dowd worked closely with the Regional Medical Officer-Psy- chologist and Regional Medi- cal Officer to create and dis- tribute a post morale survey. A separate survey was created for eligible family members evacuated during authorized departure. Believed to be the first such survey, it will allow the department to better evaluate the effect of evacua- tion on family members. Ms. Dowd sat on the American Embassy Employ- ees Association Board, Interagency Housing Board, Post Employment Committee, coun- try team and the Emergency Action Committee, among other bodies. Dur- ing each meeting, she represented the needs and wants of the community and crafted mecha- nisms to relay critical information back to the greater community as necessary. Aubrey Dowd has been affiliated with the United States military and govern- ment for her entire life, first as a dependent, then a spouse and finally as an employee. She has a B.S. in early child- hood education fromAugusta State University and plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work when she returns to the United States. n Aubrey Dowd (left) and her colleague Kathy Love prepare the back yard of the chief of mission’s residence for the Embassy Dhaka Christmas potluck party. Aubrey Dowd receives the M. Juanita Guess Award from Jon Clements. The award is named for Mr. Clements’ mother. COURTESYOFAUBREYDOWD AFSA/TOYASARNOJORDAN