The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2021 33 interior spaces, and conducting a deep clean of community spaces and furnishings for health and sanitation purposes. She also served as a barometer of post morale, advocating small day-trip excursions, regularly hosting small, socially distanced gatherings to celebrate special occasions, ensuring staff were officially Hailed and Farewelled, and organizing front office com- munity events. During global authorized departure, she facilitated work and payment of numerous household staff and routinely checked on vacant residences. When the pandemic prevented the return to Dhaka of many of her colleagues, she personally coordi- nated and supervised the pack-out of their residences. The pandemic brought economic hardship tomany in Bangla- desh, household staff in particular; Ms. Huerkamp provided food supplies and opened her home to offer various types of training to develop new skills and improve employment opportunities. She did this at some personal risk and without expectation of acco- lades, but for the good of the community. She subsequently sup- ported returning personnel, new arrivals and those in quarantine, providing a warmwelcome and ample provisions. In praise of her efforts, the executive office characterized her thus: Ms. Huerkamp is “the type of diplomat you wish to see repre- senting the United States. She hosts events with style, will dedicate as many hours as needed to deliver on priorities, regardless of the task, and has a rare ability to bring levity during serious times.” Bridgette Huerkamp joined the Foreign Service in 2014. Prior to her tour in Bangladesh, she served in Nigeria and Cambodia. Previously she enjoyed a successful career in the corporate sec- tor serving inmanagement and executive-level administrative roles. Her portfolio required extensive international travel, which inspired a broad appreciation for diverse cultures and sparked her interest in joining the Foreign Service. M. Juanita Guess Award for a Community Liaison Office Coordinator Alisse Sargeant Remaining Behind to Turn Adversity into Action A lisse Sargeant believes that the key ingredient to a thriving community at post is collaboration; and for those serving at Embassy Beijing, it was Ms. Sargeant herself who set an example of working hard in the service of others. When the pandemic hit, she was serving as a community liaison office coordinator (CLO) at her first overseas posting, Beijing. Working in challenging and unpredictable conditions because Mission China was the first post to be faced with COVID-19, she helped maintain cohesion throughout the mission and offered guidance to colleagues at embassies across Central Asia. Embassy Beijing has 400 U.S. direct hires and more than 1,000 fam- ily members. With the pandemic originating in China and the bilateral relationship coming under great strain as a result, the CLO office was put to the test. Mission China went on Ordered Departure on Jan. 31, 2020. Many staff were already out of the country on vaca- tion for the Lunar New Year holiday and were unable to return to post. In total, the mission lost 80 percent of its community. “I, like most others in China, was away on holiday during Chinese New Year,” Ms. Sargeant recounts. “My husband and I made the decision to rush back to Beijing to support the mission in what we knew would be a difficult period. We were among the very few who had the option to remain at post, which brought with it the responsibility to channel opportunity into action.” She coordinated with the Marines, the American Employee Association and embassy leadership to maintain the morale of those remaining, while also working closely with her evacuated Bridgette Huerkamp delivers a tribute during the farewell ceremony for Ambassador James Entwistle and Dr. Pamela Schmoll in Abuja, Nigeria, 2016. Bridgette Huerkamp (at left) receives a token of appreciation from the Mayor of Rajshahi, A.H.M. Khairuzzaman Liton, during U.S. Ambassador Earl Miller’s visit to discuss the regional implications of the pandemic, 2021. Alisse Sargeant.