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This is an archived USAID document retained on this web site as a matter of public record.
WHERE IN THE WORLD...
In this section:
Williams, Others Elected to AFGE Leadership Positions
Gupta Named World Food Prize Laureate
Jordan Named Counselor to Agency
Scholarship Awarded
Reassigned
Retired
Promoted
Moved On
In Memoriam
Williams, Others Elected to AFGE Leadership Positions
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Incoming officers for AFGE Local 1534, the union that
represents General Schedule employees at USAID, were
sworn in May 18 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington,
D.C.
Harry Edwards, USAID |
Lawrence Williams, a financial management specialist in
the Office of Food for Peace and a 34-year USAID employee,
is the new president of the American Federation of Government
Employees (AFGE) Local 1534. Williams and 11 other union officials
were sworn in May 18 at USAID headquarters.
AFGE Local 1534 represents more than 8,000 General Schedule
(GS) employees at USAID, the State Department, and the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
The other incoming officers with USAID ties are Sylvia Joyner,
executive vice president; Gertrude Neely, secretary; Jeremiah
Perry, first vice president for USAID; and Margaret Hunt,
second vice president for USAID.
“The union here at AID and State and OPIC is very important,”
Williams said after being sworn into the presidency by Russ
Binion, AFGE’s national vice president for district 14.
“The reason I’m serious about this position is that
I want the people at these agencies to have a voice.”
Williams, who has been a member of the union for nearly
18 years, said his goals include growing the membership, increasing
communication among members, and educating employees about
their rights.
While it is one of the fastest growing locals in the region—between
60 and 80 people joined last year—the 600 or so current
members represent just a fraction of workers who are eligible
to join.
“One of the things that our local has had a problem
with over the years is lack of communication,” said Williams,
who quit the union in frustration—for just six months—about
two years ago. He has promised emails and regular mailings
to keep members up to date on union news and aware of their
rights.
He also wants to develop a cadre of members who can ascend
to the executive board.
And the union is looking to encourage more members to sign
up as stewards, who are the first contact for employees who
may need to file a grievance because they believe their rights
may have been violated.
The message Williams wants GS workers to get: “You
are the union; I just represent you. I want to open the doors…”
Potentially challenging issues ahead for the union include
the new pay-for-performance personnel rules, which are being
piloted at the Department of Homeland Security this fall and
may be implemented widely in the future.
In addition, the USAID contract that covers employee rights
hasn’t been renegotiated since 1987 (contracts are usually
renegotiated every three years), and does not specifically
address common workplace concerns like the Family and Medical
Leave Act and compressed work schedules.
AFGE is the largest federal employee union and represents
600,000 federal and District of Columbia workers nationwide
and overseas.
Membership dues, based on salary, range from about $8 to
$11.75 per pay period.
Gupta Named World Food Prize Laureate
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Modadugu Gupta, 2005 World Food Prize laureate.
World Food Prize Foundation |
Modadugu Gupta, a scientist whose work is bringing the Blue
Revolution to a million poor people in Asia and Africa, is
this year’s World Food Prize laureate.
For the last four decades, Gupta worked on aquaculture issues,
most recently while with the WorldFish Center. While in Bangladesh,
USAID’s mission supported his work.
Gupta developed methods of fish farming that require little
money and cause no environmental damage. The result has meant
that landless farmers, poor women, and others could turn small
bodies of water into “mini-factories churning out fish
for food and income,” says the World Food Prize Foundation.
“Through his dedicated and sustained efforts in Bangladesh,
Laos, and other countries in Southeast Asia, Dr. Gupta made
small-scale aquaculture a viable means for over 1 million
very poor farmers and women to improve their family’s
nutrition and wellbeing,” said Kenneth M. Quinn, president
of the World Food Prize Foundation, during a ceremony to announce
Gupta’s prize.
Administrator Andrew S. Natsios delivered the keynote address
during the event at the State Department June 10. “He
can truly be credited with bringing the Blue Revolution to
the poor,” Natsios was quoted as saying in the Des Moines
Register.
