 Welcome to our first Sign at State event. My name is Jamila Raja-Aquare, and I am a Heart of Hearing woman and also Director of the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations. Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm so excited to be a part of this inaugural Sign at State event. You've learned from our first group of panelists about the opportunities and impact you can make at the Department of State. Now, I hope you are excited to learn more about how you can apply to positions here and about the resources available to persons with disabilities, including deaf and hard of hearing applicants. The administration prioritizes diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, also known as DEIA as a national security imperative in order to ensure critical perspectives and talents are represented. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, has stated that we cannot do our job of advancing America's interests, values, and commitment to democracy without a State Department that truly is representative of the American people, and that's where you come in. Deaf and hard of hearing communities are an important part of America's diversity. At the State Department, we are committed to creating a diverse and accessible environment for everyone. We continue to become accessible at all levels, including addressing barriers specific to our deaf and hard of hearing colleagues. That's where the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations, also known as OAA, plays a role. OAA is the Department's centralized office dedicated to ensuring our work and our work environments are accessible for all. Among our other services, OAA provides its American Sign Language interpretation and captioning for the entire department to ensure events such as this one are accessible. Because by creating an accessible department, we create an inclusive one. Our panelists will talk about the resources available to deaf and hard of hearing applicants and employees and discuss ways you can apply to the department. We will have time for questions at the end of the panel discussion. So we encourage you to type your questions into the chat at any time. And now I'd like to introduce our moderator for this second panel, Mandy McCarthy, who is the multimedia editor at State Magazine, the department's online public facing monthly interactive magazine. Mandy has worked in various roles at the department for 10 years. And I'm excited to have her with us today to moderate this discussion. Mandy, over to you. Thank you, Jamila, and thank you everyone. I'm excited to be joining you all today as the moderator for the careers at State Panel. As Jamila said, my name is Mandy McCarthy. And as a deaf woman myself, 10 years ago, I personally navigated the application and hiring process at the department of State. So it will be interesting for me too today to find out if that process is still the same as it was 10 years ago. So I've held multiple roles during my tenure here, but I'm currently the multimedia editor of State Magazine. If you're interested in a career with State, I highly encourage you to check out our public website by visiting statemag.state.gov. You can learn more about the work that our foreign and civil servants do every day. So as Jamila said during the first panel today, we heard from some of our amazing colleagues about the work that they do. So now I will be asking a panel of experts to demystify the hiring process and explain available resources for deaf and hard of hearing applicants and more. As Jamila said, I'd like to remind you at any time, if you have any questions, just feel free to put them in the chat box and we'll get to them during our Q&A portion of the panel. So let's get started. I'm gonna, let's meet our panel members. I'm gonna ask them to state their names, their titles, how long they worked at State and to tell us a little bit about what motivates them to do the work that they do every day. We're gonna start with Chris Brown. Hello, everybody. This is Chris Brown speaking. I am deaf and I was born deaf. I've used ASL, American Sign Language, to communicate my whole life. Right now I'm a program analyst for the Office of Accessibility and Accommodations, OAA. And so I work with Jamila and that's been for the past two years now. I've worked in this office almost six years. And the reason why I love working in this office, I've always been in the disability and accommodations realm since college days, actually. And it was my passion at that time to find ways to advocate for disability rights and to make sure that people with disabilities were able to have the resources and the tools that they needed through the accommodation process to make sure that they can do their work. So that's why I'm here at the Department of State to carry on that work. And honestly, I'm excited to be here with everybody and looking forward to the panel. Thank you, Chris. Let's go to Yolanda Kearney. Good afternoon. My name is Yolanda Kearney. I am a Foreign Service Officer. I joined the State Department in June of 2004. Currently, I'm on a domestic assignment diplomat in residence. I am looking for the new talent to bring to the State Department. And that includes the American people in all of their multiplicity and all of their diversity. That means coming to this process, coming to this agency as your full authentic self. The thing that I love about my job as a recruiter