SPEAKER 1: Foreign Service Officers, Specialists, and Civil Service professionals from diverse
ethnic, cultural, educational, and geographic backgrounds work in the United States and
abroad to help amplify America's foreign policy and promote our values and interests to ensure
the safety, security, and stability of our country.
RON: My honest evaluation would be that Cape Town is one of the greatest cities on the
planet.
I go to one of my favorite parks just down the street, the Tokai Forest Park, where I
run the trails.
And that gives me an opportunity to stay in shape and really, at this point, it's probably
one of my favorite places in Cape Town, because it allows me to just de-stress and to-- to
feel good again.
I'm a Diplomatic Security Special Agent.
I'm the Regional Security Officer here at U.S. Consulate General Cape Town.
I did come from a law enforcement family, so that's something that always interested
me.
I didn't really get an interest in serving at the federal level until I went to college
and majored in political science and had a lot of classes in international affairs and
really became interested in traveling all over the world.
One of the great things about this job and a lot of jobs within the Foreign Service is
that you have that opportunity to meet an array of different people.
You never know what you're going to do from one day to the other.
When you're in the-- in the field office, for example, in the United States, one day
you could be doing an investigation in a certain neighborhood, and the next day, yes, you could
be trailing the Secretary of State or some other foreign dignitary.
Diplomatic Security Special Agents are half diplomat and half police officer, and I think
that's a good way to look at it.
And so we-- we definitely are enhancing the image of the United States overseas.
The Diplomatic Security Special Agent, when they're back home in the United States, is
responsible for conducting investigations into U.S. passport and U.S. visa fraud, and
also doing protection for U.S. foreign dignitaries who visit the United States, and also for
doing personal background investigations.
A Diplomatic Security Special Agent is a member of the United States Foreign Service.
I think sometimes when you're with some of these dignitaries, whether it be the Secretary
of State or the U.S.-- U.N. Ambassador, or some other foreign dignitary, I think you
don't really think about what you're doing at the time, you're just, you're so focused
on what it is you're supposed to be doing, whether that's protection for them or-- or
trying to figure out what the route may be for them to get to the next location.
Sometime afterwards, whether it's weeks afterwards-- sometimes months afterwards-- you sit back
and think about that, you say, wow, I was there as they were actually negotiating that
peace treaty or they were signing that peace treaty or-- or whatever it may be.
JANE: One of our big mission goals here in South Africa is economic empowerment.
And so one big thing that we do here at the U.S. Consulate in Cape Town is we have an
American Corner in downtown Cape Town where we teach classes.
So we work on coding classes, on job readiness skills, we have young people that we're teaching
how to be youth journalists.
The more that we can help build skills, build confidence, also build leadership skills and
leadership traits in young people, the better.
One of the most important things that I've gotten out of this career is that ability
to pass that love of travel, that inquisitiveness, that sense of being a global citizen to my
children.
I think they'll be better American citizens knowing that they're actually global citizens.
I joined the Foreign Service 14 years ago.
I was a graduate student, I was doing a PhD in art history, and I was really interested
in helping to showcase American culture to the world and create a life that is fully
engaged in the world around us.
If I've contributed anything to this profession, I hope it's that I've put a positive face
on the U.S. for the world.
JOSE: I was assigned to oversee new construction and renovation of the U.S. Embassy in Niamey,
Niger.
Making those buildings a work of architecture that represents American society and the American
government is, for me, a very important aspect of the work I do.
Most of the people that interact with us as Americans overseas, especially in developing
countries, their interaction is going to be limited to the embassy.
I have been a practicing architect for 18 years before I joined the Department in 2010.
I worked with a series of small, medium, and large firms in the private sector.
One of my hobbies, one of my passions is to travel.
So that sounded pretty interesting, putting two passions-- construction, design, and travel
together.
In every country, doing a project inside a U.S. embassy or participating in the building
of a new U.S. embassy, it is a very prestigious project.
So people do take a lot of-- lot of pride in being part of that-- of that team.
JULIANA: In the process of looking for opportunities to work in Latin American policy, I knew that
I had to get a job at the U.S. Department of State headquarters.
I knew that I had to make my way to D.C.
I was essentially exploring my options when I was finishing undergrad, and at that point,
I knew I wanted to get into public service and be able to contribute back to the community
where I was raised.
And it was something that I was very passionate about, so I knew that was my route.
And I was exploring the various sectors and kind of came across the Department of State
as a blend of being able to have a direct impact on migration-- being able to somehow
contribute to my community at the same time.
