PRESIDENT’S VIEWS
Challenges and Opportunities
BY SUSAN R. JOHNSON
This is my first column as
AFSA president, and my first
opportunity to warmly thank
all who reposed trust in me to
carry on AFSA’s tradition of
working together to advance
the interests of the Foreign
Services of all our member agencies.
My thanks, as well, to all voters who participated in the election for their support of AFSA — our collective voice.
Within days of taking office, I sought
a meeting with Under Secretary for
Management Pat Kennedy to hear what
he and his team are doing to implement
overseas comparability pay and the expanded definition of Eligible Family
Members/Members of Household. I
am pleased to report that they have
moved expeditiously on both fronts.
By the time this column appears,
those of you overseas should soon see
the first of three planned annual salary
adjustments that should move us toward ending a longstanding inequity.
However, we need to keep Congress focused on achieving this final objective.
Management is also implementing
changes that will make same-sex partners
eligible for most of the benefits that they
have long sought. Both of these breakthroughs are hard-won, historic achievements, made possible by AFSA’s
diligent work and Secretary Clinton’s
Susan R. Johnson is the president of the
American Foreign Service Association.
unequivocal support.
On the broader front, the
change in AFSA’s leadership
coincides with an important
time for the Foreign Service.
The new administration has
taken up its responsibilities at
a time of systemic global crisis. Governments and foreign ministries worldwide are trying to adjust to new
imperatives of development, which demand diplomacy that delivers visible
and measurable results.
An energetic, creative and united
AFSA, focused on constructive partnership with the Secretary and her
team, will maximize our ability to get
the resources and the policies necessary
for a high-quality, 21st-century diplomatic service and development program.
My broad goal as president is to
make AFSA a stronger, more effective
and credible voice of our Foreign Services, better able to represent, protect
and advance our professional interests.
To get there, we will focus on modernizing the way AFSA does business and
improving our communications capacity to make full use of new technologies.
State Vice President Daniel Hirsch and
I have already met with AFSA staff to
establish a working group that will update our online presence to make it a
premier site: user-friendly, interactive
and relevant to our membership.
I also encourage those of you serv-
ing overseas to work closely with your
AFSA post representatives, and hope
that all AFSA members will share their
ideas and concerns with their respective
constituency vice president and representatives — and with me (Johnson@
afsa.org). Such engagement will enable us to more fully realize AFSA’s potential as a robust professional association and bargaining unit for all our active-duty and retired members. The
perspective of our retiree members,
reflecting their experience, is especially
valuable in helping us identify effective
ways to make all of our agencies the
premier institutions that they can and
should be.
The previous AFSA Governing
Board, led by John Naland and Steve
Kashkett, has delivered important
achievements, with overseas comparability pay, staffing increases and expanded Eligible Family Member benefits at the top of the list. I am sure that
I speak for the new board in thanking
them — and AFSA’s dedicated professional staff — for their sustained work.
As the new AFSA Governing Board
begins its term, we need your support,
your suggestions and your constructive
criticism as we seek to work together
to refresh, update and strengthen
AFSA to meet the challenges before
us. We want to promote transparent
and collaborative governance for better results, but we need you to make
that happen! ■
