Gears of Government Awards
2019 Hall of Winners
President's Award Winners
KRUSTY Team
Department of Energy and National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Developed a power source to support deep space travel that outlasts existing fuel sources. Using Stirling-engine technology, this team tested a fuel source that paves the way for future manned missions to Mars and ensures that astronauts have adequate electrical power for long-term missions.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Team
Department of Commerce
Radically advanced detection of harmful algal bloom toxins to ensure the delivery of safe drinking water in Lake Erie and access to safe seafood in Washington State. This team’s cutting-edge technology advances the economic and public health in U.S. coastal communities.
Dr. Emily Haas
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved health and safety standards for mineworkers across the country. Ms. Haas’ research resulted in the creation of industry-wide strategies to improve the health and safety management methods.
Takata Recall Team
Department of Transportation
Increased awareness of nationwide airbag recalls through the creation of a remedy campaign. This team reinvented the way vehicle recalls are carried out, including providing manufacturers with a communication toolbox and developing innovative ways to lessen the impact on vehicle owners. Their efforts led to the replacement of 7.2M+ defective airbag parts in 2018, saving lives across the country.
Office of Inspector General
Department of Health and Human Services
Prevented health care providers convicted of opioid-related offenses, sexual assault, rape, and manslaughter from participating in Federal healthcare programs to protect taxpayer-funded healthcare programs (e.g., Medicare) and vulnerable beneficiaries from abuse.
Dr. Kathleen Uhl
Department of Health and Human Services
Transformed generic drug regulation using cutting-edge science and expert leadership. Dr. Uhl’s work has expanded access to generic drugs, making it possible for millions of Americans to access essential medications.
Agricultural Marketing Service
Department of Agriculture
Transformed an 80-year-old approach to support distressed agricultural industries and provide safe, nutritious food to low-income communities. Their efforts enabled USDA to help industries in weeks instead of months and provide food banks with more fresh fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat.
Barbara C. Morton
Department of Veterans Affairs
Transformed VA’s capabilities to provide veterans with an excellent customer experience. From real-time data and tools to strategic partnerships between communities, veterans, and families, Barbara’s work empowers veterans and VA employees to improve the veteran experience.
Agency Award Winners
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Cut permitting time in half for standard air permitting applications without sacrificing quality. Their improvements save valuable time and resources for taxpayers and private employers, and continue to protect public health.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved how FDA responds and reacts to natural disasters. This effort enhances FDA’s ability to assess the impact of damage at facilities and ability to recover resources.
Team Award
Department of Labor
Decreased cybersecurity threats to the Department of Labor operating systems through critical software updates.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Detected and addressed immediate danger to human life and property as first responders in the wake of Hurricanes Maria and Irma. With the assistance of local employees, the team visited over 1,000 people and identified over $25 million in emergency watershed projects.
Team Award
Department of Labor
Increased participation of private companies in the Occupational Health Safety Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program which recognizes excellence in occupational safety and health management. The streamlined, easy-to-use application system helped to reduce burden on companies.
Team Award
Department of Veterans Affairs
Decreased response time for Congressional and White House inquiries by 65% through the implementation of technology-driven operational improvements.
Team Award
United States Agency for International Development
Developed and implemented an Agency-wide approach to navigating and managing complex risks. USAID’s mission requires staff to work in high-threat environments, with risks ranging from state failure and armed conflict, to corruption, natural disaster and macroeconomic instability. The team’s work helps the Agency make informed and strategic financial, policy, and program decisions.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Revolutionized the National Nuclear Security Administration’s management methodologies which led to increased collaboration among staff and significant progress towards achieving national security objectives.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Developed and evaluated trade remedy options for solar panels and washing machines to allow the government to take remedial action against imports damaging domestic industry. By running over 80 simulations to estimate impacts, their work resulted in recommended options accepted and announced by the President.
Team Award
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Became the first agency able to show the exact cost of 100% of IT costs in the agency.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Launched the Good Neighbor Authority to build public private partnerships that will improve forest health, reduce fuels and threats to communities and watersheds from catastrophic wildfires, and create more jobs and economic benefits.
Team Award
General Services Administration
Increased efficiency and reduced costs of the acquisition process for maintenance services at military fueling stations around the world through cross-agency collaboration. These services provide critical support to ships, tanks, aircraft, and other military vehicles.
Team Award
Department of Transportation
Modernized key FAA mission information technology. The new, consolidated approach has significantly improved productivity, enabled the retirement of legacy data centers and saved the FAA approximately $600,000 per year.
