 Good morning. I am Heather Joy Thompson, and I will be your moderator for today's panel business on a global scale I am a foreign service author and I currently serve in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. This summer I will be moving to Ethiopia to work at the United States mission to the African Union. I have also served in Johannesburg, South Africa and Mexico City, Mexico. Most important, I am a proud alumna of Spellman College and I come from a long line of HBCU graduates. My grandmother, my mother, my aunts, uncles, cousins have all HBCUs, and I have two nephews, Zion and Isaiah, who are currently students at Jackson State and Alabama State University, excuse me, A&M University. My involvement with HBCUs at State is driven by both personal and professional motivations. Before we get into the need of our discussion today, I would like to take a few moments to introduce our spectacular panel. Today we have members of the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, who will serve in the civil service and Hello, this is Lauren. Hi. Tony Fernandez, please tell us a bit about yourself and your job in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. Thank you so much. I'm very pleased to be here with all of you. Let me just tell you a little bit about myself. So my family comes from Africa. We're immigrants from the former Portuguese colony of Cabo Verde. I grew up in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My dad was a business man and he worked in the fish business, and so we had a fish market in a restaurant. And so I was lucky enough to have a great, great experience with that. I'm a graduate of Boston College and also the University of Minnesota Law School, where I practice law in Boston and then moved down to Washington to work for a congressman. Congressman Joe Kennedy in 1996 and then joined the Foreign Service in 1997. I've served in China, Canada, Russia twice, Nigeria, and also Turkey. Right now, I am now a senior leader in the Economic Bureau focused on international trade issues. And so I really look forward to answering questions and talking to you all. Great. Thank you, Tony. Next, we're going to hear from Vera Drafkova. Hi. Good morning, everyone. I'm really glad to be here today and to have the opportunity to engage with all of you a bit about myself. My name is Vera Drafkova. I'm originally from Bulgaria. I moved to Idaho in my early teens, and I graduated from Boise State. I joined the Foreign Service in 2014, so eight years ago. And since then, I've served a couple of tours overseas in Mexico and also in China, and I've had the chance to work domestically on the China desk, and now in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs. My current position is in the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs, which is essentially the State Department's window to the private sector, if you will. And I look forward to engaging with all of you and answering any questions. Thank you. Thank you, Vera. Ryan, let's hear from next. Thanks, Heather Joy, and good morning, everyone. It's a real pleasure to be part of the panel. My name is Ryan Berger. I am a civil servant. I joined about five years ago, shortly out of a graduate program in international affairs. I came into the civil service as part of the Presidential Management Fellows Program, which I'd be happy to talk more about. But I've really been in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs and the economic sphere of the State Department in almost my entire five years. I joined the Sanctions Policy and Implementation Office. I was able to do two rotations, one to the U.S. Embassy in Kenya and one to the Pentagon. I spent about two years in our Office of the Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment. And now for the past year or so, just under a year, I've been in the Office of International Communications and Information Policy, which covers digital economy policy and technology policies. So once again, happy to be here. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan. And last we're going to hear from Mariel Garcia. Thanks, Heather. My name is Mariel Garcia. I am a civil servant here in the State Department in the Economic and Business Affairs Bureau, Office of Communications and Information Policy. I'm a graduate of Sacramento State and California. And I came into the civil service through the Peace Corps where I served in Senegal. My current portfolio is 5G Internet, sort of all over the globe. I'm the team lead in the office. And I've previously worked in UN affairs and on the Russia desk as well. Thanks you all for having me here today, really looking forward to this discussion. Great. Thanks to all of you. So just a housekeeping note before we really get started. I'd love to hear from the audience. We really want to hear your questions and I will be taking those questions as they come in. I'm going to start with a question that I've written, but as we move forward, we'd love to hear more questions from you. So please drop your questions in the comments and I'll get to them. Okay. So in no particular order, any of you guys can jump in. Can you tell us a bit about the work that you do here at State and what your motivation was for joining this department? Sure. Hi. This is Tony again while I start. So I joined the State Department because I have a love of public service. I truly believe that at the State Department we have an opportunity to positively impact the American people and people all over the world. As I noted, my background is that my family's from Africa and so I've always had an interest in what we can do to help folks in Africa. I would say right now a lot of the work that I'm working on is dealing with the economic recovery from the pandemic. I think all of us are aware of the extreme shortages that we had in the United States and around the world, whether it's toilet paper or other products or the issue of mass and etc. And so a big part of my job now is making sure that we have supply chains that are resilient and secure and that we can provide the American people with the goods they need to live their lives. I'll stop there. Thank you. Heather, I'm happy to jump in. You know, I went to a state college in Idaho and I never thought that becoming a diplomat would be a career option for me. And as it often happens, it was a mentor who made all the difference. I