The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER 2022 71 AFSA NEWS AFSA Outreach: A Jam-Packed Summer The summer season has brought a full slate of events to AFSA’s calendar of events that introduce new audiences to the work of the Foreign Service. On May 22-25, AFSA President Eric Rubin traveled to Chicago at the invitation of Ambassador (ret.) Ian Kelly, a professor and ambassador in residence at Northwestern University. Ambassador Rubin delivered a lecture titled “The View fromWashington: Foreign Aid and the Foreign Policy Making Process” to Amb. Kelly’s foreign policy class and met separately with interested students at the university’s career advancement center to dis- cuss working in the Foreign Service. AFSA’s two virtual speaker series—Diplomats at Work and Inside Diplomacy—con- tinue to feature absorbing conversations that reach thousands of viewers. The June 16 installment of Diplomats at Work (covered in detail on page 60 of this issue) introduced audiences to the work of the Foreign Commercial Service with active-duty FCS Officer Yamilee Bastien. The most recent Inside Diplomacy event, an inter- view on July 14 with Senior Bureau Official and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Jennifer Bachus, highlights the work of the State Department’s new Cyberspace and Digital Policy Bureau and will serve as the cover story for the October issue of the FSJ . Stay tuned! If you have questions about AFSA’s outreach programs, please contact Nadja Ruzica at ruzica@afsa. org. For those interested in joining the outreach speaker roster, please fill out the form at https://afsa.org/speakers- bureau. n AFSA Hosts New Recruits, Engages with Members AFSA continues to develop and sponsor programming for the Foreign Service community by reaching out to new recruits and deepen- ing engagement with those already serving. On June 15, AFSA hosted a lunch at its headquarters for the State Department’s new class of consular fellows who will soon be posted abroad to support the work of the Foreign Service. In his opening remarks, Ambassador Rubin explained AFSA’s role as a nonpartisan professional association and union serving Foreign Service employees. He was joined by AFSA State Vice President Tom Yazdgerdi, who dis- cussed the types of issues that AFSA works on to sup- port its members individually and as a collective bargaining unit. On July 11, AFSA spon- sored a lunch at the Foreign Agricultural Service’s annual global attaché conference, held at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. AFSA’s FAS Vice President Lisa Ahram- jian introduced Amb. Rubin, who touched on the associa- tion’s reform priorities and highlighted AFSA engage- ment on FAS’ ongoing payroll and human resources issues. Ahramjian provided an update on renegotiation of the FAS–AFSA collective bargaining agreement and also presented the results of the FAS morale and retention survey conducted by AFSA that closed in June. Survey feedback mirror- ed many of the reforms requested by members in other Foreign Service agencies, such as leader- ship accountability, as well as FAS-specific actions that could help the agency better serve its stakeholders and meet its mission. n AFSA President Eric Rubin speaks to the newest class of consular fellows on June 15. JULIAWOHLERS AFSA President Eric Rubin addresses Foreign Agricultural Service officers at the annual global attaché conference on July 11. HANNAHCHAPMAN