The Fifth Annual Service to the Citizen Awards program honored five Federal government and private sector leaders on Sept. 16 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., for driving positive change in the delivery of government services to benefit all citizens.
The awards were created by Martha Dorris, founder of the Public Service Leadership Academy, to recognize the efforts of public servants on the front lines of improving citizen service delivery.
Taking home the awards this year were:
Government Executive of the Year – Dr. Patricia Hayes, Chief Officer, Office of Women’s Health, at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs;
Industry Executive of the Year – Jim Gayhart, Former President, Senture, LLC;
Government CX Trailblazer – Nicole Callahan, Data Analyst – Customer Insights, Student Experience & Aid Delivery, Federal Student Aid, at the U.S. Department of Education;
Rising Star of the Year – Amy Fong, Mathematical Statistician, Office of Disability Employment Policy, at the U.S. Department of Labor; and
Lifetime Achievement for Delivery Services to the Citizens – Captain Joshua Devine, U.S. Public Health Service Regional Health Administrator, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Retired).
“Delivering excellent, equitable and secure government services takes leadership and a skilled workforce with courage, dedication, persistence, empathy and an acknowledgement that we can do better,” Dorris told MeriTalk. “By putting the customer at the center of policy and investment decision making, services can be improved.”
“Those people are the champions of change that we honored at the 5th Annual Service to the Citizen Awards,” she said. “I believe there’s no greater way to demonstrate our appreciation than to honor the people behind the scenes who serve their customers, whether they are the public, employees, other agencies or our suppliers.”
