The Office of the Secretary is made up of several other offices that provide support and assistance for the Secretary of State and the missions of the Department as a whole.
- Office of the Chief of Protocol (S/CPR): The Office of the Chief of Protocol for the Office of the Secretary provides the President and the Secretary of State with advice on fulfilling the government’s obligations relating to national and international protocol. They are responsible for planning, arranging, and executing programs for visiting chiefs-of-state and heads of government, foreign ministers, and other high-level officials. They coordinate with the White House on the presentation of credentials of foreign ambassadors to the President and accredit foreign ambassadors and other diplomatic and consular officers. The office plans and executes arrangements for official functions hosted by the Secretary of State.
- Office of the Executive Secretariat (S/ES): The Executive Secretariat (S/ES) is the Secretary’s coordination and communications mechanism, and the channel for authoritative communication between the Department and the interagency foreign affairs community.
- Office of the Executive Secretariat, Operations Center (S/ES-O): The Operations Center is the 24-hour nerve center and communications hub of the State Department, operating continuously since its founding on April 30, 1961. “Ops,” as it is commonly known, consists of two offices: the Watch and Crisis Management Support (CMS). While the Watch responds to breaking news, CMS handles longer-term planning for and supports the response to possible crises around the world. CMS specializes in monitoring crises worldwide, promoting contingency planning and emergency preparedness, and supporting interagency evacuation planning and implementation. Intern duties include monitoring regional developments, assisting task forces, and handling special projects. Graduate-level students are encouraged to apply.
- Foreign Service Grievance Board (S/FSGB): Congress established the Foreign Service Grievance Board as an independent adjudicatory body to ensure procedural protections for Foreign Service employees of the six Foreign Affairs agencies. The board must resolve the tensions that sometimes develop between the need to protect employee rights and the desire to enhance Foreign Service efficiency. The major function of the board is to provide a forum for the fair review and adjudication of grievance appeals. The board’s jurisdiction extends to any grievance, as defined in Section 1101 of the Foreign Service Act, and to any separation for cause proceeding initiated pursuant to Section 610(a) (2). The jurisdiction of the Foreign Service Grievance Board is limited to current and former
members of the Foreign Service who are U.S. citizens. The board also has jurisdiction over labor management implementation disputes and certain retirement annuity pension claims. Its decisions generally are binding on the grievant and the agency alike, subject only to judicial review. - Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (S/GAC): The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator oversees and directs all resources and international activities of the U.S. Government to combat the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, including U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Additional information about the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator may be found at www.state.gov/s/gac.
- Office of Global Health Diplomacy (S/GHD): The Office of Global Health Diplomacy guides diplomatic efforts to advance the United States’ global health mission to improve and save lives and foster health system sustainability. S/GHD focuses on providing diplomatic support for the Administration’s global health priorities of Creating an AIDS-Free Generation and Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths.
- Office for the Representative of Global Partnership Initiatives (S/GPI): The Office of S/GPI is responsible for bringing together people across regions to work on issues of common interest. They also launch new projects, searching for solutions while also providing training and technical assistance
for future projects. The office works closely with its partners to plan and implement projects—avoiding duplication, learning from each other, and maximizing our impact by looking for best practices. - Office of Haiti Special Coordinator (S/HSC): The Office of S/HSC oversees U.S. Government engagement with Haiti, including diplomatic relations and the implementation of a reconstruction strategy in partnership with the Government of Haiti and other donors. The office’s objective is to integrate U.S. policies with programmatic capabilities and resources across U.S. Government agencies to ensure effective and accountable assistance to Haiti’s recovery. In that capacity, S/HSC oversees all Haiti-related issues within the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and coordinates all interagency engagement on Haiti. The office also serves as an important backstop in supporting Embassy Port-Au-Prince’s multifaceted efforts on the ground.
- Office of the Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs (S/SGRIA): The Office of the Special Representative for Global Intergovernmental Affairs works to foster a relationship between U.S. state and local elected leaders and their sub-national counterparts abroad. S/SGRIA promotes local capacity-building investment programs to enhance the country-led processes in line with the Department of State’s priorities and amplifies targeted capacity building programs utilizing the technical expertise of our state and local officials in the United States.
- Office for Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI): The Office for Global Women’s Issues coordinates foreign policy issues and activities relating to the political, economic and social advancement of women around the world. It mobilizes concrete support for women’s rights and political and economic empowerment through initiatives and programs designed to increase women’s and girls’ access to education and health care, to combat violence against women and girls in all its forms, and to ensure that women’s rights are fully integrated with human rights in the development of U.S. foreign policy.
- Office of Civil Rights (S/OCR): The Office of Civil Rights manages all Department of State programs and activities which promote equal employment opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action for employees and applicants for employment. This includes directing a complaints processing program which addresses complaints of discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, sexual orientation, disabling condition, or prior statutory,
constitutionally protected activity. The office also advises the Secretary of State and senior Departmental managers on affirmative action and diversity issues and develops and implements policies and procedures to eliminate barriers to equal employment opportunity. Finally, S/OCR is responsible for conducting briefings and training sessions on EEO, diversity management, and diversity for departmental components worldwide. - Office of the Secretary, Policy Planning Staff (S/P): The Policy Planning Staff (S/P) serves as a source of independent policy analysis and advice for the Secretary of State. S/P’s mission is to take a longer-term, strategic view of global trends and frame recommendations for the Secretary of State to advance U.S. interests and American values. Some of the main tasks of this office include undertaking broad analytical studies of regional and functional issues. This office also takes the lead on certain issues as tasked by the Secretary of State and engages functional and regional bureaus within the Department and relevant government agencies to ensure coordination and integration of policy with longer-term objectives. They hold policy planning talks with major allies and act as liaison to the non-governmental, think-tank and academic communities. The policies of the Department of State are articulated through members of staff from this office.