So as an intern in-- at the U.S. mission in Geneva, I was able to experience firsthand
multilateral negotiations at the United Nations and the World Trade Organization and the International
Labor Organization.
I try and go for a run every day in the mornings, and that-- that allows me to refresh, reset
my brain, and pull away from everything, but also being able to enjoy D.C.
The capital.
I mean, it's-- it's-- it's quite exciting to be here and doing policy work, but also
getting a glimpse of-- the reality is, I made it!
I made it here.
REBECCA: My history with Brazil started approximately 12 years ago, and I was going into my junior
year of college and I saw a picture of Rio and I knew that I just had to go there.
As a Consular Fellow, I work specifically in the Consular section of the U.S. Embassy
in Brasilia.
I am the person who's interfacing with the local public, who gets to interact with Brazilians,
who gets to speak Portuguese.
When I go on an outreach trip, I am representing the Consular section, so I'm expected to provide
services that would be relevant to the different aspects of the section, which would be non-immigrant
visas and American Citizen Services.
I believe that this is one of my greatest contributions is I am serving people both
abroad and in the U.S. ETHAN: I think if you told me that I had to
live in one place for the next 20 years of my life, I wouldn't be able to handle it.
I looked at all of the different career options and the Office Management Specialist career
seemed to most match my interests and qualifications.
I studied English literature in university and I personally had a variety of different
experiences.
I worked in real estate.
I served as an English language instructor overseas.
There's no one path to becoming an Office Management Specialist.
I already loved the idea of living and working overseas.
I'd forge my path just to-- just to get that experience.
I've been with the State Department for 10 years and I began to look for different opportunities
working in political and economic sections.
I would get the opportunity to work in an executive office and to serve a principal
covering a different range of activities.
Don't count yourself out, because this is an incredible opportunity.
And no matter where you're coming from, this could be the career for you.
SPEAKER 1: The challenges we face demand a wide range of skills and experience in IT,
construction, medical services, cybersecurity, office administration, operations, and management.
We need experts with these and other specialized skills, creative problem solving capabilities,
and global perspectives to support and expand our efforts worldwide.
EVELINA: I come from an immigrant family.
My family has no connections.
We emigrated from Poland when I was eight years old.
My parents had little more than a few hundred dollars in their pockets.
Fast forward to today, and I am a U.S. diplomat representing our government overseas.
I analyze the impact of the evolution of a wide range of issues such as aviation, transportation,
telecommunications policy, labor.
And I analyze how that impacts the economy in the United States, so job growth, increased
prosperity, increased trade, ways that we can grow our own economy by-- by strengthening
our diplomatic relationships overseas.
One of the events that I worked on was convening a discussion on the sharing economy, which
is, you know, the Ubers, the Airbnbs, and other sharing platforms and their role in
today's economy.
And we discussed, like, where is this new market place taking our economy?
What are the regulatory implications?
What are the consumer protections that we need to be thinking about moving forward?
When I'm doing this outreach, I'm not at my desk.
I'm all over London, I'm outside of London.
I have to admit, I wasn't expecting the State Department to be what it is.
I don't know what I was expecting.
Perhaps a government job that focuses largely on reading through documents and writing reports,
but it's turned out to be the most remarkable experience.
And I get to support our leaders in their mission and do a job that matters.
DEBORAH: The medical provider in the life of the embassy community is the sole provider
for care of diplomats as well as direct hires that are stationed to a particular embassy
or consulate.
So we take care of immu-- immunizations.
We assess the problems that people have when they come in, the medical problems.
We may do physical exams, order x-rays or various different lab tests, come up with
a diagnosis and we treat, just like we do in-- in the States.
But this, in a sense, is on a smaller scale, whereas I may not only act as the-- the lab
technician on various-- on certain days, but I may actually run the lab.
JULIE: I worked for eight years as a structural engineer.
I worked for design firms in California and in Utah.
And then I joined the Foreign Service.
I was relocated to London to work on the new London embassy as well as some regional projects
within Europe.
It is challenging working on such a big project.
It's very fast moving and we have to keep on top of everything.
The contractor often comes to us with questions regarding clarifications to the-- the drawings
or field conditions that don't meet what we were expecting, and in order to keep the project
on schedule, it's really critical for us to resolve these issues very quickly.
Our crew consists of both American and local engineers.
Our-- our basic role is to ensure that the government gets what they paid for, so this
means ensuring that the construction meets our standards.
This can consist of anything from reviewing shop drawings and submittals to out in the
field spending a lot of time monitoring the work and making sure that what was installed
was-- was what was contracted.
