The Foreign Service Journal, December 2021

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2021 39 make personal pitches to powerful sena- tors and representatives regarding Foreign Service pay and benefits, funding for diplo- macy and development, and other issues. Foreign Affairs Council. It was Amb. Boyatt’s idea in 2002 to bring together a dozen foreign affairs organizations under one umbrella to jointly advocate for the interests of the U.S. Foreign Service. Those organizations include AFSA, the American Academy of Diplomacy, the Association of Black American Ambassadors and the Foreign Service Youth Foundation. As FAC president since 2002, Amb. Boyatt has made the case for funding for diplomacy and development in testimony before Senate subcommittees, in written FAC reports that he co-authored, in press conferences and in meetings with suc- cessive Deputy Secretaries of State. He still leads the FAC today, and expects to lead it in an initial meeting with Secretary Antony Blinken’s senior management team when the COVID-19 situa- tion permits a face-to-face meeting. Foreign Service Grievance Board. While serving as AFSA’s retiree vice president from 2015 to 2017, Amb. Boyatt suggested that the Governing Board become actively involved in the previ- ously staff-coordinated process of nominating Foreign Service retirees to serve on the Foreign Service Grievance Board and Foreign Service Labor Relations Board. Beginning in 2015, and continuing through his term as AFSA secretary from 2017 to 2019, Amb. Boyatt actively recruited distinguished retirees to be nominated for those boards, with a focus on seeking those who strongly support the rights of employees. The benefits of that effort can be seen in the January 2021 FSLRB decision in which two FSLRB members recruited by Amb. Boyatt ordered the State Department to award meritorious service pay increases to hundreds of employees. AFSA Bylaws Amendments. While serving as AFSA secretary from 2017 to 2019, Amb. Boyatt chaired the Governing Board committee that proposed substantial revisions to the AFSA Bylaws. Faced with disagreements between the AFSA president and other Governing Board members concerning a series of deci- sions regarding AFSA operations, staffing and expenditures, Amb. Boyatt drafted amendments to the association bylaws that specified the issues on which the AFSA president must consult with the executive committee and the full Governing Board. The AFSA membership overwhelmingly approved those amend- ments. In summary, while serving in three different positions on the Governing Board since 2001, Amb. Boyatt led four major innova- tions that strengthened AFSA as an organization, increased its operational efficiency and made it a more powerful advocate for the interests of the career Foreign Service. It is for these reasons that Amb. Boyatt, who now resides in Charlottesville, Virginia, is richly deserving of the 2021 AFSA Achievement and Contributions to the Association Award. During the past 20 years, Amb. Boyatt has led four major innovations that strengthened AFSA’s role as the voice of the Foreign Service, both as a professional association and a labor union. Ambassador Thomas Boyatt (at right) at the AFSA awards ceremony in June 2016, pictured with fellow recipients of AFSA’s Award for Lifetime Contributions to American Diplomacy, Ambassador Ruth A. Davis (center) and former Senator Richard Lugar (at left). AFSA