The Foreign Service Journal, December 2022

AFSA NEWS 72 DECEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL AFSA Welcomes Incoming Classes At a series of recruitment lunches in September and October, AFSAmet with the Foreign Service’s newest hires to introduce them to the benefits of association membership. To welcome the FS Orien- tation 166-212 class, a large group numbering almost 200 generalists and specialists, AFSA hosted three lunches at its headquarters. The class is made up of 16 Pickering Fellows, two Rangel Fellows, nine former Con- sular Fellows, eight Foreign Affairs IT (FAIT) Fellows, one Fulbright Fellow, one American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow, and one English Language Fellow. Forty-three class members are Diplo- matic Security special agents, and 16 are information man- agement specialists. More than one quarter of the class has previous State Department experience as employees, contractors, or eli- gible family members (EFM), and more than half have previous U.S. government experience gained outside the department. Class members speak the “big six” languages of the United Nations as well as Albanian, Amharic, Arme- nian, Bulgarian, Cantonese, Czech, Dari, German, Greek, Haitian Creole, Hindi, Indo- nesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Polish, Portuguese, Roma- nian, Serbo-Croatian, Swa- hili, Swedish, Tamil, Tajiki, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uzbek, and Vietnamese. Members also have proficiency in Bambara, Fulani, Malinké, Quechua, Uyghur, Wolof, and Zulu. On Oct. 27, AFSA was pleased to meet with new offi- cers from the USAID C3-33 class in the first in-person recruitment event with the agency in more than two years. The class is made up of 21 officers across nine different specialties, or backstops. Eight have previous USAID experience, and 11 join the agency with a professional background in nonprofits and humanitarian organiza- tions. In total, they speak 16 different languages and have worked and studied in 64 countries. Finally, the 22nd class of limited noncareer appoint- ment (LNA) hires met with AFSA leadership on Oct. 31. Of the group’s 57 members, 37 are Consular fellows, 16 are Civil Service LNAs, and six are Appointment EFMs. The class includes 25 former State Department employees, contractors, EFMs, and interns or fellows, and an additional 13 have prior U.S. government experi- ence outside of the State Department. Some have worked for the Peace Corps, in counterintelligence, and as refugee resettlement coordi- nators. AFSA is continuing to welcome incoming classes at in-person lunches in Washington, D.C. For any new employees who have not had a chance to sign up for AFSAmembership, please join us! Write to mem- ber@afsa.org for more on how to become a member. n AFSA’s USAID Vice President Jason Singer (front right) answers questions from members of the USAID C3-33 class over lunch on Oct. 27. AFSA/JULIAWOHLERS AFSAGoverning Board Meeting, October 19, 2022 The board met in person at AFSA headquarters. Awards: At the recommendation of the Awards and Plaques Committee, the Governing Board approved the selection of nine individuals to receive AFSA’s 2022 Matilda W. Sinclaire Language Award for outstanding success in learning a Category III or IV language. Associate Member: The board approved the appli- cation of one new associate member. AFSA Memorial Plaque: The board approved the addition of one name to the virtual memo- rial plaque on AFSA’s website (https://afsa.org/ virtual-afsa-memorial-plaque) . Support for Podcast: The Governing Board voted to continue to support the American Diplomat podcast. n