Team Award
DOE, DOI
Reduced administrative costs and improved the efficiency of environmental compliance through the use of data. This data helped to identify a Utah plant species that no longer required protection as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish & Wildlife Service delisted the species based on its stability, allowing money and efforts to be redirected toward truly endangered species.
Team Award
Department of Labor
Improved the efficiency and cost-savings of equipment for manufacturers through the development of an in-house 3D printing system for DOL’s Occupational Health Safety Administration Field Office. The 3D printing system produces parts that manufacturers no longer support and can build accessories to enhance existing equipment.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Distributed approximately 70,000 currency readers to blind or visually-impaired individuals and promoted smartphone currency identifier apps to assist with daily cash transactions. The team’s efforts resulted in approximately 85,000 downloads.
Baboyma Kagniniwa
United States Agency for International Development
Used spatial analysis and GIS mapping to strategically address poverty, malnutrition, and stunting. Mr. Kagniniwa’s work gives USAID teams a better understanding of each country’s unique challenges and helps them design evidence-based activities to increase impact.
Brian Martin
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved access to life-saving medications for millions of Medicare recipients. Mr. Martin created a new system that makes it easier for recipients to find a Medicare plan that meets their healthcare needs.
Team Award
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Trained over 2000 employees on new licensing requirements, ensuring public health safety standards are met on any license the NRC approves.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Developed a bank note security sensor to detect counterfeit bank notes for cash processing operations. The technology flawlessly processed over six million U.S. currency notes and allowed for the elimination of another tool, saving an estimated $4 million per year.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Led an effort across government, industry, state, academia, and crop specialists to better detect and prevent weed seeds in U.S. soybean products. Their efforts protected access to the $12.4 billion Chinese soybean market and the livelihoods of American producers.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Worked with State agency and private-sector partners to ensure access to a safe, nutritious, and secure food supply and program flexibilities during the devastating hurricane season and the wildfires that impacted California. The team facilitated the distribution of 11 million pounds of food to feed groups and individual households after the disaster.
Team Award
Department of Defense
Eliminated unnecessary, costly, and burdensome regulations that impede the DoD’s mission. Their work reduced agency-wide regulations by approximately 25% and has already saved taxpayers $4.3 million.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Improved public safety, by consolidating electronic entry, exit, and flight status information for cargo screening facilities at Chicago O’Hare International Airport into a single data repository. 102 million passengers and 1.9 million tons of cargo moved through O’Hare in 2017.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Created partnerships with a range of minority-serving organizations to expose students to STEM fields and begin to build a pipeline of talent for NOAA.
Christopher Derringer
Social Security Administration
Enhanced the customer service and operations of Tulsa’s Social Security office. Christopher’s commitment to improving online self-help service resulted in a substantial increase in new online My Social Security Accounts, saving 130 Social Security customers from office revisits in the fourth quarter of 2018.
Clifton Neal
Department of State
Saved the U.S. Mission to Japan hundreds of thousands of dollars by modernizing supply-chain and procurement practices, taking advantage of the economies of scale afforded by nearby US military bases.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Improved security preparedness and resiliency at national places of interest through the completion of security capabilities reviews for private organizations.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Designed and implemented the innovative “Cybervets” program, which helps prepare veterans transitioning to civilian life by training them to fill critical cybersecurity roles.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Reduced recurring maintenance and operational costs by modernizing the Nuclear Materials Management and Safeguards System, which provides timely and accurate data on the movement of the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Originally estimated to cost $13M, the modernization was completed within projected budget allocations of $3.5M.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Made air emissions data timelier and more accessible to better inform policy decisions. Created a tool that lets stakeholders quickly find out what proposed energy efficiency and renewable energy programs will mean in terms of real air emission reductions.
Team Award
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Transformed the way HUD manages its finances. The team reduced the administrative burden for some programs by over 90% and significantly improved accountability and transparency of taxpayer funds.
Daniel W. Green
Department of Homeland Security
Led FEMA’s distribution of fuel to multiple operations during 2017’s major hurricanes. Fuel is critical in disaster response for local, state and federal responders, as well as hospitals and other service providers.
Donna Gross
Small Business Administration
Streamlined and led the recruitment, hiring, and onboarding of hundreds of staff in response to Hurricane Harvey. Donna helped oversee $544,832,947 in recommended loans to get small businesses and households started on the path to recovery.
