Isaiah Makonnen became a Diplomatic Technology Officer after completing the FAIT Fellowship with the 2020 cohort. He is currently posted at the U.S. Embassy Prague, Czech Republic.

Tell us a little about yourself – where are you from, where did you go to college and what was your major?

I’m from Fort Wayne, Indiana and I went to college at Indiana University Bloomington. I majored in Informatics with a focus on Human Centered Computing for my undergraduate degree. For my graduate degree, at the same university, I earned an M.S. in Information Systems and a focus of Business Intelligence Analytics at the Kelley School of Business.

What made you decide that you wanted to work in technology for the Foreign Service?

The impact I would have at the start of my career. In most spaces in IT or business, your initial impact is not felt when you start out. You are sidelined and do more shadowing than providing actual impact. In the Foreign Service, not only have I been able to engage in and promote diplomacy in the broad sense, but also promote it in a cyber sense which helps us forge new relationships and maintain the relationships we have abroad. Traveling and being able to engage with different people and cultures and experiencing other parts of the world while helping the mission is what made me want to join the Foreign Service.

Being in the FAIT Fellowship helped answer everything I was skeptical of, when thinking about joining the Foreign Service. Not to mention, most technology-based workforces do not allow the capacity to be able to travel around the world nor do they promote training opportunities like the Foreign Service.

What impact has the FAIT Fellowship had on your life, personally or professionally?

It has a profound impact on all three aspects of my life. To have other fellows that I can relate to and talk to about situations and things at post is a phenomenal thing to have. Not only is it a great resource to have, to ask questions and have mentorship opportunities to reach out to past FAIT Fellowship alums, but it’s also a great community. Since joining, I have found lifelong friends in the FAIT Fellowship and community. It’s an amazing fellowship that’s very inclusive and every fellow is reachable – just an email or a call away.

Was there anything that surprised you about working in the Foreign Service or working in your role as a Diplomatic Technology Officer?

What surprised me is how hands-on I was as soon as I got to post. I was able to make an impact on day one, developing solutions and tools for Consular and management to make things more efficient and smoother for Americans needing help.  I have found that there is a lot more than just software and hardware when it comes to being a DTO. Being a jack-of-all-trades is more important than being a master of one thing.