The Foreign Service Journal, September 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2020 73 AFSA NEWS AFSA Seeks Your Help with Outreach Efforts The Foreign Service plays a critical role in our national security. AFSA’s 2020 public outreach campaign aims to reach new audiences with this message to broaden the domestic constituency for the Foreign Service. The theme of the campaign, the Foreign Service as our “First Line of Defense,” should resonate with many Americans in these uncertain times. On Sept. 22 we will co- host a virtual panel, “For- eign Service on the Front Lines: Bringing Americans Home,” with the National Museum of American Diplo- macy. The panel will feature Foreign Service members who worked on the front lines to evacuate Americans during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel will demonstrate the work and commitment of members of the Foreign Service during a crisis of unprecedented magnitude. The Sept. 22 panel will be hosted on NMAD’s Diplo- macy Classroom platform for digital programs begin- ning at 1 p.m. EST. With this program, we hope to reach new, younger audiences from universities and com- munity colleges who are not familiar with the work of the Foreign Service. AFSA will provide information on how to join the panel in early September. This virtual event marks the official start of our pub- lic outreach efforts. But we still have plenty of work to do in advance of this public launch. We want to make sure that you, our mem- bers and messengers, are engaged with this campaign and have all the tools you need to be successful. As we stated in the July/ August issue of the Journal , we had to delay the official launch of the campaign because of the new realities of the pandemic. But we did not stop telling the story of the Foreign Service’s role in protecting Americans. AFSA has been work- ing diligently to gather and share the stories of the Foreign Service response to the spread of coronavirus around the world. Read the pandemic diplomacy stories in the July/August issue of the Journal ; listen to the American Diplomat podcast “Get Me Out of Here!” at bit.ly/get-me-out-of-here. And visit afsa.org/videos to watch our new short video on the COVID response. We also have been gath- ering stories of the various and complex ways that the Foreign Service protects Americans. To that end, we have collaborated on a podcast about the critical role of the Foreign Service in cybersecurity, available at amdipstories.org . We have also fleshed out our materials, collected examples of the Foreign Service as the first line of defense, tested our messag- ing and collaborated with partners on ways to reach new audiences. Our membership activa- tion webinar describes the campaign and details how Things you can do: • Join the roster of messengers by contacting Nadja Ruzica at ruzica@afsa.org. • Familiarize yourself with the materials on our member page at afsa.org/first-line-defense. • Reach out to your local community college and other community organizations to explore virtual opportuni- ties to share AFSA’s message. • Follow AFSA on social media and share the tweets and posts with your community, friends and family. you can get involved. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so by contacting Nadja Ruzica at ruzica@afsa. org. We will go over the key objectives of this campaign and walk you through all the available tools, including the virtual platforms we will use. We need your help, espe- cially our retired members in your home communities, to achieve our goal of reaching new audiences across the United States and to ensure broader support for the For- eign Service. This is always a worthy endeavor, but it is especially important in the current climate. n We need your help, especially our retired members in your home communities, to achieve our goal of reaching new audiences across the United States.