Dr. Delivette Castor
United States Agency for International Development
Translated biomedical research into improvements for HIV/AIDS prevention programs. As a result of Dr. Castor’s scientific and technical leadership, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program conducted more than 15 million voluntary preventative procedures and supported the introduction and scale-up of preventative medication in 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Saved $3 million from being sent to fraudulent actors who had stolen individuals' identity.
Team Award
Small Business Administration
Onboarded 6,000 emergency hires to respond to the most active and costly hurricane season in US history. The flexibility, resourcefulness, and tireless dedication of this team allowed SBA to respond quickly to national disasters.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Modernized how the agency coordinates air permitting data between localities, states, and the public. Bamikole’s improved approach has realized more than $9 million in cost avoidance.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Developed and implemented a transition plan for law enforcement positions. This innovative plan fills open positions more quickly, which increases public safety and allows teams to compete for top talent.
Team Award
Small Business Administration
In the wake of Hurricane Maria, empowered small businesses with information and resources in 94% of the municipalities across Puerto Rico. The hurricane knocked out 80% of Puerto Rico’s utility poles and left all 3.4 million residents without electricity, meaning personal outreach and coalition building was essential to reaching communities in need.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Launched the Enhanced Budget Monitoring & Forecasting tool with faster, more accurate budget forecasting functionality. The tool provides real-time budget execution visibility and reduces reporting requirements on staff.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Transferred the ownership of the American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to the local government. The team worked with the local government to ensure that this transfer was accomplished in 12 months. The successful transfer will save $500,000 annually.
Frank Giaretto
Department of Commerce
Led an operation that dismantled and brought to justice an international syndicate that illegally trafficked marine mammal ivory and black coral. Special Agent Giaretto’s work has had a deterrent effect on wildlife trafficking in the Hawaiian Islands and across the Pacific.
Team Award
Department of Labor
Improved collaboration between the Chief Evaluation Office and department divisions through the development of a software platform that enables program staff to test analytical approaches with professional software at no cost.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Reduced the rate of errors in Medicare transactions through the use of data-driven methods and enhanced collaboration processes. This effort saved taxpayers $4.59 billion.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Created a resource handbook for rural citizens, businesses, and organizations to easily locate programs throughout USDA that support various types of rural broadband and e-connectivity technology projects. Their efforts support expanded connectivity which is critical to economic development, infrastructure improvements, education, and quality of life in rural America.
Team Award
Department of Veterans Affairs
Drove modernization and digitization of more than 80 business processes across the VA, bringing services into the 21st century. Their technical savvy and focus on process improvement standardized and streamlined work across the agency to improve service to our veterans.
Team Award
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Improved and streamlined customer service to maximize HUD’s impact on areas hardest hit by the 2018 hurricane season. The team’s work helped HUD assist over 12,000 hurricane survivors and rehouse more than 4000 families in FY18.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Empowered staff to maximize their skills through a 90-day rotational program for Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services employees. This program has improved employee morale, maximized efficiency, promoted developmental opportunities, and transformed the culture of staff.
Geoffrey Colley
Department of Labor
Improved the efficiency of hiring foreign nationals through the implementation of a new application system. The streamlined system enabled employers to easily navigate the certification process so they can hire for the critical skills they need to stay competitive.
Giovanni Onwuchekwa
General Services Administration
Improved customer service and reduced response time through the implementation of an artificial intelligence-based call system. The system uses robotic process automation to provide federal agencies with a group of service and technology providers upon need.
Team Award
Department of Veterans Affairs
Improved the quality of life for veterans with limb loss. Jeffrey’s interdisciplinary team optimized both clinical care and process management to provide veterans with timelier and more personalized prosthetic care.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Developed and deployed the first ever “ethics app” in the federal government. The app provides accessible, effective, and on-demand ethics training to all USDA employees. The USDA is driving further cost savings by making it available to all of government.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Reduced maternal substance abuse and opioid withdrawal among Native American populations in North Dakota through the implementation of training programs at health clinics. Since the January 2018 implementation of these programs, the total number of opioids prescribed decreased by 61%.
Team Award
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Led the effort to modernize HUD’s housing systems, enabled by the Technology Modernization Fund. These systems are central to how HUD manages billions of tax dollars to help ensure Americans have access to fair, affordable housing and opportunities to achieve self-sufficiency.
Team Award
Department of Labor
Increased mission success through the modernization of mine inspection processes for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Mine inspections now require less equipment and are more reliable.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Reduced undue, redundant, and conflicting acquisition policies by approximately 55% during the “Acquisition Policy Diet” effort, thereby streamlining acquisitions and lowering risk.
