diversity is our strength. >> bonnie: diplomats in the foreign service are the face of america around the world. they're charged with promoting peace and prosperity, advancing the interests of the united states and protecting. americans abroad. in the past two decades three women and two african-americans have served as secretary of state, the top u.s. diplomat. butts diplomacy has not always been diverse about. >> lia miller: the chemistry and the makeup of the diplomatic corps did not represent the american people. it was predominantly male. it was predominantly white. it was predominantly middle and upper class. >> bonnie: to recast that image the department has created programs and launched initiatives designed to ensure u.s. embassies and consulates around the world look like america today, diverse and multi-cultural. the goal is ambitious and the results so far are mixed. >> linda thomas greenfield: we've had to make some changes in the process so that we can target minority and women. i think we've been very very successful in terms of bringing women in the foreign service. about 50% of our classes coming in now, our incoming classes are young women. >> bonnie: women comprise approximately 40% of all foreign service officers. >> linda thomas greenfield: we're making significant progress at the entry level in bringing in a variety of people from different backgrounds, but when you look at the foreign service in terms of the mid levels and senior levels, the numbers are not there. >> bonnie: women are doing relatively well. they hold important top posts making up 30% of all senior positions. >> linda thomas greenfield: we still have to do more to encourage minorities. >> bonnie: 82% of foreign service officers and 86% of senior staff are white. it's not representative of a country that is 17% hispanic 14% african american and 5% asian american. african americans are some 5-1/2% of foreign service officers and senior positions. hispanics are underrepresented with about 5% in the officer ranks and 4-1/2% of senior staff. asian americans make-up nearly 7% of officers with less than 4% at the senior level. in 1922 lucille atcherson became the first woman accepted into the foreign service. at that time only unmarried women without children need to apply. fifty years later, in 1972, the service was opened up to married women and women with children. for male ambassadors and officers, that restriction never existed. in fact, how wives performed as hostesses was included in performance reviews >> donna hrinak: that changed in the '70s too but only in the '70s. the man's career was no longer dependent on whether his wife knew how to serve a tea properly. before it was. this is no exaggeration. >> bonnie: in 1968 foreign service officer alison palmer filed and won a sex discrimination suit. a few years later a class action suit helped pave the way for women's advancement in the foreign service. >> kirsten schulz: the department has changed when i joined my entrance class i think be 11 to 14% of the. >> women in international security found a pronounced and persistent gender gap in the senior foreign serviceambassador little yana a crawled oh serves in a highly visible post as ambassador to brazil. >> liliana: it's only as i look backwards now that i realize i was opening ground. only looking at the pictures on on the wall of former colleagues of which there is only one more woman and then myself that i realized, oh geez, this is also breaking ground. >> bonnie: liliana ayalde's journey to ambassador was unique. she is not a political appointee, like one-third of us ambassadors, but she is also not career state department. ayalde began her foreign service career at the u.s. agency on international development, usaid, more than 30 years ago. this is her second posting as an ambassador. >> liliana: challenges could have been there but i never took anything as a roadblock. in many cases i may have been the first woman they had seen in whether it was a director or a as i moved up as a mission director and then, of course, as a u.s. ambassador. i think along the way i may have represented something that people weren't prepared for. they look at my name and it's hispanic, an hispanic woman. they probably didn't expect it but i did it. >> bonnie: ambassador ayalde granted "to the contrary" access to videotape a day or, more accurately, two days in the life of an ambassador. we followed her in the capital city of brasilia and mega-city sao paolo. it was a packed and exciting schedule. television and newspaper interviews at a high profile luncheon in sao paolo promoting brazilian tourism to the us a meeting with afro-brazilians about their concerns and how us diplomats can help. and visiting a mural at the consulate that used soccer to connect american and brazilian children. in the capital city of brasilia the ambassador visited the casa thomas jefferson, a school where brazilians young and old are learning english. >> i understand fully becausetive same challenge with portuguese. >> she met with brazil yan youth ambassadors in a program designed to advance the relationship between the two countries. ambassador ayalde also convened an informal lunch gathering with women working at the embassy. >> brianna powers: we try to inspire women that work here support them and build a network. >> brianna cari: we have 47 female employees and 400 mission wide, so we are a pretty significant percentage and seeing women at the top of our profession like ambassador a audioy is really an inspiration. >> liliana: i tell other women, young females that want to talk to me about what are the ingredients to success to getting where you are, i always had people along the way who were role models or mentors and that has, as i look back, that helped me overcome some of the