PDCA’s Training, Mentoring, and Professional Development Committee
The PDCA Training, Mentoring, and Professional Development Committee manages and develops new approaches and programs to advance public diplomacy tradecraft and the skills of PDCA members. In addition to managing two professional development opportunities, the PDCA Mentoring Program and the Davis Fellows Program, the Committee also supports external diplomatic leadership and training initiatives.
PDCA Mentoring Program: The second iteration of the PDCA Mentoring Program successfully ended in May 2024. Like the previous year, the committee matched 14 Rising Professionals in the PDCA with more experienced counterparts based on shared regional and functional interests, professional backgrounds, geographic location, and other criteria. As an experiment, the committee gave this round a three-month end point, after which time the participants could decide whether to continue their mentoring relationship or request a new partner.
Recently, the committee conducted a survey to measure the success of the match-ups. Several participants indicated that they were having productive meetings with their mentoring partners and were happy to continue with the same person.
PDCA rising professional and current mentee Celeste Lan shared, "My mentor is knowledgeable about his field and gave me very detailed advice. I also learned a lot from hearing about his career path to foreign service. For questions that he could not answer, he also connected me to his friends and former colleagues."
In a few cases, respondents indicated that they were ready for a new match. Following the summer travel season, the committee will complete a new round of assignments for those participants, as well as other PDCA members who would like to join the program.
Davis Fellow Program: Endowed by Kathryn R. Davis, a foreign scholar, author, and philanthropist, the Davis Fellowship program combines on-the-job training with academic study and mentoring. Its purpose is to enhance the conduct and practice of U.S. public diplomacy through the provision of specialized training and mentoring opportunities for rising public diplomacy officers.
Since the Program’s inception in 2008 and in partnership with the Council of American Ambassadors, first PDC members and since 2022 PDCA members have worked with the Davis Fellows as mentors/discussion leaders. From September 2023 through June 2024, in a series of monthly two-hour in-person/online sessions, 19 PDCA members have provided public diplomacy perspectives and insights to this year’s three Davis Fellows. PDCA receives a $2900 administrative fee for this project each year.
Topics covered in these sessions include Ambassadorial Tips for Mid-Career Officers; Great Power Competition; Countering Authoritarian Influence; Leveraging Digital Tools: AI, Cyber Security, Big Tech; Working with the Interagency Community; Managing Public Private Partnerships; Working with NGOs and Corporations; Working with Congress; Current Policy and Research Trends; and the Future of PD.
Pacific Advancement of Diplomatic Leadership Program: The Pacific Advancement of Diplomatic Leadership Program (PADL) for the Freely Associated States (FAS) is a theoretical and interactive learning experience for a core cohort of four participants conducted in April 2024. This project helped build public sector capacity by addressing the need for an experiential diplomatic training program for FAS government foreign affairs officials. This project was intended to empower the Freely Associated States to be effective self-advocates on the world stage and to promote the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the American Councils for International Education (ACIE), the program included four days of PD training and an evening of home hospitality provided by PDCA. Bob Heath, PDCA Executive Director, coordinated the PDCA portion of the program. Six PDCA members were recruited as trainers and received an honorarium. PDCA received an administrative fee of $10,000.
Joining co-chairs Vivian Walker and Adam Footlik are committee members Brian Carlson, Peter Kovach, Jim Kelman, Sherry Mueller, Claudia del Pozo, and Gabby Stall. If you are a rising professional interested in joining the PDCA mentoring program, or if you’re a seasoned PDCA member who wants to contribute to the development of the next generation of public diplomacy practitioners, please contact Vivian or Adam.