had a professor who was a retired Foreign Service Officer at Boise State and he encouraged me to look into the State Department. He also encouraged me to apply for State Department internships. You know, he sort of lived away on a career path that I didn't even know existed. And I remember almost stopping myself and thinking, you know, how can I, a recent immigrant, come to represent the United States? But here I am. And there's so much out there. So I really encourage everyone to really be bold and exploring opportunities and to never hold yourselves back. In my current position, as I mentioned, I work in the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs, which again serves as the State Department's window to the private sector. And what our team focuses on is commercial diplomacy. In other words, supporting and facilitating U.S. business interests abroad. We work very closely with the Department of Commerce, and we focus on helping our companies better compete in foreign markets. And my position is Deal Teams Coordinator, which is a really cool job. I get to work really closely with colleagues from other U.S. government agencies focused on economic and development work, including Department of Commerce, USAID, DFC, many of you have probably heard of the Development Finance Corporation. And together we come up with all of government solutions to help U.S. companies. And all of this coordination happens under a program that was launched in 2020, known as the Deal Team Initiative. And again, at the core of this initiative is this simple, but I think very powerful idea that we have to do more as the U.S. government, as the interagency to support our companies. Thank you. Brian? I'm happy to go next. So I, even though there are public school teachers in my family, there have never been public, you know, public service, public servants at the federal level in my immediate or extended family. So this was never something I had really considered growing up. And, but I've always had an interest in international affairs. I studied international business as an undergraduate. And then kind of in my senior year of college really started pivoting more toward international, more toward foreign policy, but I was very much on a 40-year plan. And so I wasn't going to pivot so late as an undergrad. So I finished out my business degree and then shortly afterward pursued a master of international affairs. And actually, I ended up deferring that matriculation by a year and did a State Department internship at our consulate general in Rio de Janeiro. And I think that that was really, I mean, I knew, of course, I had wanted to work in this domain, but it could have been in the private sector, it could have been, it could have been in civil society. But I think it was really this internship at our consulate general in Brazil that really propelled my interest in a wider and longer career here with the U.S. government. And so even though I'm part of the civil service and thus mostly stationed in Washington, I have gotten the opportunity to not just travel abroad on official business, but also do an extended assignment in Kenya, like I mentioned before. So I really love the breadth and depth that a career at the State Department can offer you, regardless of which path you choose, civil service or foreign service. As I mentioned, I work in the Office of International Communications and Information Policy. One of the components of our division is in bilateral and regional affairs. And so that really leads ally and partner engagement, making sure that we are cooperating more closely with our strongest allies and partners in the technological domain, particularly against the backdrop of broader strategic competition. So I came in as an East Asia regional officer, so I helped manage some pretty large bilateral dialogues with Japan and South Korea. And then I'm working more regionally on things like the Quad Critical and Emerging Technology Working Group with Australia, Japan and India, and then the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, which will soon launch and will have a digital technology component. Thank you. Okay, so, Ryan, let me ask you something, because I think of all of us, your office has the subject matter that we care most about, which is our cell phones. And we're hearing so much about 5G, and every time you look up, there's a new iPhone or some other iteration of technology that we have to keep abreast of if we want to get along in the world. So can you give us the high view of what your office does, not necessarily you particularly do, but what is your office doing in the State Department that helps us keep this going? Well, I'll start by saying, I'll say only a few words, and then I'd like to hear Marielle's view, because Marielle deals more widely with 5G and open and interoperable architectures, but across a number of regions and functions and countries. I think what we are trying to do is make sure that our connectivity is secure, that telecommunications networks are trusted, that I would say tenders for buildouts of telecommunications networks overseas are operated by or have a real chance to compete, where trusted vendors have a real chance to compete whether they be from the United States or Europe, that there's a level playing field, so we're of course working across the broader enterprise of our bureau with Vera's office, with Tony's division, and I think that we're also looking to make sure that the supply chain, again working with Tony's division, is not concentrated in one particular country or one particular region. So I think in some of these discussions that are going on with the administration on technology and connectivity, we're working very closely with my division and Tony's division on supply chain, near-shoring supply chain, friend-shoring supply chain, reshoring to make sure that, again, there's not a high concentration of parts for the iPhone that Heather Joy held up, to make sure that we continue to get not just our beloved cell phones, but also semiconductors that are in pickup trucks, that are in cars, that are in smart TVs, to make sure that there's no real, to make sure that we continue to get the supply that we need here in the United States, but I also welcome Marielle's view, because she studies this across our division. So Marielle, let's hear from you. Thank you, Ryan. Yeah, so I guess to sort of