Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide

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2019 AAFSW Awards Ceremony

2019 AAFSW Awards – Including the SOSA Ceremony
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Department of State

 

On Wednesday, November 20, 2019, AAFSW held its 29th annual AAFSW Awards Ceremony, including the SOSA program, which was presented by AAFSW President, Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen, in the Benjamin Franklin Reception Room in the Department of State. The ceremony highlighted the exceptional volunteer work of ten remarkable individuals.

The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide are grateful to have the continued financial support of former Secretary of State James Baker and his wife Mrs. Susan Baker, who helped establish this award in 1990 to recognize the goodwill of Americans for exceptional community service abroad, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of State George Shultz, the Ambassador Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University and the Green Family Foundation, as well as the support of the Center Family Foundation and countless AAFSW members.

This year, AAFSW recognized five winners for the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA) from five different geographical bureaus. DACOR recognized the winner of the 2019 Tragen Award, AAFSW and the Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs Employment Committee recognized the recipients (this year it was a group award) of the 2019 CCE–EFM Award, and AAFSW recognized the winner of the 2019 Lesley Dorman Award. In addition to all these, this year AAFSW recognized a special winner for the AAFSW Lifetime Achievement Award.

This was an exceptional year for our winners! Secretary of State Mike Pompeo honored AAFSW and the 2019 winners with a private meet and greet which took place the day before the ceremony. Indeed, in the morning of Tuesday, November 19, 2019, Secretary of State Pompeo met with the winners and discussed their interests which led them to initiate and complete their SOSA winning projects. The Associates of the American Foreign Service and AAFSW President Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen are deeply grateful for this special honor afforded to all of us by Secretary Pompeo.

AAFSW and the AAFSW President were also very happy to welcome the AAFSW Honorary President Susan Pompeo, who was the keynote speaker at the 2019 AAFSW Awards Ceremony and honored the awardees with her presence at the ceremony. AAFSW Honorary President Susan Pompeo addressed the 2019 winners and AAFSW guests and members with a heart-warming speech on the importance of volunteerism to the communities in which people live permanently or temporarily. Mrs. Pompeo emphasized the role of volunteerism for her and her family. AAFSW really appreciated Mrs. Pompeo’s remarks as she mentioned her efforts as a volunteer and the significance of the amazing volunteer contributions of the American diplomatic community abroad. With Mrs. Pompeo’s help presenting, the SOSA winners received a certificate of gratitude for their inspiring contributions signed by Secretary of State Pompeo and AAFSW President, Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen. In addition, thanks to our generous donors, each one of the SOSA winners received a cash award of twenty-five hundred dollars as well as a pin that reads “Outstanding Volunteer,” which commemorates the annual AAFSW Ceremony.

The winners were chosen by their projects’ sustainability, scope and reach, change and impact, ingenuity, and leadership. This year’s SOSA winners were presented by Patricia Linderman (AAFSW President Emerita), as the AAFSW SOSA Chair Lara Center could not attend the ceremony. The SOSA recipients are: 1) Marcus Lamb (AFRICAN Bureau), 2) Jennifer Yan (EAST ASIA and PACIFIC Bureau), 3) Carlos Perez (EUROPE and EURASIA Bureau), 4) Zhou Cecilia Zhuang-Haas (NEAR EASTER Affairs) and 5) Claudia Felice-Kuebler (WESTERN HEMISPHERE and the AMERICAS Bureau).

Following the presentation of the 2019 Secretary of State Awards, AAFSW was honored to welcome Deputy Assistant Secretary of Human Resources Mirembe Nantongo to help AAFSW hand out the rest of the 2019 Awards. DAS Nantongo and DACOR President Paul Denig presented the Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award. This recognition, which comes with a two thousand dollars ($2,000) cash award, is funded by an annual gift by Mr. Tragen, who was also present at the Ceremony, in memory of his late wife and is administered by DACOR to recognize a member of the Foreign Service Community who has effectively advocated for and enhanced the global rights and benefits of the Foreign Service Family.

AAFSW is extremely proud that this year’s award recipient is Melissa Brayer-Hess, currently AAFSW’s Vice President I. Melissa was selected for this award for spearheading three long-term initiatives: the AAFSW website, the start-up of the Livelines e-mail group, and the Realities of Foreign Service Lifebook series. Over 15 years after their creation these initiatives continue to positively impact Foreign Service family members and employees every single day. A Foreign Service spouse for 22 years, Melissa accompanied her husband on assignments to Nigeria, Russia, Algeria, Egypt, and Ukraine. In 1998, she created Foreign Service Lifelines, the first website for Foreign Service spouses. The website hosted Livelines, the first “meeting place in cyberspace” for Foreign Service families worldwide. As the site continued to grow, it was eventually taken over by AAFSW in 1999 and became the organization’s official website.