is that it reminds me of the reason that I wanted to join this wonderful organization in the beginning. So it's like a rebirth of my interest in the State Department. And I get to meet people all around the country. Thank you, Yolanda. Last but not least, let's go to Jae Chung. Thank you, Mandy. Hi, everybody. It's good to be with you today. My name is Jae Chung. I'm the Selective Placement Program Coordinator in the Department. I've been working for the Department for about 20 years, both in foreign and civil service. I love my job because I help people like you find jobs in the Department. So if you'd like to work at the Department, please contact me at selectiveplacementatstate.gov. Over to you, Amanda. Thanks, Jae. So we're going to dive right in. I'm going to get to the first question. As an individual with a disability myself, I know that one of the things that I tend to think about when it comes to part of the application process or an interview process is what reasonable accommodations may be available to me. So to our panel, what can you tell our audience about the resources available through deaf or hard of hearing applicants throughout the application process? And is it different for those applying for civil service or foreign service? Let's first go to Chris. Sure, absolutely. Most of the applicants at state are done through USAJobs.gov, and that's where you can apply online. And most of the jobs in that portal system have reasonable accommodation information that is accessible there. Can provide the information of reasonable accommodations that would be needed during the application process. So if you're a deaf and individual or a hard of hearing individual, you could apply through there and send in your applications. And then when they call you in for an interview, you'd be able to let them know that you need an interpreter or interpreting services. And that's where we come into the picture here at OAA. We make sure that we contact the applicant. We let them know that we'll reserve an interpreter for the interview. And we provide the opportunity to prepare with that interpreter so that they know what you wanted to talk about during the interview. So that's one of the examples where you can get the support from us during the application process itself. And then also for some other applicants where they may want to just as an example, get information about the position itself or whatever. They can then contact the point of contact person listed in the advertisement and they can ask some reasonable accommodation questions. And they will then that point of contact reach out to us so that we essentially are always involved in the application process from start to finish when those applications are made. Now this is a little bit different. There is a little bit of difference between the civil service and the foreign service. The civil service is done through USA Jobs, that online portal. The foreign service is done through the foreign service assessment process. There's first a written exam that must be taken. If you pass that written exam, then there is an oral examination it's done. And that's again where we would be providing oral interpretations for the oral exam. And we are providing accommodations in either civil service or foreign service applications. Thank you, Chris. Yolanda, I'm just gonna ask you, do you have anything else to add to that about the foreign service side? Just that I want folks to know that I have, as I said, I joined the foreign service in June of 2004. I have never served at a tour at an embassy or consulate or in the department where I have not worked with colleagues that have disabilities. So certainly we have the folks who are finding the accommodation that they need to flourish in the department. We want to make sure that the foreign service process that Chris just described, and people talk about the foreign service officer test in particular shrouded in mystery and fear for some reason. It is a challenging test. It's intellectually challenging. But what we don't want is for one of those challenges to be accessibility. So right on the platform to register for the exam itself, there's lots of information about how to request accommodations for those exams. Thank you. Yeah, and I just want to remind everybody if you have any specific questions, just feel free to enter them into the chat box. So let's move on a little bit. When I applied for the civil service 10 years ago, I was able to utilize the Schedule A hiring authority to streamline my application. And this was obviously very beneficial to me because I'm sitting here as a moderator today on our panel. So this question is directed to Jay Chung. Can you explain what the Schedule A hiring authority is? Yes, Mandy. Actually, you know the Schedule A hiring authority hasn't changed very much. It's very active. So let me explain a little about the authority. Schedule A is the authority that allows non-competitive hiring of qualified individuals with disabilities. It applies only to civil service positions. So to be eligible for Schedule A hiring, you must have an intellectual, severe physical, or psychiatric disability and also provide proof of a disability. You can get a Schedule A letter from your licensed medical practitioner, licensed vocational rehabilitation specialist, or any government agency that provides disability benefits. So there's a lot of information out there, especially at OPM. So for