challenges that may have been more difficult for others. >> bonnie: ayalde believes part of her mission is to pay it forward and mentor women coming up true the ranks. >> cari-brasilia: there's been a lot of debate especially inside the foreign policy community. we can't have it all, then we can have it all. how hard charging do we need to be? one of the hardest parts for women is the issue of employment for family workers. how do you balance work and family? without having to deal with a guilty feeling. >> it's definitely a concern for a lot of the the women i've talked to. can you raise a family and at the same time have a career where you're moving around. i was able to do it. i don't know how. i did marry probably a little later then then the rest of my friends, i have a husband who also came from the diplomatic life, so i think that that helps understand the moving around, the building relationships with friends and connections in a country and then moving to another. it is hard raising a family at the same time. >> bonnie: many women voice concerns that flexibility is limited and if you turn down important assignments for personal reasons, you'll sabotage your career. ambassador ayalde offers hope. she passed on an opportunity to serve in afghanistan because she would have to be away from her family. >> i felt that my daughters were at an age where they needed to have their parents together. it was more important to be with my kids who soon will be away from their home and and doing their own thing. my family is important and i figure that there will be other opportunities. and there were. >> bonnie: she was later asked to assume the post of u.s. ambassador to brazil. ayalde is one of a handful of hispanic ambassadors. as a member of the hispanic employee council of foreign affairs agencies, or hecfaa, ayalde serves as a role model. >> anything i can do to help particularly young women, i'm move up in this year but also balancing our lives as women, as mothers, as wives and also being professionals. >> bonnie: hefcu is one of the affinity groups created to help support and attract minorities and attract them to the profession. targeted recruiting is a key element but ambassador linda thomas greenfield says the state department faces competition. corporations and other government agencies are also pursuing young, bright motivated and diverse talent. >> linda thomas greenfield: that was one of our huge, huge concerns. the fact that our diversity numbers have not gone significantly up despite very aggressive recruiting, programs that focus on getting more minorities interested. i came to the conclusion when i was director general that we had to start recruiting in eighth grade. >> bonnie: ambassador thomas greenfield has been in the foreign service for nearly three decades. >> linda thomas greenfield: we have to do a better job of putting the faces of the foreign service out as part of our recruiting effort. we have more and more of our recruiters going out to more diverse locations so that we can recruit from historical black colleges and universities hispanic colleges and universities. going to universities where there are huge minority populations so that we can talk to them about the foreign service. >> bonnie: the challenge is complex and nuanced, and so is the response. the state department sponsors events and sends diplomats to numerous outreach activities at colleges and in communities. the diplomats in residence program gives the foreign service a full time presence at strategic colleges and universities across the country. >> terry davidson: we have 16 diplomats in residence who are assigned to campuses. our efforts are designed to reach out to candidates coast to coast from border to border and even overseas because many of our candidates now are working and studying abroad. >> michelle los banos: i am thrilled that i've been chosen to be the diplomat in residence at the university of southern california at los angeles. so i'll be going out and talking to students about my experiences in the foreign service and serving as a public servant overseas, all the different countries i've gotten to work and travel to. >> julie chung: i didn't know much about the foreign service or the state department, so the fact that they went out and reached out to my university in california and tried to educate us on what the career entailed, i think that's a first step. and then once i got the fellowship the mentorship, i got the internship experiences i received, those were all very helpful in shaping my career. and helping me along the way. >> we pride ourselves being a jack all trades, masters of some. >> bonnie: two scholarship programs focus on increasing diversity in race, ethnicity, geography, gender and sexual orientation. the thomas r. pickering foreign affairs fellowship and the charles b. rangel international affairs program are both highly competitive. >> demonstrate cultural importance, why it was important, what you learned. >> teddy taylor: according to our stats this serves as the best way for us to continue to meet our diversity goals. i'm not saying they assist us in meeting all of our diversity goals but these certainly are major contributing factors to our success in meeting our diversity goals. >> work with them. let them memtor you. them guide you. >> the bate department offers through opportunities through the rangel program one brings undergraduates to washington, dc for a few weeks every summer. >> where you do not agree with the president's policy but you still have to implement it. >> absolutely. >> teddy b. taylor: personally i like to see candidates who are very engaging very outgoing. they're inquisitive. diplomats need to be inquisitive you have to be willing to ask the questions. >> how do you go about? >> you show your