Melissa is also co-author of the book, The Expert Expatriate: Your Guide to Successful Relocation Abroad. The book was written with Patricia Linderman. The two co-authors met on-line and wrote the book by corresponding on-line while living in two different countries. Melissa also developed the idea of creating a book providing a look at Foreign Service life as seen from the inside, written by those who have experienced it. This resulted in Melissa and Patricia co-editing two other books, Realities of Foreign Service Life, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Plans for a third volume are now underway. Melissa holds a Master’s degree in Education and has taught English in colleges, universities, and language schools in Europe, Africa, and the United States.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Human Resources Mirembe Nantongo, along with AAFSW President Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen, presented the 2019 CCE-EFM Award to a group of three amazing individuals. This recognition comes with a seven hundred-and-fifty dollar cash award provided by AAFSW, and it honors an individual or group who has been proactive in advancing Eligible Family Member employment. Expanded Professional Associate (EPAP) Dan Kehoe, Eligible Family Member (EFM) Coordinator Shannon Bland, and Global Employment Advisor (GEA) Daniel Alvarez at U.S. Embassy Mexico City have gone above and beyond their job descriptions and routine daily activities to promote the cause of employment and career development for Foreign Service family members in Mission Mexico. Wholeheartedly dedicated to advancing the professional development of our EFMs, Dan, Shannon, and Daniel have created a multi-faceted EFM employment program that streamlines an inherently cumbersome recruitment process, educates EFMs on hiring preferences and authorities, and promotes professional growth and work options at post.

Dan, Shannon, and Daniel worked hand-in-hand to educate our many community members on varying hiring preferences and authorities. Additionally, they devoted considerable time and effort to develop SOPs and present on this information—for example, the non-competitive eligibility (NCE) that EFMs are entitled to upon return to Washington, DC.

The three also worked closely with our HR LES team to better understand, provide guidance, and identify resources to advise EFMs desiring to work on the local economy. They diligently tracked, updated and consulted on the continually changing process, allowing EFMs to pursue rich and diverse opportunities outside of the Embassy, whether at local schools or by teleworking at their residence.

Streamlined procedures, innovative and expanded trainings, and comprehensive guidance on new or changing policies and regulations has benefitted more than 200 EFMs throughout the Mission, as well as the R/HRO at Consulate Ciudad Juarez and the management officers and CLOs at nine consulates. The three conducted 13 presentations to 60+ EFMs and individually consulted with more than 90 EFMs in the last year. In the ICASS survey, one comment summarizes the results of the dedication of the EFM employment team: “The EFM Coordinator Team provides excellent service to the Embassy community regarding EFM employment opportunities. Thank you!” It is for their innovative and remarkable efforts to adopt best practices and innovations to greatly expand and elevate individual job opportunities for and long-term career enhancement of Foreign Service family members of U.S. Embassy Mexico City that Dan, Shannon and Daniel were nominated for the Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs Award.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Human Resources Mirembe Nantongo, AAFSW State Liaison Dr. Mette Beecroft, and AAFSW President Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen presented the 2019 Lesley Dorman Award to Sherry Barndollar Rock, the former AAFSW Scholarship Chair. Lesley Dorman, who was a former AAFSW President, passed away on August 19, 2016. This award recognizes an AAFSW member who has performed outstanding service in all aspects of the organization and comes together with a silver-plated engraved platter. Sherry Barndollar Rock served alongside her husband, Bud, in a Foreign Service career that spanned nearly 30 years. Both at home and abroad, Sherry’s commitment to volunteering has been among her highest priorities. Through her efforts, the Foreign Service community has benefited enormously, as have the local communities in which she and her family have lived.

During their very first posting in Israel, Sherry volunteered her management and fundraising expertise to the community, aiding schools for handicapped youth and developing sports programs for children of diverse cultural backgrounds. Support to future generations through scholarship has been a key theme in Sherry’s community service. She led the education and scholarship programs at DACOR, later serving as DACOR’s Executive Director. Scholarship continues to be central to the DACOR mission, a legacy of Sherry’s continuous support of the Foreign Service community. It was logical, and indeed fortunate, therefore, that Sherry would then take the lead in managing the AAFSW scholarship program. The program is a strong and key feature of the AAFSW mission and accomplishments. Sherry has provided these same skills and commitment to her community in Virginia, as President of the Arlington Rotary Educational Foundation, where scholarship is among the most important areas of contribution. Sherry’s family accepted her award on her behalf.