more information, please go to opm.gov or feel free to contact me at selective placement at state.gov. We're here to assist you in any way we can, so please contact me. Okay, Mandy, back to you. So Jay, what would the benefit be for qualified applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing to get the Schedule A letter? What are the benefits of that? Okay, so you mentioned that you were hired about 10 years ago. Of course, one of the benefits is streamlined and expedited hiring process. Jobs can be filled with posting on USA Jobs, to name a few, but I'm gonna talk about the talent database next, which is huge because once candidates are in the talent database, they can be referred to hiring officials or HR folks in two ways. One, they can go to USA Jobs and identify for positions they are qualified for. And the second is managers and hiring, actually hiring managers and HR specialists will come to me requesting referrals to fill their positions. So yes, the talent database is a very, very good way to be active and hopefully you can find a job in the department. So if you would like to work at the State Department, I really encourage you to join the talent database. So the talent database contains your resume, Schedule A letter, and also occupational questionnaire responses. So the hardest part is getting the Schedule A letter vetted and also documented. So anyway, so I think that sort of puts it in a nutshell. So over to you, Mandy. Yeah, I can definitely attest to the streamlined process, but Schedule A really highlights and helps. So in State Magazine, I get to read every single day about the exciting work that our foreign service employees are doing around the world. So this question is directed toward Yolanda. In your experience, what do you see as a challenge for applicants when applying to the foreign service and how does your team help dispel those challenges or help applicants move through those challenges? Thank you, Mandy. It's a great question. Frankly, what we see, and I'm one of 16 diplomats in residence across the country working with our colleagues who have national portfolios and talent acquisition. And I think consistently what we see are people who sort of told themselves, I'm not quite ready to apply or I'm not quite good enough. And frankly, you are probably already where you need to be to start this process. So the first thing is that someone is going to be hired for these foreign service jobs. So why not you? That's the first thing. The second is that people tend to think that we are only paying lip service to this notion of finding a foreign service that reflects the United States that it represents when in fact we're not. We're very much devoted to finding the representation of the United States throughout the country so that the foreign service does look like America. So the first thing is to sort of untalk yourself out of the thought that you are not able to take this undertaking. The second is to be persistent when it comes to the foreign service officer test, the foreign service specialist gateway exams and other processes to enter the foreign service. When you talk with foreign service employees, almost everyone will tell you that they took those exams more than once. So be persistent, be focused in what it is that you wanna do and don't talk yourself out of taking this journey to try to join the foreign service. At most importantly, the accommodations that we provide, again, right from the very beginning of the application process. We wanna make sure, again, that these tests are challenging, intellectually challenging, that's true, but accommodations should definitely not be one of the challenges that one has to face when trying to join the foreign service. Yeah, I'm a strong believer and anybody can do whatever they wanna do. You just have to find the right tools to do it. So now the same question for the civil service side, Chris and Jay, in your experience, what do you see as a challenge for applicants when applying to the civil service and how did your team help dispel those challenges or help applicants move through those challenges? Let's start with Jay first. Yes, I see two challenges for scheduling candidates almost every day. One, the correct use of scheduled letter templates. When people contact me about joining the talent database, I send them information on how to join the talent database as well as sample, Schedule 8 letters. So even when they have these Schedule 8 letters, they don't really adhere to the language on the Schedule 8 letter. So I asked or I'm recommending that candidates ask their Schedule 8 letter provider to attest to the statement required for that letter than rather than modifying or adding unnecessary information. So that's the biggest hurdle for someone to join the talent database. The second challenge is candidates request referrals all the time and when they request referrals for jobs, they are requesting based on their interest versus jobs that they have actually have direct experience in. So I recommend that they read the vacancy announcement very carefully and tailor each resume for each vacancy announcement date that they are applying to or requesting referrals for. And this way they'll be set up for success. Thank you. Over to you, Mandy. Beth, do you have anything to add to that? Yes, I would like to add, I think it is a challenge for deaf and hard of hearing people to come into the Department of State in