By Qiana Smith
The Department of State’s 2023 Earth Day celebration was presented by the office of Under Secretary for Management (M) John Bass, April 25. The celebration featured a video (internal link) message to the workforce from Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other Department leaders; town hall discussion with Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Administration Alaina Teplitz, Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) Director Will Moser, and Acting Chief Sustainability Officer Caroline D’Angelo; and the much-anticipated announcement of the 2023 Greening Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) Awards and GDI-OBO Resilience Innovation Fund projects.
Embassy Dar es Salaam was the overseas winner of the 2023 GDI Award for Excellence in Team Sustainability Performance. In 2022, Embassy Dar es Salaam made significant strides in improving efficiency, reducing waste, and engaging with the embassy and local community through eco-diplomacy initiatives.
The Bureau of Information Resource Management’s Information Technology (IT) Sustainability Working Group was the domestic winner of the 2023 GDI Award for Excellence in Team Sustainability Performance. The IT Sustainability Working Group identified 19 IT sustainability initiatives resulting in an estimated lifetime cost avoidance of more than $300 million (as of FY 2022) to the Department.
More than 1,100 Department employees voted for their top choice among the team nominees, electing Embassy Islamabad as the winner of the 2023 People’s Choice Award for Team Sustainability Performance.
– Alex Raley, from the Bureau of Administration, won the GDI Award for Excellence in Individual Sustainability Leadership for Domestic U.S. Direct Hires.
– Alla Kamins, of Consulate General Karachi, won the GDI Award for Excellence in Individual Sustainability Leadership for Overseas U.S. Direct Hires.
– Lauren McBroom, of Embassy Dar es Salaam, won the GDI Award for Excellence in Individual Leadership for Overseas Employed Eligible Family Members.
– Yusif Abasov, of Embassy Baku, won the GDI Award for Excellence in Individual Sustainability Leadership for Locally Employed Staff.
GDI-OBO Resilience Innovation Fund winners were Embassies Asuncion, Baku, Bishkek, Bogota, Islamabad, Kingston, Lomé, Luxembourg, Mexico City, Muscat, Manama, Nairobi, New Delhi, Panama, Santo Domingo, Seoul, Singapore, Vilnius, and Consulate Generals Ciudad Juarez and Recife. Winning projects included a seaside retention wall, electric vehicle charging stations, rainwater catchers, LED retrofits, drought resistant landscaping, irrigation systems, recycling and composting programs, and small-scale renewable energy projects.
The GDI Awards showcase innovative and impactful initiatives that advance U.S. diplomacy and support the Department’s efforts to meet the federal mandates outlined in Executive Orders 14008 and 14057 and the Federal Sustainability Plan.
Qiana Smith is a senior policy advisor in the Office of Management Strategy and Solutions.