give a little bit more background about my position, I cover the 5D portfolio for the office writ large, and sort of a subject matter expert. I work obviously very closely with Ryan, who covers sort of Indo-Pacific and Eurasia portfolio, but then we also have other officers in our office that I work with that cover Latin America, Africa, and Europe, and the Middle East. So, you know, one of the goals that we have in supporting 5G internet is to make sure that we also have diverse suppliers, and in particular working with Vera's office, making sure that other countries have access to, you know, various options when they're looking at building out there, not just 5G internet, but also, you know, their 4G internet, if they're still there, or 3G, or even future networks like 6G, and maybe even 7G one day. What's really fascinating about 5G internet is that it's allowing for a really big expansion of what we can do with the internet, and that means things like the internet of things. That means things like maybe self-driving cars. You know, all these things are really opportunities that are expanding into the future for where we're going to be seeing internet. So, not just within our phones, but also in our cars, our refrigerators, you know, our lights, all that sort of thing. And part of what we do is we work with other countries to help them build that out. We also work with American businesses to make sure that they're connected with the right people, and you know, really trying to foster sort of diverse ecosystem of internet providers. And what that means for the consumer as well is that, you know, yourself, like Heather, or even myself, when I'm, you know, selecting an internet provider at home, is that if I have more options, you know, I'm not just locked into one supplier of internet. I'll have lower, that means lower costs for me, and, you know, lower costs for industry as well. Great. Thank you. So we want to encourage competition. Core, core concept of what we do. I'd love to hear from you guys about a professional high that you've had since you've been at the department. I know that many of us have lived and worked in Africa. Two of us on this panel at least are former Peace Corps volunteers. Tony and I are both lawyers, and we come from a lot of different kinds of professional and personal experiences. And I know that all those things inform your work, but I'd really love to hear from you about something that has blown your mind or really made your day that you've done since you've been here at State. So Tony, why don't we start with you? Sure. Well, so, you know, I will focus on something that maybe is a little bit different, not so much, you know, a little bit about our careers that folks don't necessarily focus on. So I served in Ankara, Turkey at our U.S. Embassy there. And when I was there, we had a suicide bomber attack, a terrorist, who attacked when I was there working. And so, you know, that was not so much a high point, but an experience I'll never, ever forget. But we have a lot of professionals within the State Department who work on security issues to keep us safe. I would say that, you know, in this career and in working abroad, there are risks to represent the United States. To be in a city where the only flag that's flown is the U.S. flag means something, and it means a lot to me, but it comes with risks. And so, you know, I just want to note that event because it's a big part of what we do and how we do our work. Thank you. Vera, what about you? Thanks, Heather. Well, you know, when I think about the high point in my professional life, I think of policy and I think of people. And on the policy front, I got to work at Embassy Beijing's economic section during the height of the trade war, if you will. It was a fascinating time to be in China and to help support U.S. priorities as we were recalibrating and renegotiating our economic relationship with our largest trade partner. And then just two weeks after signing the phase one trade deal, we went from celebrating this momentous achievement to evacuating many of our diplomats in China because of COVID and then, of course, being full on with the coronavirus response. And there's a lot of fascinating work that all of us at the State Department get to do on the policy front. But what's just as worthwhile, if not more, is also the work that we do to help U.S. citizens. In the Foreign Service, we have a requirement to do at least one consular tour overseas where we work directly with the public and we help support U.S. citizens in need. And my first tour was in Tijuana. So as you can imagine, there are many Americans in Tijuana who need assistance for one reason or another. And some of them are kids. And you know, as proud as I am of all of the policy initiatives I have had the privilege to contribute to. It's really those cases that have really stayed with me. In one example that I'll never forget, I was contacted by a local orphanage in Tijuana that had a baby whose mom was an American and the mom had unfortunately passed away. But I was able to find the baby's grandparents in the States who did not know about the baby and they were able to take the baby in. And so here you have the difference from being lost in the Mexican orphanage to growing up in San Diego. And so when you ask me about a highlight, this is what I think of. Thank you. Brian from Marielle, want to jump in? Yeah, sure. Happy to jump in. I think sort of similarly to Tony and Vera's experience, I've worked on a lot of different, very contentious issues. Most recently I worked on the Afghanistan withdrawal. I've also worked on the withdrawal of U.S. diplomats from Russian embassies. The State Department affords a lot of experiences in very high-level, interesting international engagements. But when I think about sort of highlights of my career, I truly, truly treasure the individuals of the State Department that I do work with. You know, I'll be frank, like every workplace, not every one is the easiest to work with. And I see my colleagues were laughing. But you know, I think that when you do find those people that you do really resonate with, that really, you know, make work fun and are really dedicated to the work that we do here at the State Department. I really treasure those experiences because these are some really difficult issues that we work on. And so seeing those colleagues that are able to, you know, exercise empathy and understanding even in very complex situations is really something that I treasure. Thank you. And can I just add one other point? Sure thing. Sure. I should note that one of the high points is that it's a family affair for me. The Foreign Service and the State Department, I met my wife. She was a Foreign Service officer. And so meeting someone and marrying someone that shares your same interests is a real highlight for me in my career. And so I've been very fortunate. Thank you. I'm sure Cheryl, thanks you too. So these audience members are students who are learning on purpose. They are trying to actively do the work to get prepared for future jobs. And I'd like to hear from you guys about what trends you see emerging that you think they should be aware of in business and economics and what they can do to best prepare themselves for careers in this area. So any one of you can jump in. Cheryl, I'm happy to do that. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Ryan. No, over to Ryan. I know we missed Ryan for a minute. Sorry about that. Some connectivity issues. I'm not in Washington right now. So to my point earlier about secure connectivity, but I'll actually take this with knowing that Marielle will probably answer on the digital piece. I'll talk about my former life in the sanctions office. One of my greatest highlights of working in that office was stakeholder engagement, not just with the think tank community and civil society, especially when you're dealing with sanctions programs that involve serious undermining of democratic processes or serious human rights abuses, but really in markets such as Venezuela or Russia, where there is significant US company exposure. And so what I, working in tandem with the Treasury Department, who manages our sanctions regulations, what I was in charge of or what my office was in charge of was the foreign policy coordination, determining whether a sanctions designation was in the foreign policy interest of the United States. And so what I found working with not just the companies themselves, whether they be oil companies or oil service provider companies in, say, Venezuela, or frankly, banks who are doing their best to comply with the sanctions regulations, I really enjoyed that stakeholder engagement. And really just learning about the inner workings of a particular company's business in an impacted market where there was an active sanctions program. So in terms of trends, it seems that every administration has built upon the previous administration's work in terms of sanctions. It's very rare sometimes that you see a decrease in the number of sanctions designations. And so it is clearly becoming a tool of choice. I think all administrations and all people in charge of the sanctions regulations understand that sanctions need to be used wisely and you don't just use it as a tool of first resort. But it nonetheless means that I think U.S. companies who do business in countries and markets where there are sanctions programs are really, I think, investing very heavily on compliance and perhaps even second guessing the scope of their investments in those countries. And so we have sanctions programs in clearly markets where there's very little U.S. company presence such as Iran, there may be some Boeing airplanes in Iran, but that's about it. North Korea, of course, there's nothing. But then in, like I said, Venezuela, the Balkans, Russia, there's a lot more U.S. company exposure. And so I think I would notice this type of trend. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, and I would just add that one area that we've already mentioned is supply chains. I've met some folks studying in universities. I've seen that there are majors, for example, on supply chains that you can focus on. If you're interested in business, I think that's something that's definitely a wave of the future. If you're interested in international trade, focusing on supply chains, working in organizations or companies that focus on the movement of goods, we're going through major, major changes on supply chains due to the pandemic. I think this is going to continue for the next five to 10 years. And so as Ryan mentioned earlier about onshore and reshoring, all these ideas about where things are made and who we're reliant on. If you're interested in business and you're in university, I would try to focus on how you can get an internship or learn more about how the private sector, and this is all run by the private sector. It's the U.S. government can put into policies, into place to kind of move people in a certain direction. But this is the private sector that determines your iPhones and all the semiconductors and pieces that go into that. And so if you're interested in business, I would suggest you study or learn to focus on supply chains and the movement of goods. Thank you. Vera or Mariel? Yeah, Heather, happy to jump in. I think probably the main trend that I'm seeing from my vantage point at the Office of Commercial and Business Affairs is this increasing understanding that the government has a role to play in supporting businesses as they go overseas. And this is a global theme with countries reacting and adjusting according to what they're seeing in the global market space. And I think it's fair to say that much of that was caused by China. I think over the past couple of decades, and really much more acutely over the past eight, nine years, there has been this kind of deep and widespread awakening to Beijing's ability to use every tool at the Chinese government's disposal to promote its industrial policy overseas. Beijing is very effectively able to galvanize every part of its state-led model to support its companies abroad. And because they are so effective, especially in the developing world, that has impacted our company's competitiveness in some of the more riskier markets where the Chinese government is able to assume that risk in ways that governments and private sector-driven economies maybe are not. But here it's really important to point out that it's not just China doing everything that it can to support its companies. Over the past couple of decades, we have seen many democratic countries also very successfully deploy every tool in their economic toolbox to support their companies. I think Japan and South Korea are two good examples where their development banks and export