Director General Harry K. Thomas, Jr. Commends Department of State Employees Named as 2008 Service to America Medal Finalists

Director General Harry K. Thomas, Jr. has announced that two Department of State employees have been named as finalists for the 2008 Service to America Medals, a national awards program honoring the achievements of federal employees. Foreign Service Officer Crystal Kaplan, now Refugee Coordinator in Jerusalem, and Mary Kate Friedrich, a Civil Service employee serving as a Special Advisor to the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, are two of the four finalists for the National Security and International Affairs Medal. Ms. Kaplan planned and led efforts by the U.S. and other countries to resettle more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees from refugee camps in Nepal where they have been living in for nearly two decades. Ms. Friedrich manages the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, a public-private partnership designed to mobilize public and private sector resources to help enhance the economic, social and political status of Afghan women.

The Partnership for Public Service will name the 2008 Federal Employee of the Year and recipients of the Service to America Medal at a Washington, D.C. gala on September 16. Visit www.ourpublicservice.org for more information.