May 2022 Letter from the President
Podcasts Galore!
The foreign affairs community is an amazingly supportive group! I have noticed an uptick of resources available to officers and EFMs, especially since the COVID pandemic forced us to go virtual. This includes many podcasts and webinars circulating that are of interest to the foreign affairs community.
AAFSW has not ventured into the realm of podcasts yet – but we are excited about a new project with the Cox Foundation. We will be creating six “oral histories” based on topics relevant to the foreign affairs community including EFM employment, raising third culture kids, LGBTQI discussions, foreign born spouses, and more. Our interviewers have already begun speaking to individuals in our community. We hope you will find these oral histories interesting and noteworthy. Stay tuned for their release later this year.
Meanwhile, have you checked out any of these podcasts?
Big Purple Blob – They offer emotional support for EFMs and Expats around the world. A group of specialists who are trained Life Coaches bring wisdom & understanding to all of us facing the challenges of frequent moves and life overseas. Parenting, Marriage, and YOUR questions answered. I don’t know all of the amazing people behind this podcast series – but want to give a shout out to one of the life coaches, Jennie Linton. Jennie is a 2021 SOSA honorable mention recipient, for her volunteer work in Shanghai, There, she organized Consulate volunteers to create and deliver nearly 120 reusable hygiene kits to help girls attend school in India and Kenya.
Recent podcasts have covered topics related to Raising Multicultural Kids, Unaccompanied Tours, LGBTQI officers, EFMs and friends and Evacuations.
https://thebigpurpleblob.libsyn.com/
Available Worldwide – An interview-style podcast by, for, and about the accompanying partners of the US Foreign Service who are creating portable careers abroad. It highlights voices that will inspire and encourage you as you explore what it means to be “available worldwide.” The EFMs behind this podcast, Lauren McKinnon Steed and Stephanie Arnold also put together an interesting multiweek series in 2021 called the FS Education and Lifelong Learning Expo. AAFSW was thrilled to present during this expo and took the opportunity to share more about our organization and how we support the foreign affairs community. It is a private Facebook page, and all the sessions were recorded for watching at a later time.
https://www.spreaker.com/show/available-worldwide
Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST) – has multiple podcasts available on their website. At ADST, there are three great podcasts series: In Their Own Voices (previously Poor Richard’s Podcasts), Partners in Diplomacy, and Modern American Diplomacy. Each of these podcast series are being developed to capture different points of view and focuses within the topic of Diplomacy.
The Embassy Wealth Podcast – Crowdsourcing the best financial and investment advice from the American foreign affairs community
https://tinyurl.com/embassywealth
Did I miss any? Please share additional podcasts with AAFSW, we’d love to hear about them!
Lara
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