resourcefulness and try and solve it. >> you're looking forte well-rounded individual that is very flexible and easily adaptable. >> i do want to say a special thanks to congressman charles rangel. >> bonnie: the rangel program also offers fellowships each fellows receive financial assistance for graduate school professional development, mentors and paid summer internships in washington dc. >> you are part of our effort to ensure that we have a foreign service that reflects the face of america. >> sarah ell sayed: i'm a first generation american. my family's from egypt originally, from alexandria, but i was born and raised in the u.s., grew up in north carolina in a small, small town that i could not wait to get out of, knew that i wanted to travel and see the world. i had the opportunity to work at the american embassy in baghdad. so that was where i really got my experience and exposure to the department of state and what a foreign service officer does and what that career would be like, and the more exposure that i had to foreign service officers, the more i really felt that was a career that i really wanted for myself. >> how do you balance possibly being pigeon hold into a certain area with a desire to diversify your portfolio? >> can i object a latina as a specialist in the middle east? >> bonnie: most foreign service officers come to the state department in their mid to late 20s. many like sara el-sayed have worked overseas. sara worked on refugee issues in egypt, iraq, jordan, nepal and india. she'll do her graduate work at princeton. deetta cravens was a rangel undergraduate scholar and will attend harvard university. >> deetta cravens: my background has a lot to do with why i chose to be in the foreign service. i grew up in oklahoma. my dad is african american. my mom is native american and caucasian. and i couldn't live in a more culturally diverse family. i think that at a very young age made me curious about the world. i went to a very small liberal arts college in oklahoma, and one of my professors sent me an email just with a plain announcement about the rangel program, and i have never been so happy to read an email. the rangel program offers a lot more than entry to the foreign service. that's kind of the -- the icing on the cake. but what you get from the rangel program is a network of mentors who really, really care about you and care about the work that you're going to do and care your success. i've already taken the test and passed. >> all the buzz words about diplomacy how do they compare to traditional diplomacy? >> bonnie: leaders in the foreign service and officers who have been through the scholarship programs meet with the fellows. >> i'm dealing with a senior point are the ever counterpart to didn't is respect women. every time he spoke he would turn on to my male colleagues and i would turn him back. if you want to talk to the u.f.c. government you have to talk to me. >> and there is mock crisis role-playing exercises. >> the firste what does this earthquake mean to the u.s. business that we work with. >> we're going to need help. we're going to need medic. >> the. >> we need to know what resources we need for our section. >> we're going to monitor what's going on in the media. >> is that the kind of situation where we start removing people? >> that's not a decision that we would make. that's guidance from washington. >> right. >> bonnie: internships are a key component of the fellowship. sarah el-sayed worked on capitol hill on a program focusing on refugees. deetta cravens interned in representative rangel's office. >> we have an obligation to represent them. >> and you take that with you to foreign countries. >> as you move forward with sanctions -- >> the state department also offers scholarships through the thomas r. pickerring fellowship. >> so you will be interacting with an ambassador. it's a great job. >> thomas r. pickerring took a personal interest in it and felt that, of course it would only benefit the foreign service to have a wired range of perspective, diverse ideas, experiences, backgrounds. in its totality, that's what represents america. the reason why it continues to exist is because they have not successfully arrived at a percentage that reflects american society. >> bonnie: mary vargas was a pickering fellow. the daughter of immigrants vargas grew up in a tough neighborhood in east l.a. >> mary vargas: i was very curious about the world early on. and when i started high school, i had an excellent european history teacher and world history teacher, and she told me about model united nations. >> bonnie: vargas was encouraged to apply to george washington university's school of international affairs. she was accepted through the women in leadership program which helped pay for her first two years of school. >> mary vargas: my second year i was a little bit concerned about my financial situation in college, and my parents weren't able to support me and gw is a private school, so i started looking at the pickering fellowship. >> bonnie: vargas is a six-year veteran of the foreign service. she's served in mexico, pakistan and iraq. she met her husband in the service and together they're serving connect in israel. >> mary vargas: i met clay in tijuana. we were both first tour officers there and, um, we started dating towards the end of my tour and so he still had a year left in tijuana and i had my next assignment to pakistan all lined up. and so we were long distance for 15 months, and that happens a lot in the foreign service as well. so there's a lot of sacrifices that you make to eventually be together. but it worked out and we got married during that year that i was in pakistan and he was in tijuana. yeah. you can imagine how hard it is to plan a wedding from, you know, two ends of the world, but