exactly the same way that it would be for hearing people. It's really the goal to work for the agency and so you have to be aware of what the job itself requires and whether you have the qualifications to match that job and be accepted for the position. That means you really have to make sure that you have relevant internship experience, work experience to be able to get your foot in the door and that can include networking and the people you know as well. It really is about determination and your own enthusiasm to continue to work towards getting the position and really thinking about the position itself and how you fit in. I think it's equally competitive for deaf and hard of hearing people as it is for anyone else. It's not specifically about being deaf or hard of hearing and don't let that block you or make you believe that you can't get the job. You really are competitive just like anyone else. So that's what I would add. Thank you, I totally agree with that. So as all of our panelists have mentioned so far that the State Department is a very exciting and fulfilling place to work and I know that we probably have a lot of questions going on in the chat box. So with that being said, we're going to open up the event for questions. So please remember to add your question to the chat box at any time. Give us one second. Okay, so the first question is how does the process of having an interpreter abroad work? I think I'm going to direct this to Chris. So if you're talking about getting an interview at an embassy or a consulate for those positions, the staff from there would contact our office to ask for interpretation services and we would be able to provide remote interpretation services via video. We have a team of staff interpreters who have done this in the past and have experienced with this providing interpretation for deaf employees overseas. So we're able to provide that accommodation for other embassies. So that's one example. Thank you, Chris. This question is directed towards Yolanda and it's kind of long. So I'm just going to read it. It says, has there ever been a deaf foreign service officer, not foreign service specialist? I understand that 20,000 people take the written test and 4,000 are picked from three to four oral test assessments plus after security clearance and medical tests, 100 are picked. Is the FSO exam culturally biased to deaf people? Let's start with that because I think there's a little bit more to the question after that. So has there ever been a deaf foreign service officer? I understand that there have been deaf and hard of hearing foreign service officers and certainly foreign service specialists. As I said at the beginning of this panel, I have never worked at an embassy or consulate where I've not had colleagues who did not have identified disabilities and receiving accommodations. Although I have never worked at an embassy with deaf or hard of hearing foreign service officer. I have with the foreign service specialists. So I would leave that to our stats to figure out where they are and how they're performing. I want to go toward the end of that question about whether or not the foreign service officer test is culturally biased in any way and against any particular group. On a regular basis, we continue to review the questions that are presented on the foreign service officer test. As a reminder, that test is offered three times a year in February, June and October, but candidates may only sit the exam once in a 12 month period. So there are three major portions of the foreign service officer test. The first is a job knowledge portion, which includes a little bit of everything across the five foreign service generalist career tracks that's economics, consular, public diplomacy, political and management. So if you start a candidacy in any one of those five career tracks, you're not going to have a foreign service officer test that is specifically for that career track. It's a little bit of everything across all five. The job knowledge portion also includes some finances on there, some general American history, world history, geography, et cetera. There's another section called the situational judgment test, which is, as it says, it's meant to determine a candidate's ability to synthesize information and evaluate how candidates make decisions and how they come to those judgments and those decisions. And finally, there is an English expression portion. On the day of the foreign service officer test, candidates also write a short essay on a essay prompt or a topic that they've never seen before. So that is challenging if it sounds a little bit challenging it is, but to the extent that it is specifically biased against any particular group, I can't speak to that. Just, I can speak to the fact that we continually review the content of those questions to make sure that it is fair to all. Very quickly, that last part about the numbers of the foreign service, there's some, I think some conflation in there. So the number of foreign service officers each year historically, we've taken in around 300 foreign service officers a year, some years more, some years fewer, depending on how we are funded by Congress and what the general positions are that are available. For foreign service specialists, that number is somewhere around 250 with the same variables, depending on funding from fiscal year to fiscal year. The numbers of candidates who sit the exam vary wildly. So