Helen Goza
Small Business Administration
Reduced the time and cost of assessing small business’ eligibility for contracting opportunities worth billions of dollars. Helen transitioned a paper-based operation to a paperless one, which is being used as a model across SBA.
Team Award
Department of Transportation
Improved access to and quality of training for all DOT staff by transitioning the FAA’s electronic Learning Management System and DOT’s training data to a cloud environment. Eight different FAA offices collaborated on this work and set an example for Shared Services in the department.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Modernized the stormwater permit system used by more than 25,000 construction sites and 2,000 industrial sites around the nation to better protect public health and the environment. The effort significantly improved customer service to permittees while also saving the agency over $60,000 a year.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Enhanced national security by using strategic partnerships and advanced analytics to prevent the diversion of US goods and technology to weapons of mass destruction and sanctioned programs.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved CDC cold storage management practice for freezers resulting in 40% energy savings. These efforts improved the energy efficiency and quality of CDC freezers.
Team Award
United States Agency for International Development
Enhanced USAID’s long-term engagement strategies with critical international partners, such as the United Nations, in order to improve and streamline foreign assistance and advance the Agency’s mission.
Team Award
Department of State
The Seoul Public Diplomacy Team leveraged relationships with North Korean defector students to provide them with English-speaking and media skills to counter anti-US propaganda. They also reached out to top South Korean universities and high schools to highlight American education.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Enhanced mission support services through state-of-the art building renovations. This resulted in an efficient use of taxpayer dollars, increased productivity, and collaboration across CDC teams.
Jean Rivera Reyes
Social Security Administration
Detected and referred potential Social Security residency fraud cases for investigation. Jean’s fraud referrals resulted in over $700,000 in taxpayer savings.
Jeff Davis
Small Business Administration
Leads SBA’s efforts to make sure print and digital resources are available for our nation’s visually impaired population, including the Small Business Resource Guide that reaches more than 500,000 recipients.
Jeffrey Brown
Department of Transportation
Successfully supported a FEMA response mission during Hurricane Harvey through several rapid response tactics. In addition, when Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck the Caribbean and his ship was diverted, Jeff ensured a smooth transition and handled complex logistics necessary to adapt to the new mission.
Joe Salvatore
Department of Veterans Affairs
Brings VA’s modernization and improvement efforts to life. Joe’s team led internal communications for the past three VA Secretaries and created Modernization Central to engage employees in the agency’s ongoing transformation to improve service to America’s veterans.
John Cotter
Social Security Administration
Broke new ground in making government websites accessible to users with disabilities. John built an open source tool that makes it free and easy for agencies across government to improve their websites and save tax dollars.
John Paul Scarpatti
Department of State
Responsible for maintaining secure communications between Washington D.C. and U.S. Mission-Russia during a massive cutback of Mission staff mandated by the government of Russia, including the closure of Consulate General St. Petersburg.
Joseph Amalfitano
Social Security Administration
Led SSA’s adoption of open source code, which saves taxpayers millions of dollars, reduces duplication, and helps government services work more seamlessly for citizens.
Team Award
Department of Veterans Affairs
Works to detect and prevent fraud committed against Veterans. This crack team finds out what went wrong, protects the Veteran and/or beneficiary from further fraud, and helps the individual become financially whole again by reissuing benefits.
Team Award
Department of Labor
Created a strategic communications plan for the implementation of new policy guidance for the Employment & Training Administration’s 85,000+ external customers. This plan helped streamline the implementation process and included a toolkit to help customers better understand and apply employment policies.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Provided a Fentanyl response plan to first responders from across the country. The team’s work helps protect the health and safety of citizens from the deadly opioid epidemic.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Developed and deployed a new dimensional metrology method to solve a critical challenge for the semiconductor industry. The new method, Critical Dimension Small Angle X-ray Scattering (CD-SAXS), has been actively adopted across the industry for next-generation device manufacturing.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved public health through the creation of the Fitwel® Certification. Fitwel® promotes health and wellness in government, corporate, and residential buildings.
Katherine Spivey
General Services Administration
Improved communication with the American public by increasing awareness and usage of plain language throughout the federal government.
Kelly Smith
Social Security Administration
Provided excellent customer service to the St. Regis Band of Mohawk Indians in Akwesasne, NY as the Social Security liaison. Kelly established dynamic, trusting relationships with tribal leaders to ensure payment accuracy, timeliness, and fraud prevention.
