Award for PD Leadership by a Senior Officer
1. SUMMARY. The Public Diplomacy Council of America has established an annual award to recognize Public Diplomacy Leadership by a Senior Officer overseas or in a domestic assignment in the Department of State. Nominations for the award should be submitted by January 1, 2024.
2. BACKGROUND. PDCA and its predecessor organizations have awarded honors to public diplomacy activities at American Embassies and Consulates or to domestic offices supporting public diplomacy since 1992. PDCA is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) association of professionals and scholars promoting excellence in the professional practice, academic study, and advocacy for public diplomacy. Membership is open to all current and former Department of State and USIA employees and public diplomacy professionals from the public, academic, and private sectors. Information about past awardees can be found on the PDCA website: https://www.publicdiplomacy.org/awards.php. With this new award, PDCA will honor a senior officer not directly associated with the leadership of a Public Diplomacy Section overseas.
3. ELIGIBILITY. The PDCA Award for Public Diplomacy Leadership by a Senior Officer is open to Chiefs of Mission and Principal Officers overseas and to Assistant Secretaries and Deputy Assistant Secretaries in domestic assignments. Officers in all bureaus are eligible.
4. CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING NOMINATIONS.
a. Demonstrated leadership in marshaling broad mission participation in public diplomacy activities abroad or in prioritizing public diplomacy efforts within a domestic bureau or building partnerships between bureaus and offices in support of specific public diplomacy initiatives. Weight will be given to efforts that mobilize all embassy sections in conducting Mission-wide public diplomacy work, especially in engaging audiences not traditionally reached and/or areas outside of the capital or consulate city.
b. Documented success in using public diplomacy tools, including social media, to change a host country policy and/or host country public opinion on an issue of major importance to U.S. policy or perceptions of the United States.
c. Success in building new institutional linkages and enlisting non-USG entities such as educational institutions and private business, whether American or host country, to support public diplomacy programs and initiatives (financially, politically, technically, or otherwise) to multiply their impact, scope, and/or effectiveness in the host country or regionally.
d. Leadership in using innovative strategies to rapidly and effectively counter disinformation and replace it with accurate perceptions using activities tailored to specific audiences designed to change public opinion and win support for the United States.
5. NOMINATION CONTENT: Nominations should be sent by e-mail to awards@publicdiplomacy.org and include the following:
(a) Name, title, and email address of nominator;
(b) Name, title, work location, and email address of nominated individual;
(c) Brief description of nominee’s role within the organization;
(d) Statement of public diplomacy goal(s) achieved;
(e) Narrative (maximum of two double-spaced pages) describing a specific initiative or activity and how it contributed/s to achievement of the public diplomacy goal(s) (part d above). General performance evaluations are not sufficient. Nominations should document leadership and evidence of effective use of media, social media, digital programming, exchange programs or cultural presentations, and/or private-sector contributions in achieving specific projects in challenging environments;
(f) Web links, photographs, videos, and other relevant materials that specifically support the nomination may also be included and are encouraged.
6. SELECTION: Award recipient will be notified of his/her selection by email in late February and invited to participate in a special web-based program that honors the winner and provides an opportunity to describe the project or activity for which he/she was nominated.
5. ACTION REQUEST: Nominations should be emailed no later than January 1, 2024, to the following PDCA awards email address: awards@publicdiplomacy.org.