when Colin Powell was the face of our recruitment efforts when I was joining the foreign service, there were, we saw an incredible increase in interest. Upwards of 17,000 people sat the exam the year that I did. That varies also from cycle to cycle. Economy, the economy has a great deal to do with it. When people have great jobs and that they love and that they're well employed, we see slightly less interest in the foreign service. So all of that varies from cycle to cycle. And because the number of test takers vary from cycle to cycle, the number of passers obviously has to vary as well. So the thing that we remind all candidates to do is remember that you are not competing really against a huge pool of other people. You're competing to make sure that you have the best performance that you can, that you are answering each of those major portions of the foreign service officer test, the job knowledge portion, the English expression portion, the situational judgment, and that you have the ability to write a good solid essay. Focusing on those things will make sure that you are successful in the foreign service officer test process. Hope that answers that question. That kind of long question. Yeah, I think that was great advice. So the next question is for Chris. How does sign language interpretation support work best in our overseas posts? Are local sign language interpreters hired or still supported through DC offices? Sure, when you're talking about the posts, we do provide interpreters. Sometimes we may send a staff interpreter for a short time to work with the person in the location. If it is a longer assignment, then we would have to look at whether it is a temporary assignment or use a contractor to have interpreters there to provide services for deaf people who are posted in other countries. Thank you. This next question is for Jay. If I apply for a job using schedule A, does that mean I get bumped to the top of the list? Well, I wish you could, but no, that's not the case. When you used to schedule a hiring authority, you are afforded the opportunity to apply for USA jobs or you can be non-competitively referred through my talent database. So I definitely recommend that you join the talent database so you can come to me and request referrals rather than having to apply on USA jobs and also answer the assessment questionnaires. Over, Mandy? Thanks, Jay. Back to Chris for another sign language interpreter question. How easy is it to schedule a sign language interpreter for day-to-day meetings, for example? Yeah, we actually have a staff person who's in charge of scheduling all of our interpreters and that's their role here. Typically, they gather all of the information from the employees who are deaf throughout the department and they look at what is their schedule like? Do they have a monthly, quarterly, daily type of meeting? And there's a spreadsheet and a database where all of that is housed. And so every deaf employee, they have access to this, be it weekly, daily, but there is a staff member who takes care of the scheduling. And I would tell you, it is so incredible that we have this and I've gotten great feedback from the deaf employees in just making sure that we have this iterative process to make sure that the scheduler, the scheduling office and that the needs are provided. Thank you. Yeah, these are all great questions, everyone. And I just want to remind you, if you have any questions, put them in the chat box and we'll try and get to them for the end of the event today. So the next question is for Yolanda. Are there any benefits to applicants who are deaf or hard of hearing in the foreign service assessment process like there is for civil service? I think this question is better suited for Jay. As she mentioned earlier, there is not a schedule a provision for the foreign service process intake process. So I don't know of a provision for extra credit of some sort, which I think is the core of that question, but Jay, correct me if I'm incorrect. Well, actually, there's no really provision extra credit or anything like that, but yes, they can non-competitively be referred or they can also apply directly on USA jobs for civil service positions. All they need is the Schedule A letter. And of course it has to be correct Schedule A letter because a lot of people have an old Schedule A letter that sort of has been superseded. So it's best to go to opm.gov and look at their Schedule A template. So once you have that, you can apply to any job that's open to individuals with disabilities. I hope that answers the question. Thank you. Andy, if I may, I wanna make sure we circle back on this question. The question was about foreign service application. So to be clear, Schedule A does not apply to the foreign service process. Yes, thank you for clarifying that because I think that's one of the biggest misconceptions that we might have. So the next question is for Eliana, I like this question. Once employed, are there resources or groups that the State Department has to help one navigate the department? So let's start with Chris. Sure, there's really so many different resources that our office does provide to support any employees with disabilities. And that's just in general, doesn't have to be deaf or hard of hearing. It could be equipment, magnification for somebody who's low vision. We can have a way for mobility, people with mobility issues, or provide a reader, somebody who is