Kenneth Vincent
Department of Energy
Protected the country from energy supply disruptions by leading a strategic review of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve and worked with Congress and the Executive Branch to make improvements.
Kerry Pelzman
United States Agency for International Development
Led the development of the Personnel Pilot System (PPS) at USAID’s Bureau of Global Health. PPS will improve USAID’s ability to hire the right international development talent to the right place, at the right time. Ultimately, PPS will help to advance the USAID’s transformation and modernization processes.
Kimberly Rasar
Department of Energy
Modernized the Office of Fossil Energy’s management, IT, and workforce practices to align with industry best practices and implemented a strategic communications plan for the America First Energy Plan.
Kirk Liang
Department of Commerce
Promoted innovation and increased competition in the specialized satellite communications industry through the transfer of NOAA technology to a small business. Mr. Liang managed the complex effort and stayed within budget and on schedule.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Developed a customer-centric “Food Buying Guide” and mobile app to streamline information and increase efficiency in the Child Nutrition Program. Now more than 280,000 program operators know exactly how much food they need to buy and the nutritional value to better serve more than 34 million children daily.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Re-envisioned the way USDA supports producers in the aftermath of disasters. Their improvements helped hurricane and wildfire victims in Puerto Rico, California, Texas, and Florida get assistance more quickly and efficiently and set the standard for future programs.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Adjudicated and hired over 1,600 personnel in just two months for response teams aiding disaster victims from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
Team Award
Department of Defense
Made it easier and faster for DOD to use data to achieve mission outcomes. The team standardized data across 60 systems and improved data security, governance, and compliance.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Reduced the risk and cost of several large CMS contracts. This effort increased accountability, transparency, and efficiency in health insurance transactions and saves taxpayers $274 million.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Developed an efficient and cost-effective method for removing dust and lead particles from outdoor firing ranges, saving taxpayers $2.4 million.
Team Award
Department of Transportation
Modernized how the Federal Aviation Administration trains the men and women that help keep our airways safe. Their aggressive combination of remote and traditional learning has improved mission readiness by training more students, while also saving taxpayer dollars.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Developed a system to discourage birds from roosting in a 500-kilovolt electrical substation, saving taxpayers $5.7 million from power disruptions caused by the birds. This system has enabled electricians to focus on maintaining the facility’s power generation, as opposed to cleaning up biowaste from the birds.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Established the first primary standard to measure optical fiber-based laser power by exploiting the team’s innovative coatings, which are the most light-absorbing, or blackest, material ever made. The team’s innovation will enhance telecommunications, sensing, defense, and the development of future quantum networks.
Lara Eilhardt
Department of Veterans Affairs
Expanded access to legal services for veterans receiving healthcare. Lara’s team builds critical partnerships between VA facilities and pro-bono legal groups to address not only the medical and personal aspects of a veteran's care but also the social and environmental factors.
Linda McCaw
Social Security Administration
Advocated for citizen engagement and upheld the principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration by leading SSA’s efforts to make federal data available to the public. Linda’s efforts led to 1,900 metadata records available to the public on Data.gov.
Lisa Lewis
Department of Health and Human Services
Reduced operating costs by 25% and simplified the structure of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. This was part of the successful implementation of provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act, which aims to help address the opioid crisis.
Lori. A Shorthouse
Department of Homeland Security
Streamlined processes and effectively implemented technologies to save time and money.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Improved safety culture through the implementation of safety standards within DOE facilities. These standards have been applied in other federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Created a system that allows commercial vessels to use electronic charting and real-time positioning technology to deliver updates to the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular. The system saves the maritime industry millions of dollars and cuts down work hours.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Set the EPA's gold standard for operating an efficient lab that maximizes taxpayer resources and maintains quality testing to protect human and environmental health. Their streamlining efforts led to a 100% on-time delivery of test results and saved hundreds of thousands of tax dollars.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Developed a strategy to maintain national security at the southwest border. This multi-disciplinary team was convened quickly and was able to work swiftly on this highly visible and complex project.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Applied cutting-edge technologies to help HHS more easily get what they need to meet their mission. The team used blockchain, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to create a better acquisition process for HHS programs, contractors, and industry partners.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Overhauled the agency’s acquisition process to increase speed and quality of incrementally-funded contracts. Their work completely eliminated the backlog of past-due requests and saved EPA and private sector partners time, effort, and resources that can be rededicated to the mission.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Launched datalab.usaspending.gov to provide American taxpayers with more transparency into $4 trillion of annual Federal spending. The team used open source code to give stakeholders access to federal data assets that show how the government is delivering results and value.