we made it work and it helped us to get a sign together the next time around. >> she has to flatter me that i have some redeeming quality in the kitchen. she's very diplomatic. >> bonnie: vargas and alderman are what is called a tandem couple. the service works with tandems because they hope to be able to live and work in the same country. >> clay: it's actually easier to be married to another foreign service officer than to be married to someone who is not in the foreign service. but who also are very am archbishops professionally driven. they find it difficult because one person has a job and they go from one country to another country every two or three years and the other person has to find a brand new job. >> bonnie: vargas is optimistic about the future of the foreign service becoming more representative of america. the latest wave of hiring that took place between 2008 and 2010 things are change quickly with but i think that's going to take a few generations and time for, for that to -- to reflect in the leadership of the foreign service. >> bonnie: vargas staffed the hecfaa booth at the open house for new recruits. other affinity groups were available to help recruits navigate the landscape and understand there is a future for them in the foreign service. >> non-discrimination policy here and overseas protections and benefits. >> i do believe that many lgbtq plus people think they could have a career but i think what might be missing models of, and that's one of the things we're trying to provide. we don't just have electricity plus officers. we have lgbtq plus ambassadors >> bonnie: with all the successes a truly diverse foreign service still remains an unrealized goal. in fact, the number of african americans in the service has actually decreased. >> linda thomas greenfield: we have to do a better job in the department in mentoring and supporting and encouraging officers because i think we do have a retention issue. they need to see senior minorities in positions of authority so that they have something to reach for. >> julie chung may: i have worked for several female and minority and other officers and its inspiring to see that and follow in these footsteps of these qualified, intelligent dynamic leaders. beyond just recruiting though i think its more important than ever that the state department retains these people and all the minorities and the diverse client group of officers that we have nurtured. how do we do that? family support, technology, and also mentoring. they all contribute to officers staying happy and staying in the foreign service. >> lia miller: they're trying to provide a more flexible workplace for women, offering flexed time, shared jobs, or job shares. in terms of just the career success of females in the foreign service, they leave at certain points, and we're trying to figure out why. you know, is it because they are now focusing on their children, are they focusing on their parents who are now aging, do is there something cultural, is there something else happening that causes them to leave and not continuing in the the foreign discoveries rise up to the senior ranks. >> we have done a lot on the state department tow work those life issues to encourage more employment opportunities for partners and spouses who are following the employee over seas. we look for opportunities to engage with our a peaking family members so that they too can feel satisfaction. >> we are doing a much better job but it's been a conscious effort of having programs that are energized and more in tune with the way things work today and the way recruitment should be done. it's not static. it's not passive but it's very active. but it's relatively new. i was just at the global chief of missions conference where, yes, there are women, but race is not appropriately represented when you looked at the leadership. >> bonnie: despite the challenges, foreign service officers and senior staff working towards a more diverse diplomatic corps remain committed. >> julie chung: it's essential that we show the diversity of america within the diversity of the foreign service because that's what makes us america. >> lia miller: if we're representing america and trying to tell america's story and we're trying to develop friendships based on history and who we are, you have to tell that story from many different perspectives. one individual does not embody the american experience. >> teddy b. taylor: it makes the promise in our founding documents true. it gives us sort of the moral high ground to encourage countries that have minor significant minority populations to open up their societies to empower women. it shows other countries that diversity is a good thing. >> mary vargas: everything that i do outside of my work duties is dedicated to bringing more diversity into the foreign service. and i believe it's extremely important because i have seen overseas what an advantage it is to have a diverse background when you're interacting and engaging with foreign audiences. >> funding for "to the contrary" provided by: the cornell douglas foundation committed to encouraging stewardship of the environment land conservation, watershed protection, and eliminating harmful chemicals. additional funding provided by: the colcom foundation, the wallace genetic foundation, and by charles a. frueauff foundation. from washington the mclaughlin group. the american original. for over three decades the sharpest minds, best sources, hardest talk. it's the 33rd annual mclaughlin group year-end awards 2014 part ii. here's the master of ceremonies john mclaughlin. destined for political stardom in 2015. pat? >> elizabeth warren. eleanor has a leader and hillary has a problem. [ laughter ] >> eleanor? >> vivid murphy the

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