credit agencies are working very closely to help their businesses gain market share overseas. And so we want to make sure U.S. companies are not left behind. We want to make sure they know how to access U.S. government assistance when they need it. And we want to make sure that our interagency different U.S. government agencies are working together as seamlessly as possible so these tools the U.S. government can offer are as effective as possible. And I think the theme here is that everything is interconnected and what students can do is really get experience, get exposure to other cultures, learn other languages, get out there. A little tip, there are programs out there that would, there's countries out there that would pay for you to live in country and to study the language. Taiwan and Japan are two countries that I know do this. So I highly recommend you do some research, get on Google and take advantage of some of these immersive opportunities. It would be really enriching and really worthwhile. Yeah, and I might add that one of those countries is the United States of America through the State Department because we have programs that will allow you to go abroad and to study and learn languages too. So you can learn about those at state.gov. But thank you for that beer. And if I just really quickly on top of Heather Joey's point, as a graduate student, I received what was called the FLAS, the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship, which is administered by the Department of Education to study Portuguese. And so I mentioned before, I worked at our Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro. I came back, really enjoyed living in Brazil, practicing and getting to smooth out my Portuguese there, and then really building on it once I came back from that internship and started grad school. So once again, that's the FLAS Fellowship. And I'd like to add, before I joined the department, it was a mystery to me, like many of you, I did not have anyone in my family who'd been a diplomat. My parents were in business. My other family members were educators. So this was all kind of, you know, just an amorphous organization that I didn't have a lot of understanding about. And I thought that I'd be alone in that, that everyone else would be a third or second generation diplomat, and their parents would have, you know, kind of prepared them for that. And we do certainly have that kind of person in the State Department. But we have a whole bunch of people, I would say probably the majority, who are doing this for the very first time. And one of the things about State is that it doesn't discriminate based on, you know, where you went to school or what kind of educational background you have, you know, for those who are coming into the Foreign Service, there's an examination-based process to get into the Foreign Service. We do have some fellowships, and that's another way to get, but for most officers are taking the Foreign Service officer test. And that's open to anyone. You can have studied anything. You can have had all different kinds of professional backgrounds and experiences. And there are tools in place throughout the U.S. government to help you get the kinds of formative experiences that will help you to be effective once you get this kind of job, if that's what you want to pursue. So don't let the fact that, you know, your mom or your dad or your auntie or uncle or whomever didn't have an international affairs background, you know, dissuade you from going out and striking out on your own and deciding that this is what you want to do, because we have resources at every step of the way that can help you get you where you want to go. So, Mary, I don't mean to jump in on your time. I'd love to hear from you. Yeah, of course. Thank you so much, Heather. You know, I think my colleagues here kind of talked a little bit or talked very well to the sort of, you know, themes that we're seeing in business and government throughout the world. So I'll talk a little bit sort of about my experience and how I got into the State Department. I think similar to what Heather Joy was saying, and I think Vera's experience as well. You know, I went to a state school in Sacramento, California. No one in my family worked at the State Department. And, you know, early on, I sort of saw international relations as something that I was possibly interested in and government affairs. And so, you know, I did study that at school. But then I applied to the Peace Corps after college to get some international experience. The Peace Corps is one of the avenues through which you could get what's called non-competitive eligibility into the federal government. And what that allows is when you're applying to jobs, not just the State Department, but at, you know, commerce or, you know, the Department of Education, all these federal agencies, it allows you to compete at a little bit of a higher level than the other applicants that are sort of coming in at the entry. And so, as part of my Peace Corps experience, I was sent to Senegal, where they also include sort of language training. And I learned Fulani, which is sort of like a nomadic Hertzman language that's spoken throughout West Africa. And I got to work there on some really interesting economic and business projects. Specifically, I worked on connecting phone providers with people that lived in Senegal to allow for payments or remittances from other countries through their cell phone. So in places like Senegal, that are often underserved when it comes to banking services, right? A lot of these banking companies don't want to invest the infrastructure in putting up an actual physical bank in some of these very rural communities. You know, payments can just go to their phone or they can go to the post office and get cash out. And that was a lot of the work that I did. That is to say, you know, there's no one sort of avenue to get into the work that we do. And I think as others have said here, you know, getting experiences in international relations, in business as well, I've seen a lot of really great, you know, MFAs and like business MBAs working in this field. You know, getting experiences like that are ways in which, you know, you can really work into a position either in civil service or in foreign service. And then of course, I'm sure everyone's here. I'm sure you've heard plugs for the Pickering