In this episode, we meet Kavanaugh Livingston who in her first year as an EFM making a difference in supporting EFM (Eligible Family Member) careers in her community. Like many EFMs, she had to pause her career while her spouse serves as an FSO with the State Department.Kavanaugh organized an event to educate other post EFMs about the benefits of in mission employment, including both current and long-term retirement benefits. We also talk about the possibilities of offering similar informational support sessions to EFMs at your post.
Some key takeaways from her careers workshop:
- If it helps, use the EFM employment notebook as a suggested way to organize an electronic repository of all of your employment-, HR-, and payroll-related documents;
- Download and keep copies of ALL of your employment-related documents from Employee Express and any other online employee portals (i.e. SF-50s and Leave and Earnings Statements);
- The attached notebook also contains contact information, resources, and guidance on how to understand key employment documents;
- To streamline the process of applying for or renewing your security clearance (a.k.a. the e-QIP form), keep track of all of your residences, contacts, and travel details from the past 10 years;
- When applicable, use a personal email address (and not a government email address) to register for any third-party employment, HR, and retirement portals. When you retire from or leave government service, you will lose access to your government email; and
- It is the employee’s responsibility to track their earnings statements and creditable service. Check these documents frequently to ensure their accuracy so that your retirement benefits are calculated appropriately.
Materials related to her EFM careers event available here.
Kavanaugh Livingston is a first-tour EFM in Mexico and recently transitioned to a life as a stay-at-home mom.
Before moving to Mexico Kavanaugh was a management consultant for IBM, and led strategy, knowledge management, and change management projects for her clients. Before her time at IBM, Kavanaugh got her MBA and worked for the United Nations Foundation (UNF). During her time with UNF, she managed efforts to improve household energy access for a global initiative. Kavanaugh started her career in the legal field before her most recent employment experiences. She is currently working towards her 200-hour yoga teacher training certification.
Kavanaugh is also a certified project management professional and has applied her extensive project management experience to support other EFMs at her current post. Her experience demonstrates that anyone at post, even first-tour EFMs, can serve as leaders.