As a result of Gupta’s efforts, the Blue Revolution
has meant a dramatic rise in freshwater fish production—in
some countries, the increase is three to five times higher
than before Gupta’s methods were employed.
The World Food Prize, which includes a $250,000 award, will
be formally presented to Gupta during the World Food Prize
International Symposium in October at the Iowa State Capitol
Building.
Jordan Named Counselor to Agency
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Mosina Jordan was named counselor to the Agency June
6.
Angela Rucker, USAID |
Mosina Jordan was named counselor to USAID June 6, moving
from her post as senior deputy assistant administrator for
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). She succeeds Carol
Peasley, who recently retired.
The counselor to the Agency advises Administrator Andrew
S. Natsios and other senior staff on a range of policy, operational,
and management issues. The counselor is the most senior career
officer position in the Agency, and also serves as ombudsman
for USAID employees.
Jordan, who describes her new role as both exciting and
daunting, said: “The Agency is working in a new global
environment, and USAID must be out front to meet the development
challenges and achieve our U.S. foreign policy objectives.
“To meet these challenges, the Administrator has a
vision for improving the Agency’s operational efficiencies.
As counselor, I want to work with the Administrator and with
all of our employees to make this vision a reality. Together
we can strengthen our Agency’s ability to carry out its
mandate, particularly during this significant period of global
change.”
One of those goals is to ensure the Agency is able to provide
quality information when responding to external requests from
the White House, Congress, and other federal agencies.
She also plans to focus on addressing employee concerns,
including the concerns of FSNs, understaffing at the Agency,
and ways employees in Washington “can have a better appreciation
and understanding of our work in the field. Both our Washington-based
and field staff have dealt with constraints and impediments
and best practices on the ground. We need to share this information
to be more effective in achieving results.
“I think serving as a mission director…has given
me a good understanding of what the opportunities and challenges
are out in the field,” Jordan added, “and serving
here in Washington has given me a more comprehensive understanding
of our challenges inside the Beltway. Collectively, these
experiences will enable me to work with our employees to be
more responsive to the concerns raised out in the field and
here in Washington.”
Jordan has worked at USAID for more than 20 years. Before
taking on her assignment in LAC, she served as mission director
in Jamaica, Barbados, and Guyana; USAID representative in
Belize; and deputy mission director in Cameroon. She also
served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic.
“I’m excited about taking on this role,”
she added. “I’m a people person and a team player.
I’m very results oriented, and anybody who has worked
with me knows I like to pull together a game plan and get
the work done.”
Scholarship Awarded
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Andrea Zvinakis
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Andrea Zvinakis, the daughter of Dennis and Anh Tuyet Zvinakis,
is one of 23 winners of the academic and art merit award competition
of the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA).
The scholarships are awarded annually to children of active
and retired foreign service officers.
This year, Andrea was the only child of an USAID employee
to win a scholarship—$1,500 in the academic merit award
category.
She recently graduated from the International School of
Bangkok (ISB) with high honors, and will be attending the
University of California, Berkeley, in the fall.
Andrea attended four high schools. She started her freshman
year at the Jakarta International School in Indonesia, but
was involved in two security evacuations. Each time she landed
at a different high school in Washington, D.C. Her junior
and senior years were at ISB, where she was a three-letter
athlete and captain of the varsity volleyball team. She also
edited and designed the school yearbook, and was involved
in numerous charity events through Habitat for Humanity.
AFSA awarded $26,750 in scholarships this year.
Students who applied for the academic merit award were judged
on their grade-point average, SAT score, two-page essays,
letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, and
any special circumstances.
