Candidates for the 2025-2027 AFSA Governing Board Election

The AFSA Committee on Elections is pleased to announce that the individuals listed below have met the established requirements set forth in the January 15 call for nominations and the AFSA bylaws and will therefore appear on the ballot for the AFSA Governing Board for the 2025-2027 term. All regular voting members of AFSA who were in good standing as of March 7, 2025, will receive, by email or mail, a ballot and the candidates' campaign statements on or about March 31, 2025.

AFSA is pleased to offer those members for whom we have a valid email address the opportunity to vote online. Please read the instructions accompanying the ballot carefully. Completed ballots must be received by 8:00 a.m. EDT on April 15, 2025, in order to be counted. The new AFSA Governing Board will take office on July 15, 2025.

A virtual Town Hall meeting with the candidates has been set for Wednesday, March 26, at 12:00 p.m. This event will be recorded and made available on the AFSA website. The candidates' statements will be posted on the AFSA website in the coming days. Visit the elections webpage to view. An invitation to the town hall is forthcoming.

If you have not already done so, please ensure AFSA has your current email and mailing addresses on record. Note that private email addresses are preferred. To update your address information, send an email to member@afsa.org.

IMPORTANT: If you do not receive any type of ballot by April 7, 2025, please contact election@afsa.org and provide your full name, work location, current email and mailing addresses, and telephone number.

2025-2027 Governing Board Candidates:

President:

John Dinkelman ^
Tom Yazdgerdi +

Secretary:

Sue Saarnio

Treasurer:

John Naland

State Department Vice President:

Peter Burba
Rohit Nepal +
Mary Brett Rogers-Springs
C. Logan Wheeler ^

USAID Vice President:

Randy Chester
Kevin Sampson

FCS Vice President:

Jay Carreiro +

Retiree Vice President:

Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley ^
John O’Keefe +

Full-Time State Representative:

Sandra Abrahamsen ^

State Representatives (5):

hannah draper ^
Donald Emerick ^
Connor Ferry-Smith ^
Christina Higgins
DeMark Schulze ^
Stephanie Straface +

USAID Representative:

Austan Mogharabi ^

FCS Alternate Representative:

Joshua Burke +

APHIS Representative:

Joseph Ragole

USAGM Representative:

Gunter Schwabe +

Retiree Representatives (2):

Jennifer Bonner
Donald A. Camp ^
Yolonda Kerney ^
Michael D. Kirby +
Julie Nutter +
Tedde Thompson

+ denotes a member of the “Diplomacy Matters” slate.

^ denotes a member of the “Support and Defend” slate.

Note that no eligible candidates came forward for the positions of FAS Vice President and FAS Alternate Representative. Write-in campaigns for those positions are welcome. Please be advised that it is against agency policy and federal law to use union or government/employer resources (email, phones, time, etc.) in connection with union elections. Prior to conducting a write-in or other campaign, be sure to review the Instructions to Candidates and DOL Guidance on Use of Government and Employer Resources. Should there be no write-in candidates, the new Board will fill these vacancies upon taking office in July.

Regards,

Paul V. Oliva
Chair, AFSA Committee on Elections

Please visit www.afsa.org/election for additional information.