Last but certainly not least, during the 2019 AAFSW Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, together with DAS Nantongo, AAFSW President Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen presented the AAFSW Lifetime Achievement Award to Sheila Switzer. Sheila Switzer received this well-deserved award for her leadership, service, and time. AAFSW honors Sheila’s dedication and support of AAFSW and appreciates all that she does for the American diplomatic community and AAFSW as an outstanding volunteer for so many years. Sheila has been an exceptional volunteer bringing people from many different cultures together, organizing over 250 cultural events unifying the diplomatic international and local communities, chairing and welcoming to Washington the Foreign Born Spouses group, chairing the family crisis support fund and helping spouses in sudden transition stand on their feet and find housing and employment, as well as volunteering countless hours in the AAFSW book room and the yearly Art and Book Fair to help raise funds for AAFSW’s annual scholarships and other worthy causes. For many years, she has also taught Etiquette and Protocol courses at FSI as well. If there is a need, Sheila is always there to help. The Lifetime Achievement Trophy reads:
“The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Sheila Switzer, recipient of Secretary of State, Tragen, Avis Bohlen, and Dorman Awards, for her remarkable contributions and volunteer service as AAFSW Program Chair, AAFSW Foreign Born Spouses Chair, and AAFSW Family Crisis Chair. Wednesday, November 20, 2019.”

The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide would like to congratulate all the 2019 winners, and thank Secretary Pompeo, AAFSW Honorary President Susan Pompeo as well as all our distinguished guests who were present at the 2019 AAFSW Awards Ceremony, especially Deputy Assistant Secretary of Human Resources Mirembe Nantongo. AAFSW would also like to thank our generous donors, the Regional Bureaus, the Family Liaison Office, the DOS Media Services and the A/OPR/GSM for all their operational / photography / video support, DACOR, the SOSA Selection Committee, the AAFSW Board, the AAFSW members and volunteers, and the AAFSW Foreign Born Spouses Group members for their continued support of our annual AAFSW Awards Program.

As the AAFSW president, I would personally like to thank our AAFSW State Liaison Dr. Mette Beecroft, our AAFSW SOSA Chair Lara Center, our AAFSW President Emerita Patricia Linderman for stepping in to help at the last minute, our AAFSW Program Chair Sheila Switzer, and our AAFSW Office Manager Barbara Reioux for their boundless support and relentless determination to perfection.

Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen, PhD
AAFSW President

All photos courtesy of the Secretary’s staff, the Secretary’s official photographer, James Pan (A/OPR/GSM photographer), FLO photographer Jacob Miller, and AAFSW members.

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2019 SOSA, Tragen, CCE-EFM and Dorman Award Winners To Be Honored at November 20 Ceremony

AAFSW is pleased to announce the 2019 winners of the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad:

From the AF Bureau:  Marcus Lamb, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

From the EAP Bureau: Jennifer Yan, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

From the EUR Bureau: Carlos Perez, Frankfurt, Germany

From the NEA Bureau: Zhou “Cecilia” Zhuang-Haas, Rabat, Morocco

From the WHA Bureau: Claudia Felice-Kuebler, Quito, Ecuador

 

The remarkable volunteer activities of the awardees include:  

  • Working closely with a local organization to promote IT skill building, resume building and interview skills to Tanzanian girls who otherwise cannot continue their traditional education.
  • Donating time, goods and meals to local charities and nonprofit organizations and ensuring that the embassy community continued to work with these organizations after her departure from post.
  • Providing an array of services to family members through new initiatives from cell phone plans, to creation of a small business hub promoting Eligible Family Member (EFM) and Locally-Employed Staff (LES) trades; partnering with Military Autosourcing and the creation of an international music publishing and management group.
  • Mentoring student teams and helping students network with the Moroccan government, thus securing a grant that will provide 180 families in rural Morocco access to renewable electricity; leading a Women’s Day event with a panel of 60 speakers.
  • Volunteering at Pan de Vida to streamline the organization’s communications strategy; leading a women’s mentoring program with a microbusiness emphasis focusing on underserved minority women in Ecuador.  