and Rangle Fellows as well, as well as State Department internships. These are all sort of avenues that, you know, I didn't know about coming from a State Department, sorry, from a State School background. And, you know, a lot of it I just learned through, and I think this is probably one of my best advice, which is, you know, try and find a mentor, try and find someone who can talk you through, you know, the application process, either in the foreign service or the civil service. Because, you know, it's very, it's kind of a black box sometimes, when it comes to sort of the more technical aspects of applying to jobs. And I know myself, I have tons of mentors that I'm eternally grateful to. And I also, you know, offer if anyone ever needs to chat about, you know, questions that they have to please, like, reach out to me. And I'm sure others here on the panel to kind of talk through some of those things. Great. Thank you. So I want to shift lanes a bit to what has become one of the defining issues of our time, which is climate change. You know, I'm not going to give away my age, but since I've been an adult, even I have seen a seismic shift, not only in our individual understanding of climate change, but also our government's response to it. You know, when I was in college, we had Earth Day in April, and we tried to, you know, recycle some, and we thought that we were really doing the thing by making those two efforts. And now as an adult, I'm seeing there's no business. There's no organization that can have any real conversation without some aspect of climate change and the personal and societal obligations that we have to address it coming up. So I'd be curious to hear from you about your thoughts about climate change, especially with respect to the kind of work that we do and how business and economics can affect climate change and the tools that we have to address it. Sure. I'm happy to start with that. So one area I work on is the issues of the movement of steel and aluminum around the globe. The United States produces steel and aluminum. There's a number of other countries that produce steel and aluminum. And in order to produce them, there's a certain amount of carbon that has to be, that has to go into that process to make steel and aluminum. And one of the areas that the current administration's focusing on is limiting the amount of carbon that is in the manufacturing of steel and aluminum. And so that's an area where we're hoping to work with our allies and partners so that we can reduce the basically the carbon footprint of steel and aluminum so as to protect the environment. And that allows us to put into place more environmentally friendly practices in actually making steel and aluminum. Thank you. Vera. Thanks so much, Heather. We do of course have the special presidential envoy for climate at the State Department who is charged with leading U.S. diplomacy to address the climate crisis. It is a big priority for the State Department. It is, this work is integrated really closely in the work of pretty much all of our offices right now. And some of the key areas that we focus on of course is constructive engagement on the Paris Agreement which I'm sure everyone has heard about. And really focusing on driving global greenhouse gas emission reductions and so forth. And yes, as Tony mentioned all of us are focused on supporting these efforts. Thank you. So I can go next. I, you know, what I've seen even in my five years at the State Department is a real, I think Heather Joy used the word seismic shift. I mean, we've seen, I came to the State Department from a one-year position in a large American multinational company in their global government affairs department. And that company had a very ambitious sustainability plan with their own sustainability team where they created sustainable, not only in compliance with the U.N., where they tried to commit the company to the U.N. sustainable development goals, but even just commit their own plan for sort of zero emissions or net zero emissions by 2030 or 2050. And I've seen that really ripple throughout the entire, throughout certainly the major American multinationals whether they be in the, you know, food and drink industry or the power generation industry or the banking industry. I know Bank of America and Citibank have their own climate goals. And really, I think what you're seeing with C-Suite is companies are even creating chief climate officers, chief sustainability officers. And so, you know, with the elevated role that climate policy has taken in this administration through, you know, through special presidential envoy Kerry, you know, we've seen him working with some of those large companies in really ensuring that I think the U.S., that the U.S. business community is rowing in a very, rowing collectively in a very positive direction in terms of really committing to a serious reduction in power generation. Thank you. Okay, so excuse me. The other issue that has become quite salient in the last couple of years is diversity and inclusion. You know, we've had some effort to address it for a long time, but it has really become a front and center issue that you see in the media and on social media and in discussions all of the time now. And I'd like to know more about what your offices are doing to address this and what you think priorities should be for businesses and for government as we move forward with respect to inclusion and diversity. Hi, I'd like to start. So thank you. So one of the things that I think is really important when you're talking about diversity, it has to be personal. So, you know, the jobs I've taken, the folks that I've worked with, it's because of the personal connections you develop. And so in my job now and in the jobs that I've been a hiring manager, I'm scouring everywhere to find really good people who look like me and who are interested in some of the same things as I am. It's not something that you can just sit back and kind of wait for. You have to be aggressive to find really talented people to work on your team. And so I'm doing that all the time. And so I'm always looking for and participating in events and meeting with people to tell them about what I do and why they should come work with me. Thank you. They're also happy to jump in. You know, I think it's really great that the national conversation around diversity and inclusion is getting the