Ensuring that the building meets all of our safety and security and functionality requirements.
We do spend a fair amount of time in the office reviewing drawings and-- both hard copies
and-- and on our computers.
The Overseas Building Operations' mission is to build safe, secure, and functional buildings.
LAURA: I am part of a tandem couple.
That means my husband is also a Foreign Service employee.
We have a five-year-old son and he speaks Spanish fluently.
Work-life balance takes on a whole new meaning when you're talking about living all over
the world with your family.
I think it's also important to-- to have that sense of balance within you before you join
the Foreign Service.
Know that your career will be a balance of both hardship and not so hardship tours.
I came in as an Information Management Specialist.
My academic background might be more typical for a Foreign Service Officer, but I-- I actually
think that having that background and the tech skills that I picked up along the way
after college are a perfect blend.
That's a big part of the job, is to provide feedback on-- on the Department's technology
from a field perspective and then to help the field understand what Washington is trying
to accomplish with the new technologies.
Here in Mexico, there's an embassy group, a Women in STEM working group.
I feel like I well represent the T of the STEM field.
And through that working group, I've had some great opportunities.
It's not just a working group that-- that is made up of members of embassy employees,
but also of contacts in Mexico.
I am passionate about the Department of State's mission and I understand the IT guys.
I'm not in it for the 0's and 1's, but I totally get that part of it, and so I think that's
what I bring to the table, is to be able to translate between the two and to move the
mission of diplomacy forward with technology.
JIM: Mexico City is a large place.
Over 100-- 1,400 employees assigned to this mission, over 13 different goverment facilities
throughout Mexico City.
There's over 29 different government agencies, all of which-- we have just about everybody
here.
Right now, I'm a Special Agent assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City.
So in 2004, after I finished out in Fallujah, I had an opportunity to re-enlist the Marine
Corps for another four years.
So I did.
And I joined the Marine Security Guard Group assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy.
I met my now wife Laura.
She was a seasoned Foreign Service Officer.
I got an opportunity to work with the Foreign Service in the U.S. State Department.
In fact, many government agencies, but specifically the State Department, we worked hand-in-hand
with the Diplomatic Security.
And it was an opportunity for me to see something in a career outside of the U.S. Marine Corps.
I did everything that I possibly could to make sure I was set and prepared as possible
to be a Diplomatic Security Agent.
As a Special Agent domestically, we look at kind of two main portfolios-- everything from
cybersecurity to overseas protection.
But more importantly, domestically, we look at our investigative portfolios-- huge for
us-- passport and visa fraud, and also we do protection for foreign dignitaries that
travel within the United States.
Another 50% of our work is all overseas.
Where overseas?
Our main mission is to provide a safe and secure environment for the conduct of foreign
policy.
Period.
So one of the biggest rewards of working for the U.S. Department of State is to continue
on with my public service within the U.S. government.
Bring the U.S. culture into this country and talk about how essentially what the United
States is and break down barriers and remove perceptions, and-- and that's an incredible
responsibility and also just highly rewarding for me.
STACY: My whole aspiration had been getting to Washington D.C., because I saw the-- the
monuments, the-- the capitol, the mall, the White House.
And I felt like, that would-- would be the perfect place for me to begin my career.
The idea of internships and work experience is the best thing that we have going.
For me, I felt like there were a range of people, and these are what I call baby boomers
who came-- who were there for me, and I felt like I had to be there for this generation
now to provide similar guidance as well.
Because just like me, I had dreams-- so do they.
And how do you help them reach those goals?
I think that's what our responsibilities are as-- as senior officials.
So I filled out the application for an internship overseas.
Very next summer, I end up in Zambia.
And of course, I had to persuade my parents that I should go and spend 10 weeks there,
which was life changing, and that was the point where I said, well, this is very different
and this is the career path for me.
And I actually ended up in the Presidential Management Internship program.
I'm now the Acting Deputy Director in the Office of Haiti Special Coordinator.
We are now trying to work with the Governor of Haiti to complete this electoral process.
We have a strong team of about 12 people dedicated to the economic, political, consular-related
issues associated with assisting the people of Haiti.
We work with our embassy in-- in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but it takes all of us to get this
where it needs to be to get the people of Haiti of a better future.
The other point is that Foreign Service or Civil Service, you're supporting your country
in some profound way.
And it takes all of us to make that work.
SPEAKER 1: America's diplomats work in sometimes dangerous circumstances, but they accept these
risks in the service of our country, because they know the United States must continue
to be a force for peace and progress in the world.