Bureau of Information Resource Management’s IT Sustainability Working Group accepts the award for the 2023 GDI Award for Excellence in Team Sustainability Performance, from left: Acting Chief Sustainability Officer Caroline D’Angelo, Nicole Zimbelman, Michael Timm, Acting Office of Management Strategy and Solutions Director Brett Pomainville, Cecelia Henderson, Assistant Secretary Alaina Teplitz, Carolyn Washington-Solaru, Billy McGowan, OBO Director Ambassador William Moser, Christopher Diggs, Nadine Hunt, and Simon Kuh, April 25. Photo by Mark Stewart

2023 Greening Diplomacy Initiative Awards announced

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...
American trainers and Saudi coach participants close out the second phase of the sports diplomacy initiative youth camp, April 1. Photo by Rebecca Stark

ConGen Jeddah leverages community sports in Saudi Arabia

By Dan Buchman  Throughout 2023, the U.S. Consulate General in Jeddah has coordinated with American non-profit Global Sports Partners, and a local organization, Team Up, to train Saudi coaches in U.S. coaching styles and sports. This initiative—which...
LE program students, Foreign Service officers from Embassy Rome, and instructors and representatives from the Office of the Procurement Executive and the General Services Office gather for a ribbon cutting ceremony, March 27. Photo by John A. Crisafulli

Empowering LE staff through training

By Sewit Mulat The Office of the Procurement Executive, Office of Acquisition Policy, Strategic Communications and Policy Division (SCP) conducted the first successful in-person procurement training for locally employed (LE) staff in Rome, March 27-31....
Ambassadors and representatives from participating posts gather for the opening ceremony of the 13th Friendship Soccer Tournament hosted in Bangkok, Feb. 19. Photo by Sophy Sam

Soccer brings regional partners together in Bangkok

By Eiampichairit “Pinky” Chompoonuj and Russell Phillips Nearly 600 players, supporters, friends, and family members from U.S. embassies and consulates in Bangkok, Hanoi, Phnom Penh, Rangoon, Vientiane, Chiang Mai, and Ho Chi Minh City came...
A participant from Embassy Tirana photographs their competing drinks for the virtual mocktail challenge. Photo courtesy of Embassy Tirana

Mocktail challenge ignites employee creativity

By Karina Guzman In April, for Alcohol Awareness Month, the Bureau of Medical Service’s  Wellness Program and Employee Consultation Services’s Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program partnered to host a virtual challenge called, “Beyond Club Soda...
Workshop attendees gather with Ambassador Philip Goldberg (center) after his remarks, April 6. Photo courtesy of Embassy Seoul

Northeast Asia FAST workshop promotes new ideas

By Scott J. Lavon  Emerging from some of the world’s longest COVID lockdowns, first and second tour (FAST) personnel from Mission China, the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong, Mission Japan, Mission Korea, and Mission...

Tech glitches offer clues to exposing disinformation

By Davor Devcic, John Noren, Benjamin Friedman The Global Engagement Center’s (GEC) Technology Engagement Division ran a hybrid Tech Engagements Talk regarding artificial intelligence (AI) tools, July 14, 2022, at the Harry S Truman Building. Recent...
From left: Jeff Trandahl, CEO and executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF); Dr. Holly Bamford, chief conservation officer of NFWF; and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar attend the inauguration of the pollinator garden at the chief of mission residence in Mexico City, Feb. 2. Photo by Carlos Guizar

U.S. Mission Mexico pollinator conservation initiative

By Katiana Garcia Rosado The U.S. Mission in Mexico launched a conservation initiative to build pollinator gardens at posts across Mexico, illustrating America’s commitment to sustainable environments for critical migratory species, while also strengthening cross-border...
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst (center) and Consul General Panfilo Marquez (left) visit the Peshawar Museum, March 17. Photo by Saqib Jan

Promoting religious diversity in Pakistan through cultural preservation

By Shah Bano Durrani Peshawar Valley is located northwest of Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and contains some of the most fertile lands in all of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The area was not only a melting pot...
Director of Sembrando Inglés Comercial Andrea Bellolio, Manager of the Southern Cone Countries of the Inter-American Development Bank Florencia Attademo-Hirt, President of Uruguay Luis Lacalle Pou, First Lady Lorena Ponce de León, U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay Heide Fulton, and Director of the Binational Center Luciano Bermúdez at the Sembrando Inglés Comercial launch program, March 28. Photo by Francisco Casal

English program in Uruguay attracts attention

By Lucia Arbelbide The U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay Heide Fulton and Uruguay’s First Lady Lorena Ponce de Leon launched the Sembrando Inglés Comercial program in March 2023. Embassy Montevideo celebrated the program’s third consecutive year by...

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