attention it deserves. And that US organizations, the State Department very much included, are now held to a higher standard of social responsibility. And at the same time, I think it's really important that any initiatives are underpinned by specific organizational policies and procedures that work effectively and protect people. So what's probably even more important is making sure that people are aware, making sure that people know the rights and responsibilities and know what channels are available to them if they need support. And as Tony said, it has to be personal. We all have a role to play. And we all have to be active and vigilant. For my part, I've been an EEO counselor since joining the department several years ago. Counseling cases, being a resource for my colleagues who need information on equal employment opportunity, laws and protections. There's very many ways all of us can get involved and, of course, in making sure that folks are aware of the resources that are out there. Thank you. Yeah, I'll just echo what Vera said. I mean, I'm very glad that the, you know, that the conversation on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility is getting the, you know, national attention that it really deserves. And I think not only do we have to get it right as the State Department in terms of, you know, how we effectively as how we represent the country abroad, but even within our own, you know, our own structures, our own divisions and offices, because, you know, as public servants, we should, I think, collectively look like the country that we serve. And so, you know, very, and so I think that, you know, through the creation of a senior advisor for, you know, for diversity and inclusion, I think Ambassador Abercrombie Wynne Stanley, who is speaking at this conference, you know, she and her team are really looking across the enterprise of the State Department to make sure that decisions on, you know, the allocation of the allocations of, you know, of which, you know, senior officials are chosen for which missions abroad or for which positions of senior leadership here in Washington, that those decisions are looked at, you know, with equity in mind and with merit in mind. And so very glad that those that we're seeing a real greater attention being paid to those issues. And then the last thing I'll say is, I think we all within our individual offices, you know, I think we talk a lot about a lot in the pre-decisional phase when we talk about different ideas going around on what should our policy be. And then once a decision is made, we all go out and execute on that decision. But in the deliberative phase, you know, descent here is very much welcomed. And I think that a challenge, a greater diversity of ideas helps produce even better ideas. And so the diversity of ideas comes from not just different colleagues within a team, different colleagues, professional backgrounds, but also personal backgrounds. And so at least as I hopefully, you know, move up in our organization, I look for a broad range of diverse backgrounds and diverse opinions because I think that those will produce even better ideas and policies going forward. Great. Marielle, did you want to jump in? Yeah, thank you so much for this question, Heather Joy. You know, I think echoing what Tony said, which is that these issues are really serious and very important and that it takes constant advocating and personal work in order to make sure that these issues are paid attention to. You know, we are an organization which has been called male, pale, and Yale. And that is very real. As Latine identifying, you know, there are less than 5% of the State Department employees are Latine with less than 2% both identifying as women and Latine. And those are some real numbers in a country where, you know, we have much larger representation. So, you know, for my efforts personally, I mentor people, especially young people, wanting to get into either the Foreign Service or the Civil Service. I think my personal view is that, you know, a lot of these networks that are very entrenched, these sort of old boy networks as they've been described, you know, benefit from sort of an inclusive, you know, sphere. And so whatever I can do personally to sort of bring in other voices to mentor others to have opportunities to speak to the right people and to understand the system that we are working in, I do try to. And just to plug here, I am on LinkedIn. If anyone wants to ever reach out to me, please reach out. I'm more than happy to answer questions. But yeah, thanks. Thank you. And I echo that you guys can feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn. So we do have a question from the audience. The foreign language and area study program was not extended to our university a couple of years ago because the university was not large enough to apply. Has this changed? So I don't know the answer to that off the top of my head. But I do know that in the chat, we have dropped a link that shows you the current list of universities participating in this program, which I think Ryan, you said as a Department of Education program at state.gov slash ECA, you can learn more about the State Department programs that touch on students and interns. So we have things from programs for people who are in high school and in college. And we have a full battery of leadership and development and language programs that we as a Department offer that I can speak more closely to. But for the Department of Education one, just click on that link. And that should give you some of the information that you're looking for. Okay, so we only have about 10 minutes left. And I have two questions that I want to get to. So I'll start out with this. Each of you speak multiple languages. It is said that English is the language of business. But do you feel it's important to master a second or even third language? If so, why? I'm happy to start off this round. Having participated in the HBCU conference before, one of the some of the feedback that I've at least heard, especially when it comes to HBCUs and to smaller state schools is that a lot of these foreign language programs are maybe a little more difficult to find. And, you know, a little bit tough to navigate. And so, you know, I think as the previous, you know, question was oriented, you know, how do you learn a language when your school doesn't offer a