able to sit at a computer or to take notes, we can provide a team of readers. And so we can provide so many different types of accommodations. We have people who are hired as personal assistants and it would be providing personal services if there's maybe restrooms or eating. And so we do have all of these different resources. A lot of employees, they might need a computer software, a screen magnification or a way to see the screen better for somebody with low vision. There could even be a dictation software that is a speech to text or vice versa if people can't use their hands. And so we have so many different type of even ergonomic type of accommodations. If somebody needs to be more comfortable at their workstation, they could have a specific type of chair or desk. And so there is a lot of different equipment, resources and software that we provide generally. For people who are deaf and hard of hearing, other than interpreting services, we do provide a video phone and they're able to use this to communicate with the department or external stakeholders. And also we have like different notification devices if it be a flasher or maybe someone's at the door or somebody's at the office, a different way to just pass information. And so we do provide a lot of different resources. And Chris, correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the Office of Accessibility and Accommodation have a place called the Access Center where people can go to see some of these resources? Yes, yes, you are correct. We have a brand new accessibility center and it opened, it was December of 2019. I'm not sure exactly on the date, but it is a place that's outside of our facility actually and an employee, a manager or even a visitor can go in and they can do demos of all of the different assistive technology that we have. And so those are different things that we provide to employees and the staff there are geared up and ready to do different demonstrations of the technologies that are available. We look at if it could benefit the employee and you also are able to schedule an appointment. You can do that on our website. You can do the email address that was provided. We have different ways to set up to come into the Access Center to see if it works for you. Yeah, thank you for talking about that. I think it's a really exciting thing for the department to have opened such this cutting edge like facility and it's really great. So what about groups? Are there groups at the State Department that can help navigate somebody through the department? I'm just gonna open it up to anybody that wants to answer either Yolanda, Jay, or Chris. Okay, this is Jay, Mandy. Yes, absolutely. We have like over 17 employee affinity groups. And one of those groups is DAG, Disability Action Group. And definitely they can assist individuals with disabilities with their career planning, advancement and what have you. Also the department has incredible resources for people that who want to advance themselves. And we have an office that's dedicated to helping employees draft or sort of make their resumes better. So it's a full-time place where there are several people helping employees, as well as we have great work-life balance. And I just wanna say the department has a mentoring program too for everybody. So it's a great place to work. Thank you. Yeah, I can attest that the employee affinity groups are great resources and a great way to network throughout the department. I was actually on the DAG council myself at one point. And it was a great opportunity for me to learn a lot more about the department and the employees that work for it. Chris, I think you wanted to say something. Yeah, I did. Other than the affinity groups, the state department has the Foreign Service Institute or FSI and that provides an opportunity for employees to be able to get any type of training, be it professional development or anything related to your specific position. That is one thing that I've learned with the affinity groups that there is a lot of different training through FSI and there is one training that is a huge benefit. And it's about working for the state department. And so you can learn all those through FSI. That's awesome. FSI has a lot of great resources as well overall. So the next question is for Jay. My question is about USA Jobs. How can I type keywords to search for vacancies for deaf individuals? For example, can I search for vacancies that are recruiting individuals with disabilities? Absolutely, absolutely you can, yes. So I'm not really sure, you know, how to use the USA Jobs because I haven't used it in years. But anyway, yes, you can set up your job search. So when there's a vacancy that's being advertised, especially for the state department, I think it will ping the person. So the person could go and review the vacancy announcement. And of course, individuals with disabilities, they should be either applying or requesting referrals to those positions. That's open to individuals with disabilities. And of course, then you really need to have the correct Schedule A letter because that's what qualifies you or makes you eligible to apply as an individual with a disability. Over, thank you. Chris, this question is for you. The person who takes care of scheduling the interpreters, what is their position title? Is that person deaf and does this person know ASL? Currently, we do not have an individual that is deaf. They do know