Take GCLO on Your Foreign Service Journey
A Message from the GCLO Director
As GCLO enters 2023 with renewed dedication to serve our diverse Foreign Service community worldwide, I reflect on the many challenges and opportunities this lifestyle presents and the importance of connecting with us early and often. From navigating frequent moves, unaccompanied tours or evacuations, to managing career or school transitions and major life events, GCLO provides advocacy, programs, and services to guide you along the way. Our goal is to share the tools needed to navigate the oftentimes unpredictable expedition.
Our GCLO Listening Surveys showed us you wanted to know more about GCLO and for us to enhance our programs and services to better fit your Foreign Service journey. To connect with GCLO staff, we created the Ask GCLO! webinar series and the #ThisIsGCLO campaign. GCLO portfolios worked hard at strengthening our programs and resources to better support our community along their journey. I would like to take a moment to highlight a few:
- GCLO’s Community Liaison Office (CLO): Hosted three CLO Virtual Professional Development Seminars and returned to in-person regional training – nearly 100 newly trained CLOs and Assistant CLOs are now in the field supporting their communities.
- Communications and Outreach: Over 17,000 visits to GCLO’s Facebook page.
- Data Management: Launched the E-FAMER tool on OpenNet allowing bidders to compare family member employment data from the Family Member Employment Report (FAMER).
- Education and Youth: Published “Transitioning FS Kids to U.S. Public Schools: What You Need to Know” in the June 2022 edition of the Foreign Service Journal.
- Expeditious Naturalization: Assisted 53 Department of State foreign born spouses to become U.S. Citizens in 2022.
- Family Member Employment: Launched the GCLO Telework Overseas Guidance for Family Members webpage and granted Professional Development Fellowships to more than 55% of applicants received. The Global Employment Initiative (GEI) program facilitated nearly 18,000 client sessions.
- Support Services: Convened the Department’s Divorce Working Group and updated the online resource – Divorce and the Foreign Service. Published GCLO’s Tandems webpage.
- Unaccompanied Tours/Evacuations. Supported 10 evacuations in 2022 and awarded 143 children Certificates and Medals.
As we look to 2023, GCLO wants to hear from you in our next GCLO Listening Survey coming this spring. This year, we aim to expand our outreach, find ways to improve the family member employment experience and continue to advocate for our diverse Foreign Service community’s concerns.
Stay informed by subscribing to the GCLO Weekly newsletter, liking GCLO’s Facebook page, and following GCLO’s YouTube channel. Check out GCLO’s webpage for current information. Contact us with questions and feedback at GCLO@state.gov. Wherever you are on your Foreign Service journey, let GCLO be your companion and help guide you along the way.