language? And that's a really, I think, tough question to navigate. You know, at least from my own experience, I think I can talk about Peace Corps and how that works. Usually there is education or always there's education in another language as part of the Peace Corps experience. But there are sort of opportunities outside of school that will afford you, you know, language learning. In terms of the importance of language learning, I think, you know, for Foreign Service and Civil Service, it's a bonus. You know, it makes you more competitive when when you're applying to jobs, but it's not necessary, you know, absolutely necessary as a skill. It's something that will come, you know, as you are working in this field. Yeah, so I think that's that's kind of my point, my view on that one. Fear, Tony? Yeah, I mean, learning language is really does so much for us as individuals. It teaches us empathy. It opens up our horizons. It allows us to look at the world from a different perspective. I think words are nothing without context and communicating with others in their native language can really help us understand where they're coming from and what they value. And so in that way, I think, you know, it's fair to say that language truly is a gateway to another culture. It can be difficult to learn, but definitely not impossible. I just think it's really important. Immersion is really, really important. You know, I don't know if there's a lot of utility in what I'm sure all of us have done in high school or we will take an hour or two of French or Spanish twice a week. I think it's really important to just find some time to, if possible, to spend some time in country. Hopefully, your university provides the opportunity to do so. If not, again, there are very many options out there. Many options offered by the US government and many options offered by foreign governments as well. I spent a year after graduating from college in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government has these very generous language learning scholarships where they pay for your classes and they give you a little stipend. And, you know, a year is not enough to learn Chinese, but it definitely gets you to a place where you can start building on your fluency. So, this is something I wanted to flag for the group. And I might add that for those of you, for those students who are still quite young under 25, your brain changes. I did not believe this when I was a student and people would tell me this. Your ability to learn language now and your brain's ability to kind of take it all in and make sense of it is probably the best it's going to be. It will only fall off. So, it's not to say that you cannot learn languages when you're younger, but you're at an optimal time right now in your life to really get those languages under your belt and use them and use them well. I took a few months of Arabic when I was 30 and I was like, ooh, this is just not hitting the same way that things did when I was in high school and in college. So, take advantage of the advantages that you have at this moment in time. So, we only have five minutes left. And I want to hear from each of you and I'm just going to go down the line about what is the best lesson you've learned from your time living abroad and working in international affairs? So, Mary, I'll start with you. Yeah. So, I think kind of what Vera alluded to, being able to be immersed in a culture and in a language is probably one of the greatest experiences that you can have living abroad, working abroad, both with other Americans and with foreign governments and foreign partners. Any opportunity that you can get to be in that situation is really mind-opening and it's a great experience. Yeah. Thanks, Vera. Thanks, Heather. You know what I've learned and what I've really come to appreciate about our country has been the fact that we're not afraid to get into conversations about moving things forward. And we never stop trying to make things better despite the many problems that we have. What I hear a lot in countries where people are struggling with social issues is there's nothing that can be done. This is just how things are. And this is not something that you often hear in the United States. You don't often see people shrug and say that's just how things are. And I would say this open debate and this self-introspection and the never-ending effort to be better is something I've really come to appreciate about our country after working overseas. Thank you. Brian? Yeah. I think Marielle and Vera's answers have been great. Just on the language piece, I certainly I think it's very valuable to learn all of their language because you're able to communicate with other cultures and you're also able to I think consume more information in another country in a way that inhabitants of those countries would appreciate. And there are free resources now. There weren't when I was a college student but with apps and with YouTube pages, channels declared dedicated to teaching certain. Brian, I think your screen is frozen. So I'm going to pivot to Tony but if your screen come back up we'll come back to you. Tony? Sure. So when I first went abroad left the United States, I was your typical arrogant American. I thought I knew everything and knew everybody knew how everything works. And so I was quickly corrected and I learned the hard way of how I didn't know everything and that there was a lot for me to learn. And I would say, you know, being in different cultures really has opened my mind to how people work together, how they don't work together, what's important in life. And so, you know, I was a lazy American who thought he knew everything and I learned that I was wrong and I've always been learning and I think that this career folks are interested in this. This is a career of lifelong learning. You never know everything. You're always, whether it's a language or culture or a political situation, economic situation, you're always learning. So keep an open mind. Great. Thank you so much and we're just about out of time. So I want to thank all of our panelists for sharing your experience and ideas with us this morning and also to the audience. Thank you so much for tuning in. We are all here to answer your questions. Should you have any, you can feel free to follow up in the chat and we will respond. Thanks and enjoy the rest of the conference. Take care.