In the News Archives - State Magazine

A musician plays Taps on his bugle while Ambassador Kenneth Merten (left) and Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired (DACOR) President James Dandridge II (second from left) lay a wreath at the DACOR memorial monument, May 31. Photo by Jenifer Morris

Foreign Affairs leaders honor Department employees’ sacrifices

By Tom Brannan On the last Monday in May, Americans observe Memorial Day, honoring members of the U.S. military who have died in service of their country. On that same day at a small cemetery...

Mission Australia’s office management specialists stand outside of the chief of mission residence at Embassy Canberra. Photo by Timothy Dolstra

Mission Australia hosts OMS workshop

By Scott Kennedy and Lisa Cantonwine Embassy Canberra hosted an office management specialist (OMS) workshop for Mission Australia staff, May 7. Participants from the embassy and the consulates in Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney gathered at...

Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Bill Klein (right side of table, third seat from the left) opens the first annual Mission China Diversity and Inclusion Councils Workshop, May 20. Photo by Nan Hanchao

Mission China’s D&I Councils work together to effect positive change

By Kristin Gilmore Following a series of community-led conversations about structural racism in the United States in August 2020, then-Ambassador Terry Branstad called on the embassy and consulates in Mission China to establish Diversity and...

U.S. direct-hire and Greening Diplomacy Initiative Award winner Reid Deaver (right) gives the North Macedonian Minister of the Environment Naser Nudedini (left) and Ambassador Kate M. Byrnes (center) a tour of Embassy Skopje’s environmental projects. State Department photo

GDI awards announced

By Peter Brukx Acting Under Secretary for Management Carol Z. Perez announced the winners of the Department of State’s 2021 Greening Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) Awards on Earth Day, April 22. These awards help to identify...

A Nicaraguan family located in Carpio, San José, receives aid from volunteers from the embassy during the height of the pandemic, July 2020. Photo by Donald Ridder

Embassy San José helps local community overcome crisis

By Donald Ridder The Carpio community, located near Embassy San José, is an example of how marginal neighborhoods in Costa Rica with large Nicaraguan populations have endured hardships that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated. Carpio...

Partnership feeds Department’s hunger for data

By Matthew Graviss, Ph.D. The Department of State is developing opportunities to transform itself into a more data-centric culture, positioning employees to make better-informed, evidence-based mission decisions. Changing internal culture doesn’t happen overnight for any...

From left: Students Anthony Carrie and Ellie Chester attend their graduation from American International School of Algiers at Embassy Algiers, June 2. Photo by Jessica Lilley

AISA celebrates its first graduates

By Jessica Lilley This year marks a milestone for the American International School of Algiers (AISA) as the institution celebrates its first cadre of graduating middle schoolers. AISA’s success is a remarkable achievement and demonstrates how...

“I Still Believe in Our City” posters were designed by artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya for free usage at protests and rallies in speaking up for the Asian American community. Illustration by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya

Employee Affinity Groups stand against anti-Asian violence

By Malene Carr and Moshtayeen Ahmad The recent murders of eight people in Atlanta—including four Korean and two Chinese women—a brutal assault on a Filipino woman in New York City, an attack on a Chinese...

From left: American Institute of Taiwan Managing Director Ingrid Larson and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States Representative Bi-khim Hsiao initiate a new era of U.S.-Taiwan cooperation at the memorandum of understanding signing ceremony in Arlington, Va., March 25. Photo courtesy of TECRO

Strengthening U.S.-Taiwan maritime cooperation

By Fred Vellucci The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish a Coast Guard Working Group...

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry (center) at a roundtable with women leaders in energy and climate in India, April 2021. State Department photo

Climate envoy travels to United Arab Emirates, India, and Bangladesh

By Emma Sylves-Berry As the first-ever Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC), former Secretary of State John Kerry leads U.S. diplomatic efforts to reassert U.S. climate leadership and raise global ambition to meet the world’s daunting climate challenge. After traveling to London, Brussels, and Paris in March, Kerry traveled to Abu Dhabi, New...