ASL. And there are different schedulers that it would go through. But we do have one individual that is a scheduler that knows ASL. But there's also different... Generally, we call that the interpreter schedule. That would be the person that would be utilizing and familiar with ASL services we provide. Thank you. Yeah, that was a specific question. Yolanda, I'm gonna ask you this one. It says it's for anyone. How can we learn more about mentoring opportunities? Within the Department of State, as Jay said, there is a formal mentoring process. There's a formal mentoring program that's open to everyone at any level. So it's not like when you're an entry-level employee after your mid-level or senior level, you're done. My job here is done, right? I don't need mentoring any longer. I'm an 01 foreign service officer and I still rely very heavily on online mentors. So there's the formal process. And then within the Department, you'll find that there are many informal processes as well. So there's a lot of intersection, much like the affinity groups. So you have DAG and you have groups that are focused on ethnic backgrounds. For example, I happen to be president of Thursday Luncheon Group, which is the first and oldest affinity group started to increase African-American participation in the crafting of foreign policy. And so you start to see these organic relationships developed between HECFA, which is the Hispanic Association and others. And this crossing, this cross-colonation, if you will. So there's this organic sort of relationship that comes up too. So the formal process actually does it, completely does exist. But throughout the process, when people start to get deeper into their employment in the State Department, those organic mentoring relationships start to develop and they are very valuable at post, for those of us who are in the foreign service. And maybe that it's a short-term thing for the two or perhaps three years that you're at an embassy or a consulate, you have someone with whom you'll work closely and then you move on to your next post and perhaps at someone else. So in every instance, I think stay malleable. It depends on where you are in your career and in your development. That's going to drive what it is that you need and that you seek when you are looking for a mentor. Crystal Jay, do you have anything to add to that? About mentorship or, I mean, I think Yolanda's answer was perfect, but yes, I agree, her answer is perfect, but yes, that's a great way to sort of network with other people as well as to get real input on how you want to advance from your mentors. Usually mentors can be from another bureau, another office who had maybe more experience than you have. So it's really great to sign up for mentorship and it is for everybody and I definitely recommend it and it's a great resource for the department employees. Thank you. Yeah, I agree, mentorship and networking is a very big part of a career no matter where you are and it really helps you navigate throughout your career. So Chris, I'm going to ask you this next question. Is there a specific deaf part of hearing affinity group? Now, I know that there's a deaf and hard of hearing employee group. I believe they tend to have kind of social purposes behind there, let me have a luncheon group and they do have an email address or an email group that they utilize to communicate together. I believe it's just at this point in sort of a luncheon group, but I'm not sure if you were to join that or join the State and Department of State, you absolutely could create an affinity group for that specific purpose. So that's something that you could do. Yeah, I think I remember getting emails about getting into lunch with a deaf and hard of hearing employees when we were actually in the office and getting lunch with people. This question is for Jay. Can I use Schedule A for the Department of States paid or unpaid internships? Well, that's a good question. Thank you very much. I'm gonna give sort of like a HR kind of answer because no, Schedule A hiring authority does not apply to internships or fellowship either paid or unpaid because those internships are already in the accepted service and hired under the Schedule A hiring authority, but not under for individuals with disabilities. So no, that's something that you have to apply on USA Jobs when those things, those programs are being advertised. Thank you. So while we're talking about internships, Yolanda, would you like to talk a little bit about the new paid internships that the department came out with? Thank you. We are very excited in global talent management to announce the new paid internship opportunities. For many interns, we know that they just can't afford to not be paid for a summer or a fall or a spring. So the hope is that this will reduce a barrier to participation for those who were interested in finding out more about the State Department, both domestically or overseas that are embassies and consulates. And now they will definitely be paid. So we're very excited about that. We're in the process now of reviewing those applications for the very first cohort. So we shouldn't see some sort of announcement coming within the next several weeks, but we're very happy about that. And I'm thankful to obviously thankful to Congress for funding it. Yeah, that's fantastic. I love how the State Department is constantly coming out with these great new programs to help push people