The Foreign Service Journal, October 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2020 37 With a spotlight on State’s lack of diversity in the senior ranks, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs has stepped forward with a practical program to create real change. BY STACY D. WI L L I AMS Stacy D. Williams is chair of the Diversity Council in the State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. A native of Shreveport, Louisiana, he began his career at the State Department as a Presidential Management Intern in 1997 and has held Civil Service assignments in the Office of the Inspector General, the Under Secretary for Management’s Office, the Office of the Director General, the Bureau of Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States and the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He played a key role in the emergency humanitarian response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, working in the Operations Center. He is currently deputy director in the Office of Haitian Affairs. He has also served as president of the Thursday Luncheon Group, the oldest employee affinity group at State. He received the International Career Advancement Program’s 2016 Signature Diversity Award. I nstitutional change may seem daunting, but with committed staff dedicated to addressing systemic challenges that have left valuable employees behind, positive change can occur. The Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Diversity Council has provided the advocacy necessary to stimulate action toward dismantling systemic racism and address other issues that prevent the bureau from realizing its full potential. During the summer of 2018, immediately following a town hall on diversity conducted by Acting Assistant Secretary Francisco “Paco” Palmieri, several participants met and drew up a game plan establishing the WHA Diversity Council. Several months later, the WHA Diversity Council Core Group fleshed out the structure and values for the council, created a comprehensive intranet website, and launched an employee FOCUS ON ADVANCING DIVERSITY & INCLUSION profile page featuring both Foreign Service and Civil Service staff. The council also identified 10 workstreams to advance specific issues; these include policy communications, speaker series, statistical analysis, Foreign Service bidding and Civil Service development, to name a few. Today, with persistence and support from across all leader- ship levels, including from Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie Chung, WHA’s Diversity Council is putting into practice policy, programming and processes to advance its key pillars: recruitment, retention and professional development. Constructive Advocacy WHA’s Diversity Council has sought a range of speakers from both within and outside the State Department to generate discussion, debate and ideas for change. Speaker series events One Bureau’s Model for Moving Forward