Shelter Bay man tabbed for major U.S. Foreign Service award

The reason Marcus Lamb isn’t seen often at his Shelter Bay home is because he’s out making his presence felt around the globe.

And doing so in a big way.

Lamb, an information technology systems specialist, was recently named one of six recipients of the U.S. Secretary of State Award for outstanding volunteerism abroad based on his work in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The award honors U.S. Foreign Service officers and family members for exceptional volunteer efforts while posted overseas.

Lamb was recognized for having lent his expertise to an organization that promotes information technology skill-building for young Tanzanian women unable to continue their traditional educations.

During his free time, often at night and on weekends, Lamb taught classes in information technology fundamentals, and coding and networking. Identifying a need for a dedicated curriculum, he designed with other instructors an overarching program and found free resources to enhance the new curriculum.

That’s not all.

He provided Tanzanian students workshops on resume-building and interviewing skills and established an e-mentoring program for which he gleaned advice from female information technology professionals within the State Department and private sector.

Lamb’s work was formally recognized by Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide, which administers the Secretary of State Award.

“The award,” said the AAFSW’s Lara Center, “was created in 1990 with the direct encouragement of then-Secretary of State James Baker and his wife Susan.”

The AAFSW has honored more than 100 awardees from a like number of posts in the past 30 years.

Lamb is the latest to join the list.

He and his wife, Tairi, who works alongside Lamb as a community liaison officer, served in Russia prior to the Tanzanian assignment. They are now based in Mexico City, making visits home somewhat easier.

“We live in Shelter Bay,” Lamb told the Weekly News, “but, being a diplomat, we spend most of our time overseas.”

The Lambs spent nearly four years in Tanzania following Marcus’s first assignment in Yekaterinburg, Russia, commonly referred to as the unofficial capital of the Urals and perhaps best known for its golden-domed Church on the Blood, built on the site of the 1918 Romanov family executions.

Tanzania proved an ideal posting. The Lambs thoroughly embraced their time on east Africa’s Swahili Coast.

“What stands out,” Marcus said, “is beauty in two forms. First, there’s the people. They’re very friendly and I enjoyed my time living and working with them. Second, there’s the game parks and the animals.

“It will be hard,” he noted, “to go back to a zoo.”

The couple won’t find it hard returning to the La Conner area when retirement beckons in a few years.

“We always look forward to getting out into the Cascades and on the Sound to enjoy all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer,” Lamb said. “We return as often as we can.”

Lamb, who grew up in Florida, has indeed taken the long road to La Conner.

After high school he joined the U.S. Navy, serving as a helicopter rescue swimmer and tactical crewman. During the 1980s, he and Tairi, also a veteran, were stationed at NAS-Whidbey.

“We always felt a special connection to the Pacific Northwest and we always wanted to return,” Lamb said. “When one of our daughters moved to Anacortes it was a great reason to take another look at homes in the area. We found one and are happy we did.”

There were plenty of stops in between, though.

After leaving the Navy, Lamb returned to college and completed work on a bachelor of science degree in information technology at the Charlotte, N.C. campus of the University of Phoenix.

Prior to joining the State Department, Lamb worked for Time-Warner Cable in Charlotte. That stint helped prepare him for his current duties in the diplomatic world, he said.

“I worked my way up from manager to director and then to bigger corporate roles,” Lamb explained. “That experience alone exposed me to all aspects of information technology, from billing systems to networks and telephone systems.

“Working in an embassy or consulate,” he added, “you must wear many hats and having all those experiences has really been beneficial.”

Serving in the State Department has thus allowed Lamb to meld his prior Naval and information technology careers.

“It’s been a true honor to serve my country again in a very different role than in the military,” he said, adding that “I wanted to use my information technology background to represent my country.

“Both my wife and I have a desire to travel and live overseas,” Lamb continued. “I believe exposure to other cultures helps me have a better understanding of the world and how what we do impacts it. It has truly made me think in broader terms.”

Others can realize the same, he said.

“I would highly recommend people look at joining,” said Lamb. “I didn’t start until I was 50 so if you have a desire to serve, you can.”