2010 Annual Meeting
2010 Annual Meeting The Cohen Group May 4, 2010 12 noon-2:00pm
The American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) hosted its 2010 annual meeting at The DLA Piper/ Cohen Group, and had the pleasure of welcoming Ambassador Nancy Powell, Director-General of the U.S. Foreign Service, as the keynote speaker.
Over fifty Academy members, financial supporters, and friends gathered for a discussion focusing on the future of the U.S. Foreign Service, in light of new positions and funding for the State Department and USAID. Of particular interest was managing the influx of new hires, as well as the long-term, institutional challenges of managing growth in the Foreign Service.
Ambassador Thomas Pickering, Academy Chairman, provided welcoming remarks, and Ambassador Ronald Neumann, Academy President, introduced Ambassador Powell, who addressed the crowd and took questions from Academy members. The major themes discussed at the meeting were the importance of filling vacant positions including those for critical languages in the Foreign Service, the necessity of a training float that would allow Foreign Service officers time to take training classes, and how the Academy could identify synergies between its membership and the Service.
Academy members also provided an update on various AAD activities and programs, such as the new project it is leading to augment FSI’s current course offerings to new and junior officers, membership, and recent events and outreach related to the Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future project.