The Foreign Service Journal, October 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2020 47 For our most recent initiative, AAIFAA worked with fellow employee groups to address toxic behaviors and improve representation at the Department of State by creating a diver- sity and inclusion checklist that has been shared with senior leadership, beginning with the regional bureaus. The checklist is a compilation of simple but effective steps each principal deputy assistant secretary can utilize to address representation issues and unconscious bias, and hold accountable those who demonstrate harmful behavior. Using the checklist effectively will also help promote better discussion and problem-solving, as well as boost morale, and therefore support retention. Standing together with the other employee groups and speaking with one voice gives tremendous weight to our goals of encouraging diversity and holding harmful individuals accountable. AAIFAA has raised its organizational profile and collaborative spirit among other employee groups, and we look forward to continued efforts and coordination for future campaigns and initiatives. We realize that more needs to be done—and now is the time to do it. Staying active as an employee group despite the restrictions of COVID-19 and social distancing, the organiza- tion is finding creative ways to continue engaging and advocat- ing for its membership. By canceling social events where AAIFAA once promoted professional networking and show- cased exhibits, music, cuisine and stories, we are putting more focus on the work we can do to advance and promote Arab American representation at all levels of management and policy in the federal interagency community. To do that, AAIFAA is committed to coordinating efforts, initiatives and meeting notes, and to working alongside col- leagues in other affinity groups and allies in leadership roles to advance our collective cause together. Through collabora- tion, AAIFAA and other employee groups are making a positive difference for the U.S. Department of State and our national security. To learn more about AAIFAA, write to AAIFAABoardMembers @state.gov. Nadia Farra, chair of Arab-Americans in Foreign Affairs Agen- cies (AAIFAA), is the senior Syria desk officer in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the State Department. She joined the Civil Service in 2011 as a Presidential Management Fellow at USAID. Mahmoud El-Hamalawy, communications officer for AAIFAA, is an outreach officer in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs at the State Department. He worked as a producer for Al Jazeera TV’s Washington bureau before joining State in 2018. GRACE: Reflections on Diversity and Inclusion By the GRACE Steering Committee D iversity and inclusion are core tenets of the Christian faith, and GRACE, as the State Department’s first employee affinity group based on religion, seeks to advance these prin- ciples in the department and beyond. GRACE’s mission is to promote a culture at State that embraces the ability of employees to manifest religious belief in the workplace. It is commonly thought that one’s religious background and beliefs should be a private part of one’s identity that is not discussed. GRACE’s perspective, however, is that one’s religion is key to our individual and cultural identity and should not have to be hidden or suppressed, including in the workplace. One’s faith background can play a significant, positive role in one’s work, as evidenced by the lives of leaders who have recently passed away, including John Hume, C.T. Vivian and John Lewis. Beyond religious freedom, GRACE also seeks to contribute to the broader conversations and policy changes that help ensure improved diversity and inclusion in the department. Religious liberty is a foundational principle in the Con- stitution and other sources of law. Accordingly, in 1997 the Clinton administration released guidelines affirming the right of religious expression in the federal workplace and prohibit- ing discrimination based on one’s religious (or nonreligious) beliefs. More recently, the Trump administration has reinforced these guidelines and emphasized their importance. Nearly a quarter century since the Clinton guidance was issued, GRACE members and adherents of other faiths still have concerns about expressing their faith or exercising religious practices in the workplace. As a multicultural organization, GRACE is also aware of— and takes seriously—the unique challenges facing our members of color at State. GRACE welcomes open and honest discus- sions that provide the foundation for the mutual understanding necessary to advance positive change. Racism of any kind runs contrary to the core Christian tenet that all people are made in the image of God and are therefore valued, unique and to be celebrated. It is out of our love and reverence for God that we are called to love others.