William R. Rivkin Award for a Mid-Level Officer:
Anna Boulos, Consulate Tijuana | While serving in Tijuana, Ms. Boulos challenged Mission Mexico’s consular management over policies that exposed adjudicators to an increased number of Visa Lookout Accountability violations, harming their chances for tenure and promotion. Ms. Boulos requested AFSA’s assistance to advocate for reforms to VLA procedures. As a result of her efforts, the Consular Affairs Bureau’s Visa Office recommended rule changes that have benefited all officers who adjudicate H2 visas in Mexico.
William R. Rivkin Award for a Mid-Level Officer:
Timmy Davis, Consulate Basrah |As Consul General in Basrah, Mr. Davis embodied the best traditions of the Foreign Service and constructive dissent. During the lead-up to the Sept. 28, 2018, decision to suspend operations and evacuate the consulate and its nearly 1,000 staff, and the subsequent carrying out of that evacuation, CG Davis showed courage and conviction in presenting the case for the continued operation of U.S. Consulate General Basrah.
W. Averell Harriman Award for an Entry-Level Foreign Service Officer:
Moises Mendoza, Consulate Matamoros | Mr. Mendoza is honored for his extraordinary two-year efforts to make U.S. Consulate General Matamoros safer by ensuring his colleagues had training in dealing with medical emergencies, at great personal cost. As the consulate has no medical unit and local health facilities are poor, Mr. Mendoza was concerned that colleagues having a medical emergency could die before help arrived. Despite bureaucratic obstacles, he became an emergency medical technician and a CPR instructor in order to make post safer.
It doesn’t look like there are awardees for the Christian A. Herter Award for a member of the Senior Foreign Service(FE OC-FE CA) or for the F. Allen “Tex” Harris Award for a Foreign Service Specialist.
Note that the State Department’s Dissent Channel and USAID’s Direct Channel are unrelated to AFSA’s dissent awards. AFSA states that it welcome any discussion and encouragement of dissent within the foreign affairs agencies, but messages sent through these channels will not necessarily come to AFSA’s attention unless cited in a nomination.
Criteria for the Dissent Awards
The awards are for Foreign Service employees who have “exhibited extraordinary accomplishment involving initiative, integrity, intellectual courage and constructive dissent”. The awards publicly recognize individuals who have demonstrated the intellectual courage to challenge the system from within, to question the status quo and take a stand, no matter the sensitivity of the issue or the consequences of their actions. The issue does not have to be related to foreign policy. It can involve a management issue, consular policy, or, in the case of the recently established F. Allen “Tex” Harris Award, the willingness of a Foreign Service Specialist to take an unpopular stand, to go out on a limb, or to stick his/her neck out in a way that involves some risk. Nominees may or may not have used the formal dissent channel. Recipients receive a trophy as well as a $4,000 cash prize. Click here to read more about what constitutes dissent.
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