AAFSW is also pleased to announce the following awardees: 

Melissa Hess, Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award

Daniel Alvarez, Shannon Bland, and Dan Kehoe, Embassy Mexico City, Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs Award

Sherry Barndollar Rock, Lesley Dorman Award

 

The five SOSA winners, as well as the Tragen, CCE-EFM, and Dorman Award winners, will be honored on Thursday, November 20, 2019 at the AAFSW Annual Awards Ceremony. The ceremony will begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. Refreshments will be served after the completion of the program at 12:00. From 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. members and guests can mingle and take the opportunity to personally chat with the 2019 award winners.

 

The ceremony is free to all AAFSW members, Department of State employees, and guests of winners. Outside guests will be asked to pay $20. RSVP for the ceremony by Friday, November 15 by emailing office@aafsw.org or calling 703-820-5420. We hope you can join us to honor these amazing members of the Foreign Affairs community.

 

Lara Center

AAFSW SOSA Chair

 

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AAFSW Annual Awards Ceremony

AAFSW Annual Awards Ceremony
 Thursday, November 15 at 11:00 a.m.
Benjamin Franklin Reception Room
Department of State
RSVP by Nov. 8

The annual AAFSW Awards Ceremony will take place on Thursday, November 15  at 11:00 am in the State Department’s Benjamin Franklin Reception Room, on the 8th floor of the Department of State, 2201 C Street, Washington, D.C. 

The ceremony will honor 4 recipients of the Secretary of State’s Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA), a recipient of the Tragen Award, a recipient of the “Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs” Award, and a recipient of the Dorman Award.  

The ceremony itself will begin promptly at 11:00 a.m. and refreshments will not be served until completion of the program at approximately 12:00 p.m. At this time members and guests can mingle and enjoy the opportunity to personally chat with the 2018 award winners.

AAFSW members may attend this important event free of charge. Non-member guests (excluding family members and friends of the  award winners) will be charged $20. To RSVP, email office@aafsw.org or call 703-820-5420, providing your full name, date of birth and driver’s license or passport number (required by State Department Security). Non-AAFSW members may send a check to AAFSW, 4001 9th Street N. #214, Arlington, VA 22203. Payments may also be made online via PayPal on the AAFSW website: https://www.aafsw.org/. Scroll down to find the donate button on the ride sidebar. You do not have to have a PayPal account, but may pay with a credit card as a guest.

All participants, except those who have a Department of State badge, must submit their name, date of birth and driver’s license or passport number.

All attendees should arrive by 10:40 a.m. and bring a current passport or driver’s license to gain entry to the State Department. Please go to the C Street Entrance (Between 21st and 23rd Streets) and pass through security. Representatives from AAFSW will be in the C Street lobby to check guests in.

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The SOSA Award recognizes outstanding volunteer service performed overseas by employees, family members, domestic partners and members of household in the following areas: remarkable service to the American community; outstanding activities directed toward the host country; exceptional service in emergencies. 

The 2018 winners of the SOSA Award are as follows:
Abigail Hankin-Wei, Maputo (AF)
Nicola Hil, Guangzhou (EAP)
Matt A. Ellsworth, Nicosia (EUR)
Jessica McInerney, Ciudad Juarez (WHA) 

The Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award honors the memory of AAFSW member Eleanor Dodson Tragen and recognizes a member of the Foreign Service community who has effectively advocated for global rights and benefits. The recipient is chosen for his/her efforts to enhance the global rights and benefits provided to the Foreign Service family.

The winner of the 2018 Tragen Award is Patricia Linderman.

The Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMS (CCE-EFM) Award was created by AAFSW to honor someone who has been proactive in advancing Eligible Family Member employment, in order to call attention to the importance of innovative thinking in the search for EFM work solutions, and to share best practices. 

The winner of the 2018 CCE-EFM Award is Laura Sheehan.

Named after the late Lesley Dorman, the Dorman Award recognizes an AAFSW member who has performed outstanding service in all aspects of the organization.

The winner of the 2018 Dorman Award is Catherine Pierce.

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2016 AAFSW Awards Ceremony

Winners+AAFSW PresidentThe 26th Annual AAFSW Awards’ Program was presented by AAFSW President, Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen, on Thursday, November 10, 2016 at the Benjamin Franklin Reception Room at the Department of State. The Ceremony highlighted the exceptional volunteer work of ten remarkable individuals and can be viewed via Safari here (click link).

The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide are grateful to have the continued support of former Secretary of State James Baker and his wife Mrs. Susan Baker, who helped establish this award in 1990 to recognize the goodwill of Americans for exceptional community service abroad, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Secretary of State George Shultz, the Ambassador Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University and the Green Family Foundation, as well as the support of the Center Family Foundation and the countless AAFSW members.

