Partners in Diplomacy

Jill Strachan, In profiling her parents Alan and Evelyn and their postings in Greece, Pakistan, Egypt, Vietnam (unaccompanied), and Sri Lanka, provides an extraordinary peek into USAID careers and family life in the 1950s and 1960s. Jill also describes the disruptions of the McCarthy era, the impact of growing up as a third culture kid, and her memoir “Waterfalls, the Moon and Sensible Shoes: One Lesbian Life.”

As spouse to a US diplomat, Karl Deringer adapted his skills when living in different places, and has worked as a nurse, humanitarian and community organizer in Africa, massage therapist, embassy CLO, dance instructor, and stock trader. 

Mette Beecroft is a pioneer and tireless advocate for improving the lives of Foreign Service families through her efforts to launch the Family Liaison Office (FLO) at the State Department in 1978 and her work as a CLO (Community Liaison Officer) at various embassies. Hear about her 50-year service to the U.S. diplomatic community and the history of the FLO. 

While living abroad, Lauren Steed opened her own consulting business to provide educational counseling for Global Nomads and Third Culture Kids. She recently started a podcast series called “Available Worldwide,” which interviews diplomatic spouses about their strategies for adapting their careers to Foreign Service life overseas. Hear about her projects in this Partners in Diplomacy episode.

In her lifetime association with the U.S. diplomatic community, Toni Stearns grew up in a Foreign Service family, married a U.S. diplomat who became a two-time ambassador, and raised four children abroad, one of whom is now a Foreign Service Officer. Hear about her adventures living in Greece and Africa during interesting and challenging times.

Vicki Butler is a journalist, freelance writer, editor and author who contributed to groundbreaking inspection reports on Iraq and Afghanistan. In this Partners in Diplomacy podcast, hear about Vicki’s life as the spouse of the ambassador to Sudan and Haiti and her experiences teaching at a women’s university in Khartoum.

Johanna Klees serves as an example of how the embassy can provide jobs for diplomat spouses. In this PiD episode, she talks about being in Tunis at the outbreak of the Arab uprisings and then working as CLO in Baghdad during the conflict with ISIS.

Scottish-born aeronautical engineer Craig Houston developed a method to measure air quality in Thailand and advocated for environmental changes to reduce air pollution. He used online training to acquire further skills and recently established his own company on renewable energy. Hear about his environmental work on three continents.

Hala Buck, Lebanese-born FS spouse, author, therapist, artist and educator, discusses her identity as human bridge and the search for home and belonging, as well as being in Baghdad during the 86-89 war and cross-cultural family life in this PiD episode.

Susan Story talks about accompanying her husband, current Amb to Venezuela Jimmy Story, to several Latin American countries in this PiD episode. Hear more on her 23 years as an FS spouse, as well as the dramatic and sudden evacuation from Venezuela in 2019.