“Do Front Offices routinely raise social inclusion, racial/gender equity, disability, and LGBTQI+ issues with high-level host country interlocutors, especially in countries where these issues are problematic, and are these issues included in bilateral dialogues, whenever appropriate?

“This includes actively working to break down not just race/ethnicity/gender/LGBTQI+/disability biases, but also bias among the civil service and foreign service, U.S. direct hires and contracting colleagues, and within foreign service cones.

“How is bias discussed and mitigated both within the mission and in interactions with the host nation?

“depending on others — particularly others from historically marginalized groups

“critical conversations

“What types of localized DEIA trainings are being developed to engage all job categories — both [U.S. Direct Hire] and [Locally Employed] staff at Post? Is there a channel for [Locally Employed] staff, [Entry Level Officers], and other groups sometimes excluded from interaction with senior staff to be able to share ideas or give commentary on how to advance DEIA more effectively?

“I would never feel like I would be wanting to be in a place where I want to criticise somebody, because I'd like to think I've got a very good understanding of why somebody's made a decision that they've made. Of course, a wrong decision can be made. Nobody really chooses to understand the reasoning why. I feel my skills and my passion are better suited to trying to pass on that knowledge and experience I've been lucky en

“It's just part of the focus that comes with football. When we're dealing with supposedly objective analysis of matches, whether that be an expert ex-player in a studio or an ex-referee, that should be balanced and fair. If it's all one-sided criticism, that creates a culture of fear, disrespect, shame. There's a thirst for people to be told: 'Is the decision right or wrong?' And the reality in football is there's a lot of subjectivity and opinion in the middle of right and wrong. But that's not acceptable a lot of the time now.