This year, AAFSW recognized six winners for the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA) from the six geographical bureaus respectively. DACOR recognized the winner of the 2016 Tragen Award, AAFSW and the Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs Employment Committee recognized the recipient of the 2016 CCE–EFM Award, and AAFSW recognized the winner of the 2016 Lesley Dorman Award.

AAFSW and the AAFSW President were grateful to welcome Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Heather Higginbottom who spoke at the ceremony and honored the awardees. The SOSA winners received a certificate of gratitude for their inspiring contributions signed by the Secretary of State, John Kerry, and AAFSW President, Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen. Further, thanks to our generous donors, each one of the SOSA Awardees received a cash award of twenty five hundred dollars as well as a pin that reads “Outstanding Volunteer,” which commemorates the annual AAFSW Ceremony.

This year’s SOSA winners include: Ronit Kirshner Gerarg and Craig Gerard from Dakar, Senegal (African Bureau), who developed a project in a small, rural village in Senegal, Fougoulou, to help build resilience among subsistence farmers; Sofia Blake from Jakarta, Indonesia (East Asia and Pacific Bureau), who carried out a 12-month program to empower women community leaders in Indonesia; Miriam Engstrom from Ankara, Turkey (Europe and Eurasia Bureau), who runs a weekly counseling and stress relief group for Iraqi, Afghan and Iranian refugee women; Bob Castro from Manama, Bahrain (Near East Asia Bureau), who promoted health industry partnerships for the American Mission Hospital of Bahrain and fostered a reciprocal agreement between DACOR and a Bahrain private club; Jennifer Heemstra from Kolkata, India (South and Central Asia Bureau), who organized and performed in 50 concerts with visiting artists, university professors, and Broadway stars to promote intercultural understanding while offering health services; Farah Vinnedge from Brasilia, Brazil (Western Hemisphere and the Americas Bureau), who collected donated desks and chairs and provided them to schools and daycare centers in impoverished neighborhoods.

Following the presentation of the 2016 SOSA Awards, Deputy Secretary Higginbottom and DACOR President, Ambassador Raymond Ewing, presented the Eleanor Dodson Tragen Award. This recognition, which comes with a two thousand dollar cash award, is funded by an annual gift by Mr. Tragen in memory of his late wife and is administered by DACOR to recognize a member of the Foreign Service Community who has effectively advocated for and enhanced the global rights and benefits of the Foreign Service Family.

This year’s award recipient, Leah Evans, was nominated by AAFSW President Emerita, Patricia Linderman, for establishing numerous networks abroad that provided much-needed social and charitable opportunities, for editing two books: “Raising Kids in the Foreign Service” and “A Cup of Culture and a Pinch of Crisis,” with royalties going to AAFSW, and for organizing the “Around the World 5K” race.

This year, AAFSW EFM Employment Committee and Bob Castro presented the CCE-EFM Award to Cindy Jones. This recognition comes with a seven hundred and fifty dollars cash award provided by AAFSW, and it honors an individual who has been proactive in advancing Eligible Family Member Employment. Cindy Jones greatly expanded family member employment at her post, Budapest, through advocacy and direct action. As Community Liaison Office Coordinator (CLO), Cindy organized language training for family members, networked with potential employers, successfully advocated for new jobs within the Mission, and created informational sessions.

This year’s Lesley Dorman Award was presented by Mette Beecroft, the AAFSW State Liaison. Lesley Dorman, who was a former AAFSW President, passed away on August 26, 2016. This award recognizes an AAFSW member who has performed outstanding service in all aspects of the organization and comes together with a silver plated engraved platter. The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide were honored to have members of the Dorman Family present at the 2016 AAFSW Award Ceremony. Together with Lesley Dorman’s friends Stephanie Kinney, Janet Lloyd, and Patty Ryan, Mette Beecroft presented the Lesley Dorman Award to June Carmichael.

June Carmichael has significantly contributed to AAFSW’s fundraising with her hard work and creative ideas such as the “Art in the Cart,” which has become part of the organization’s bookstore in the Department of State. Over the past nine years, June has transformed the Art Corner into the leading profit center for AAFSW’s annual Art & Book Fair, through painstaking research, curative efforts and design work.

Following the 2016 AAFSW Awards Ceremony, Meredith Somers interviewed AAFSW President, AAFSW members and the 2016 AAFSW Awardees on behalf of the Federal News Radio. You can find the interview at http://federalnewsradio.com/workforce/2016/11/foreign-service-awards-show-american-volunteerism-generous-best/.

The Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide would like to thank our distinguished guests who were present at the 2016 AAFSW Awards Ceremony, especially Deputy Secretary Higginbottom, Under Secretary Kennedy, and the members of the Dorman Family. AAFSW would also like to thank our generous donors, the Regional Bureaus, Susan Frost and the Family Liaison Office, DACOR, Karen Mehring, Debbi Miller, Sherry Barndollar Rock and Susan Frost at the SOSA Committee, our AAFSW President Emerita Patricia Linderman for all her contributions, and our own AAFSW Board and Foreign Born Spouses’ members for their continued support of our annual AAFSW Awards Program.

As the AAFSW President, I would personally like to thank our State Liaison Mette Beecroft, our Program Chair Sheila Switzer, and our AAFSW Office Manager Barbara Reioux for their boundless support and relentless determination to perfection.

Dr. Joanna Athanasopoulos Owen
AAFSW President

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Another Successful AAFSW Awards Ceremony


AAFSW annual awards ceremony celebrated SOSA, Tragen, CCE-EFM, and Dorman winners. (Photo courtesy of Mark Stewart, DOS Photographer.)

The annual AAFSW volunteer awards program took place Tuesday, November, 10, 2015 in the Benjamin Franklin Room at the State Department. The ceremony was a success highlighting the volunteer work of nine outstanding individuals. It recognized winners of the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA), the Tragen Award, the Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs (CCE-EFM) Award, and the Lesley Dorman Award.

We were privileged to have Deputy Secretary of State Heather Higginbottom speak and present the awards. Even though Secretary Kerry was traveling, he sent recorded remarks where he congratulated the 2015 winners. In addition, AAFSW debuted a video commemorating the 25th anniversary of the SOSA awards. You can view it on our website.

This year’s SOSA recipients included one DEA Special Agent and five family members. We were honored to have five recipients in attendance for the awards program. The winners included Juliette Marsham McClure (AF), Shannon Argetsinger (EAP), Ernesto Luna (EUR), Karen Forsyth (NEA), Sunny Stimmler (SCA), and Carolynn Poulsen (WHA). Summaries of the winners’ volunteer efforts were highlighted in the November 2015 edition of Global Link.

Following the presentation of the SOSA awards, Deputy Secretary Higginbottom and DACOR president Raymond Ewing presented the Tragen Award. This award is funded by an annual gift from Mr. Tragen and is administered by DACOR. It recognizes a member of the Foreign Service community who has effectively advocated for and enhanced the global rights and benefits of the Foreign Service family. This year’s recipient was Sheila Switzer, who was recognized for her tireless commitment to provide support to and advocate for foreign born spouses who are in Washington, DC. Through the positive impact she has had and continues to have on the lives of countless EFMs in need of support and assistance, Sheila embodies the values of the Ele Tragen award.

This year, AAFSW presented the CCE-EFM Award to Stephanie Arnold. The award honors someone who has made exceptional efforts to promote employment and career development for Foreign Service family members. As US Embassy Dublin’s Human Resources Offices, Stephanie promoted the career enhancement of EFMs at post. She was successful in the revision of a bilateral work agreement where the Irish government now grants blanket work permits to all US diplomatic EFMs upon arrival in country. She also spent two years advocating for additional EPAP positions.

The Dorman Award was presented by Lesley Dorman to Patricia Linderman. Patricia served as AAFSW President from 2011-2015. During her tenure, Patricia presided over the volunteer team that produced the EFM Business Owners Group, EFM Business Directory, AAFSW classified ads, numerous social media groups, happy hours for newcomers, the Foreign Service Hub project, and books such as “Moving Your Household without Losing Your Mind.”
I am sad to say this is my last year as SOSA Chair. I will be moving to Hanoi in Summer 2016. Please be on the lookout for messages from Karen Mehring, the new SOSA Chair. I’ve enjoyed participating in this awards program and can’t wait to see who is nominated in 2016.

Lara L. Center
SOSA Chair

In photo, from left to right – Shannon Argetsinger (SOSA), Patricia Linderman (Dorman Award), Ernesto Luna (SOSA), Sunny Stimmler (SOSA), Deputy Secretary Higginbottom, Stephanie Arnold (CCE-EFM award), Sheila Switzer (Tragen Award), Juliette Marsham McClure (SOSA) and Karen Forsyth (SOSA). Not pictured: Carolynn Poulsen (SOSA)