Reassigned
Sandra Amin
AA/LAC to M/HR/EM
John L. Anderson
Uganda/PPD to ANE/TS
Roger A. Bloom
EGAT/AG/ARPG to E&E/EG/MT
Donald J. Brady
Nigeria to Afghanistan/OM
Caroline B. Brearley
Bosnia Herzegovina to COMP/FSLT
Sherry F. Carlin
West Bank/Gaza to Pakistan/OD
Shannon M. Darcy
AA/LPA to GH/OHA/IS
Markus D. Dausses
COMP/NE/OJT to Afghanistan/OM
Mary J. Dostert
E&E/EG/MT to EGAT/DC
Peter G. Downs
ANE/SAA to Afghanistan/OPPD
Matthew R. Drake
OIG/I/AFR-ANE to RIG/Cairo
Yvette M. Feurtado
Colombia to Iraq/OAA
Christian G. Fung
COMP/LWOP to COMP/FS
Kerrin Lyle Goodspeed
DCHA/FFP/EP to M/OAA/CAS
Steven K. Gale
AID/W Temp Ceilings to AA/PPC
Dale J. Gredler
COMP/NE/OJT to Indonesia/OP
Martin Edward Hanratty
EGAT/PR/PASSN to Iraq/OMD
Tujuana Howard
AA/E&E to GH/SPBO
Deborah Ann Hymes
M/IRM/TSI to M/IRM/CPFM
Sean M. Jones
Jordan/EO to Iraq/HEO
Barbara J. Krell
COMP/FS to Afghanistan/OM
Rebecca J. Krzywda
COMP/LWOP to El Salv/CONT
Julian Armand Lanier
M/FM/CMP to PPC/RA
Jeffrey R. Lee
Caucasus to EGAT/AG/AM
Dawn M. Liberi
Nigeria to Iraq/OMD
Manuel Marroquin
RCSA/RCO to Haiti/D
Rosella Marshall
M/OAA/DCHA to M/OAA/POL
Christopher B. McDermott
Pakistan/OD to GH/OHA/IS
Nils Mueller
COMP/NE/OJT to Senegal/CONT
Tanya J. Nunn
GC/AFR to Iraq/OMD
Thomas Michael Olson
EGAT/AG/AM to Fry
James E. Painter
PPC/RA to AA/PPC
Sally Jo Patton
COMP/FS to AFR/DP/POSE
Susan P. Pologruto
DCHA/PPM to DCHA/DG
Patricia L. Rader
EGAT/PAICO to Pakistan/OD
Gerald C. Render
M/OMS to Afghanistan/OM
Gary Robbins
Egypt/EG/ED to Egypt/PSD
Muneera Salem-Murdock
PPC/DCO to PPC/DCO
Frederic G. Scott
WB/Gaza to Afghanistan/OPPD
Shelia E. Scott
ANE/SPO/SPPM to ANE/SPO/B
Joseph C. Williams
ANE/TS to M/HR/TE
Retired
Maribess Armstrong
Wanda R. Dixon
Carol Payne Flavell
Donald M. Harrison
Ronald D. Harvey
Joseph F. Lombardo Jr.
Carol A. Peasley
Paulette M. Prestwood
Gerald C. Render
Christine M. Wegman
Promoted
Bonita M. Blackburn
Public health advisor
Catherine M. Brawner
Traffic management specialist
Arthur W. Brown
Comptroller
Stephanie N. Budzina
IDI program/project officer
Carol Chan
Supervisory program specialist
Barry Collins
IDI executive officer
Markus D. Dausses
IDI executive officer
Victor De Leon Diaz
IDI executive officer
Linda J. Douglas
Auditor
William C. Hansen
IDI executive officer
Joseph Hirsch
IDI program/project officer
Sean Huff
IDI program/project officer
Juanita E. Jones
Liaison specialist
Betty M. Mangum
Financial management specialist
Darren A. Manning
IDI executive officer
Evelyn W. Martin
Administrative operations assistant
Stephen Riggs
Telecommunications specialist
Rebekah Stutzman
Program analyst
Katherine Valdez Osborne
IDI program officer
Sharonne C. Williams
Administrative specialist
Sylvia Denise Wimbley
Human resources specialist
Lynn P. Winston
Financial management specialist
Moved On
Yolanda V. Aiken Whitley
James M. Anderson
Kristin D. Lobron
Eilene B. Oldwine
E. Anne Peterson
Michelle L. Pinkerton
Ivan J. Serpa
Gene R. Ward
In Memoriam
Paul des Rosiers, 68, died May 3 in Arlington, Va.
