As incumbents and new candidates, the 21st Century AFSA slate is committed to building on the work and momentum of the 2009-11 GB. We will seek greater engagement and input from our members in all agencies so that we can move forward together to build the 21st century Foreign Service our country needs.

Our slate is a group of nine active duty and recently retired FS members with experience in four of the five generalist career tracks and a wide spectrum of FS functional and geographic specializations. We range in rank and experience from FS03 to FE-MC. We welcome the independent State and Retiree representative candidates who are running and, if elected, will seek to appoint specialists to any unfilled State Rep positions. As a team, we bring extensive AFSA experience, diversity, and a track record of leadership and creativity in bringing about constructive change.

Priorities: (1) resources for all member agencies, particularly operations and pay and benefits – including OCP; (2) increased cooperation with management and AFSA’s role in personnel policy development; (3) issues important to retirees, especially parity with the military on post retirement federal employment; (4) quality of life issues at home and abroad; (5) increasing fairness, reciprocity and transparency in disciplinary and security clearance adjudications; (6) improving promotion and career mobility options for all; (7) as a means to the above ends, improving the image of the Foreign Service and expanding outreach.

As members of the 2009-2011 Board, 21st Century AFSA slate members led the following successes to date:

Getting and protecting implementation of the first two tranches of Overseas Comparability Pay (OCP), raising pay for all overseas FS-01s and below by 16% and continuing the push for the final 8% tranche.

Successfully advocating within the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review process for greater use of retirees, State Department Civil Service, and fast track promotions as quicker, lower cost ways to manage the mid level staffing gap than hiring from outside for State;

Increased attention to training and counseling of employees assigned to Iraq/ Afghanistan/Pakistan;

Reduction of the low-ranking quota from 5% to 2%; Increased Department attention to create better opportunities for advancement for IM, STS, OMS and other specialists, including creating higher level positions and increasing opportunities for excursion tours and conversion.

Reduced stigma of PTSD treatment;

Updated core precepts to make them apply equally to Generalists and Specialists and to recognize the skills required of domestic employees, particularly in DS;

Improved support for employees with Class 2 clearances and disabilities;

Addressed concerns of single members/single-parents in advocacy for family and quality-of-life issues;

Ensured that ePerformance defects were corrected;

Spearheaded the development of standard operating procedures with regard to DS Special Agent LEAP pay and protection of credentials;

Getting Department/HR agreement on a centralized WAE database; initiating discussions on raising the retirement age to correspond with Social Security; opening discussion about Agent Orange compensation for affected retirees;
Increased input from members through more frequent targeted surveys and constituency advisory committees;

Increasing engagement with and testimony before Congress; doubling media outreach and raising the profile of the Foreign Service through expanded high quality AFSA programs (e.g. Lockheed Martin lecture series featuring Ambassador Negroponte, Congresswoman Nita Lowey, General Scowcroft & Ambassador Ridgway moderated by Andrea Mitchell/ Marvin Kalb, Book Notes program);