The Foreign Service Journal, December 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2018 85 AFSAAward Runners-Up M. JUAN I TA GUESS AWARD RUNNER - UP LORI DOUTRICH Lori Doutrich is one of this year’s runners- up for the M. Juanita Guess Award for her resilience and leadership skills as community liaison office coordinator during an emergency evacuation of Embassy Nicaragua. In early 2018, following violent protests and the deadliest civil conflict since the end of the Nica- raguan Revolution, all eligible family members and certain direct hires in Managua were evacuated. From the moment the evacuation was ordered, Ms. Doutrich worked to make sure American families had the resources they needed. Ms. Doutrich helped families with such things as getting the subsistence expense allowance and daycare in their safe haven to pet care, working extended hours while simultane- ously having to evacuate her own family from post. She created a support network for all evacuees in Wash- ington, D.C., organizing child playgroups and lunch meetings at Main State for direct hires, and ensuring everybody had the resources they needed during this tumultuous period. M. JUAN I TA GUESS AWARD RUNNER - UP KAREN FIFIELD Karen Fifield is also a runner-up for the M. Juanita Guess Award for her tremendous dedication to the families in the mission community at Embassy Santo Domingo. As community liaison office coordinator at a post challenged by an embassywide move to a new housing complex and devas- tated by hurricanes, Ms. Fifield was relentless in scheduling events and instigating conversations to help people articu- late these challenges, discover they were not facing them alone and strategize about addressing the difficulties as a community. Ms. Fifield capably fulfilled the many roles a CLO can play in the community. When back-to-back hurricanes struck in the fall of 2017, she ensured that every community member had the information and resources they needed to safely proceed—whether sheltering in place, accepting voluntary departure or splitting families when employees traveled on temporary duty to help other affected missions. She has been a source of empathy and ingenuity as fam- ily members navigated the eligible family member hiring freeze, often undergoing unexpected separations or loss of joint income as a result. As the embassy community transitioned to a new hous- ing compound that now holds half of the community, Ms. Fifield helped families deal with a constantly fluctuating move schedule. Her intervention and coordination across management offices were particularly critical in ensuring that the simul- taneous start of the school year was the driving factor in scheduling and prioritizing household moves, minimizing the extent to which a jarring change at home would spill into other parts of families’ lives. NELSON B. DELAVAN AWARD RUNNER-UP MARIA DELFINA VALENTINE During a period of crisis at post in Bamako, Maria Delfina Valentine, already busy in her role as office management specialist, stepped in as community liaison office coordinator and made a real difference in post morale and welfare. Ms. Valentine was named the runner-up for the Nelson B. Delavan Award because of her community outreach and contributions to the morale and welfare of the U.S. mission in Mali. By taking on the responsibilities of the CLO, she distin- guished herself as a transformational leader. She personally organized and led more than 14 community events, includ- ing a visit to an ostrich farm, boating trips on the Niger River and encounters with Tuareg peoples, whom she invited to the embassy to teach traditional tea ceremonies and sell handicrafts. An avid gardener and environmentalist, Ms. Valentine organized an Earth Day tree planting event at which mission staff joined local children to plant trees in school yards. The event was a success, attracting half the mission, as well as media attention from journalists across the country. AFSA NEWS AFSA EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE AWARDS Continued on page 86 COURTESYOFMARIAVALENTINE Maria Valentine at an ostrich farm near Bamako.