forward and put them in great career path. So now I'm gonna ask each of the panelists to talk about one of the things that you love about your job and why you like working for the State Department. So let's start with Jay. Okay, well, I love my job because I really like helping people. And I think it's important as Yolanda said, we want our department, our great State Department to look just like America, where people with different ethnicity, knowledge and educational level and everybody can work together. So we can dispel a lot of myth about each other and our cultures and what have you. So I think the department is doing that. Right now, of course, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, there is sort of a mandate for federal agencies to hire at least 12% of their employees be individuals with disabilities. Well, the department has over 17% of individuals with disabilities who are employees. But we are still interested in hiring more individuals with disabilities. And I think it will make our organization even better working with every one of you, hopefully. And that's one of the best things about working at the department. And I also like to say that I've been in the department for a long time. And I really like to sort of give kudos to my office because everybody's so passionate about what we are doing and we are so helpful. We want to assist everyone that who comes to us, be at reasonable accommodations as PPC or video captioning. So we are the one really, really great team there to assist everyone who needs help. Thank you, Mandy. Thanks, Jay. Chris, what's one of the things that you love about your job and why do you like working for the department? Yeah, thanks. As a deaf person, I feel it's an honor to work at the State Department. Here at the State Department, it's such a unique agency. And we have an opportunity to be engaged with other countries and the diplomacy that we get to interact with multi-national people that just understand language and people who do language for their jobs. And because I know ASL, I feel that there's an equivalence here that oversees that they get to see. And so people never say, oh, do you need an ASL interpreter or oh, do you need a French interpreter? They get to see that there is that equivalent. Sure, I have a disability, but at the State Department, that's not what identifies me. And so they don't see ASL as something that's so weird that you need to provide an interpreter for something. Because that's in our nature here. And being able to help other employees to do their jobs, I think that has always been a passion of mine ever since I started my career. Any type of the diversity, inclusion, and the last part of the DEIA is that accessibility. And so right now within the federal government, it just, it feels so great to be working at the State Department and providing equity. Thank you. And Yolanda, what are some of the things that you love about your job and why do you like working for the department? I think I've told every ambassador I've ever worked for that I have the best job in the embassy because I'm a public diplomacy career track officer. I work with people, I happen to like people. So meeting new people is really just wonderful for me. And most importantly, to talk about American values, to put in place American values abroad and learn from our host countries, it's tremendous for me. And if you'll indulge me, I think we have on the line today the University of Lubumbashi from the Democratic Republic of Congo where I served before. And I'm so proud of that program at that university. It is one of the only programs in either Congo that focuses on the education of deaf people. So Bote, Abari, I just, we've talked a lot about who's at law, I'm so happy that you're here. And thank you for being here. But those types of relationships that I'm able to forge around the world, just it's very enriching and it's wonderful. Thank you. Yeah, that's fantastic. And I'm just gonna add my two cents that one of the things that I love about working for the State Department and my job is every single day I get to be creative and I get to use my skills to document the stories of the State Department and document the history of what we're doing every single day. And it really gives me a lot of pride and a lot of honor that I get to be involved in those stories. And I've been here for 10 years and I met my husband at the State Department. So I'm really very proud to work here. And I think it's a great place for anybody. So with that, I wanna thank our audience for all of these great questions. I wanna remind everyone that going forward, if you have any questions on schedule A to please contact Selective Placement at state.gov for any questions on reasonable accommodations, you can reach out to OAA at state.gov. Or for any general career information about working for the State Department, please visit careers.state.gov. And again, if you'd like to read a little bit more about what our workforce does every single day, please visit statemag.state.gov. I'd like to extend my thanks to Secretary Blinken, our Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and Ambassador Abercrombie-Gwinn's family, all of our panelists today and everyone behind the scenes that made the inaugural Senate State Symposium a success. It was my pleasure to be here with you, representing our talented and diverse workforce. Have a great afternoon, everybody. Thank you.