Des Rosiers was an environmental protection specialist in
the Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture, and Trade’s
Office of Environment and Science Policy. He joined the Agency
in 1997, and oversaw environmental impact assessments to prevent
contamination from hazardous and toxic wastes in developing
countries. Though based at USAID/Washington, des Rosiers traveled
the world, meeting with officials as well as villagers who
lacked electricity or running water in their homes. As one
of the Agency’s senior environmental professionals, des
Rosiers also served as a mentor to new environmental officers.
Before joining USAID, he spent 21 years with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency.
Jerry Fink, 79, died May 3 in North Huntington, Pa.
From 1974–80, he worked for USAID, serving as the legal
advisor for the International Narcotics Control Program in
Thailand, Burma, Mexico, and Colombia. He also served as legal
advisor to the Office of Contract Management and the Office
of Housing Loan Guarantees for Lesser Developed Countries.
From 1980–81, he served as legal advisor to the Sinai
Support Mission, supporting the Sinai Field Mission Observers
and electronic sensor surveillance in the Sinai. From 1981–84,
he served as deputy general counsel for the Multinational
Force and Observers, an international organization, and the
U.S.-Egyptian-, and Israeli-sponsored peacekeeping operation
in the Sinai at its headquarters in Italy. He retired in 1984.
James Ford, 83, died May 18 in Washington, D.C. Ford
joined the agency that preceded USAID in 1952, and began his
foreign service career in Libya as a livestock officer. He
also worked in Nigeria, where he was the chief food and agricultural
officer. Later, he was posted to Brazil and The Gambia. He
retired from USAID in 1975. Ford held a bachelor’s degree
from Florida A&M University and master’s degrees
in animal science and economics from Tennessee State University
and Kansas State University. Before joining the foreign service,
Ford taught at Fort Valley State College, Tennessee State,
and Alcorn State University.
Alan Getson, 64, died May 26 in Arlington, Va. Getson
retired from USAID in 1995 after spending much of his career
in Africa. He served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand
in the early 1970s, and then joined USAID as a health and
population officer, serving in Tunisia, Cameroon, and Rwanda.
He was project development officer in the Bureau for Africa
through the late 1980s, and served as deputy mission director
in Mali from 1991–93, during which time he was promoted
into the senior foreign service. From 1993–95, he was
deputy director of the Bureau for Africa’s Office of
Sustainable Development. Upon retirement and until 2002, Getson
was a technical advisor on AIDS and child survival programs
within the Bureau for Global Health.
Robby Hayes, 58, died June 7 in Silver Spring, Md.
He was a space management specialist in the Facilities Management
Division, and retired from USAID in 2001. Hayes joined the
federal government after graduation from high school, but
left to join the Army in 1965. He served in Germany and at
Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Washington, D.C. as a
medical assistant. After leaving military service, Hayes returned
to the federal government and worked at the State Department
for several years before joining USAID.
John Larocca, 89, died May 4 in Washington, D.C. Larocca
joined the predecessor agency to USAID in 1959, and served
as a controller in Libya, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Nigeria, Costa
Rica, Jordan, Turkey, Vietnam, and Washington. He retired
from USAID in 1977. After retiring, he accepted special assignments
in Ivory Coast, Niger, and Zaire.
Jessie Vogler, 81, died May 26 in Arlington, Va. Regarded
by her colleagues as the “dean” of the Office of
Food for Peace (FFP), Vogler served as an officer there for
more than 30 years. She is believed to be the longest-serving
officer in FFP’s history. She ran many of the Title 2
programs in the Middle East, and later was part of the Special
Projects and Coordination Division. She also trained and inspired
many people in the office before retiring in 1996. One of
them was her son, Ben Vogler, who followed in his mother’s
footsteps and also works for FFP.
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