The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers is pleased to announce the recipient of the fourth annual Randy Orr Memorial Award, which was established in 2022 to honour the memory of our long-serving Executive Committee member. The award recognizes the volunteer service and exceptional dedication of our members, their families or other colleagues, which has contributed to improving the life for those who serve Canada abroad.
Nominations for the award opened in early July, and in the months since, the Awards Committee was busy reviewing the several outstanding nominations it received. Now, after careful and difficult deliberation, the committee has made its selection.
The 2025 Randy Orr Memorial Award goes to William Dunlop for his outstanding work leading PAFSO’s Reconciliation efforts. William was central to the establishment in 2023 of the PAFSO Indigenous Mentorship Initiative (PIMI). PIMI equips Indigenous post-secondary students and recent graduates with a network and the resources to empower them to pursue careers in Canada’s foreign service. It is a unique and invaluable contribution to advancing reconciliation in a concrete way by promoting the development of a Foreign Service that reflects Canada’s diversity.
The initiative has also been an important element of strengthening the Foreign Service writ large. Through PIMI, in the course of supporting Indigenous students interested in the foreign service by sharing their unique perspectives, providing exposure to formal and informal networking opportunities, and helping Indigenous students prepare for both student employment and foreign service recruitment opportunities, participants have developed a stronger sense of community as well as a new appreciation for the work and talents of their colleagues.
William’s tireless work on PIMI – mostly conducted while posted abroad and dealing with the complexity of relocation, differing time zones, and demanding workloads – has been instrumental in raising the overall level of awareness of Indigenous issues and in helping PAFSO establish stronger ties to Indigenous communities. It is for all his selfless dedication to his colleagues, future Indigenous Foreign Service Officers, and the wider diplomatic community that William receives the 2025 Randy Orr Memorial Award.
The Award, with its $1000 prize, was presented at PAFSO’s 60th Annual General Meeting on October 20, 2025.
The committee would like to extend its thanks to everyone who took the time to nominate a colleague or to lend their name in support of a nomination. They could not be more pleased with the enthusiasm and interest the Randy Orr Memorial Award continues to receive, and they look forward to 2026.