Team Award
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Updated criteria for nuclear reactors, ensuring clarity of standards and a more timely process of licensing new products that meet the new criteria.
Team Award
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Created a tool to improve strategic Human Capital planning to build the workforce of the future and put key workforce information and analytics at the fingertips of decision makers. The team’s tool streamlines processes and eliminates manual and redundant work, saving tax dollars and valuable employee time.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Developed and deployed a custom app that uses GPS to give a real-time view of an area where a security operation is taking place. The app allows responders to see the location of their teammates and potential threats, enhancing security and situational awareness for operations.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Recovered $2.3 million worth of unclaimed Medicare Trust Funds from States and U.S through a partnership between Medicare, Treasury, and State Governments and Territories.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Modernized data collection processes for state health insurance exchanges. This improved the use and management of the $10 billion in federal tax dollars used for enrollment transactions.
Team Award
Department of Veterans Affairs
Modernized the technology and processes used for adjudicating Veterans appeals so that more veterans get answers more quickly. The appeals board issued 85,280 decisions in FY 2018, 62% more decisions than FY 2017 and the most in their history.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Created the newest system for detecting a tsunami, allowing more time to alert potentially impacting citizens.
Team Award
General Services Administration
The DotGov team manages the .gov top-level domain. Their work is critical to make sure bona-fide U.S. government organizations can provide trusted, digital information and services to the American public.
Matthew Royston
Department of Transportation
Streamlined training for Air Traffic Controllers through the development of mobile applications and games to replace outdated learning techniques. Mr. Royston’s innovative and engaging training methods have improved access to information and established training consistency.
Mildred Lopez-Ferre
Department of Energy
Saved $500,000 in annual operating expenses by transferring ownership of the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE) in Tennessee to the local government. Built in 1949, the AMSE memorializes the city’s role in developing the Manhattan Project.
G. Nagesh Rao
Small Business Administration
Revolutionized SBA’s approach to supporting entrepreneurs in innovation, startup, and technology fields. Nagesh’s cutting-edge approaches have helped small businesses more easily access $2.5 billion/year in R&D funding and helped SBA fund 187 startup accelerator programs, serving more than 5,000 new small businesses.
Team Award
General Services Administration
The team built a relational repository of government-wide management data containing 659 Million rows of data accounting for more than 829 GB of memory, are using it to help inform decisions that make government work better and cost less.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Modernized the Medicare claims processing system. This team’s innovation will lead to $7.5 million in savings over the next five years.
Team Award
Department of Veterans Affairs
Modernized the VA’s approach to processing claims to maximize resources, improve processing timeliness, and better serve Veterans and their families.
Team Award
Social Security Administration
Spearheaded a new approach to cyber-security training for SSA employees. The new approach significantly increased employees’ ability to detect and report suspicious emails to protect taxpayers' sensitive information.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Developed the Remote Retrievable Disposable Desktop tool that provides access to immigration information, while protecting DHS systems and the legal rights of individuals under investigation and adjudication of certain immigration benefits.
Team Award
Social Security Administration
Provided professional, compassionate service to over 160 daily customers, many of whom face mental health challenges and chronic homelessness. The team innovated to increase operational efficiency while maintaining personalized attention for customers.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Modernized business processes to locate and support areas with healthcare shortages. This work has improved support in high need areas and reduced costs for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Developed new maps of wind speeds for the U.S. Their work greatly improved the science-basis of the national standard for the design of buildings and other structures for wind loads, enabling safe and more economical designs for buildings and infrastructure.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Modernized workforce strategies for the National Nuclear Security Administration enabling the agency to improve recruitment and adapt to rapidly-changing mission needs.
Pamela Isom
Department of Energy
Increased transparency and accountability through the use of geospatial data through a collaborative, interagency approach, which led to the creation of the Geospatial Science Program Management Office.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Analyzed U.S.-Produced Value in U.S. Imports from NAFTA. Their dedication, expertise, and skill in data collection and manipulation provided the analytical basis for the U.S. position in the NAFTA Rules-of-Origin negotiations.
Team Award
Small Business Administration
In response to the worst hurricane season on record, the team re-envisioned the loan decision process to allow SBA to break every agency record related to timeliness, productivity, and loans issued. SBA provided $5,578,644, 700 in assistance in five months.
Team Award
Department of Transportation
Overhauled and restored surveillance systems along U.S. borders. This team’s work increased the operability and availability of day-time cameras from 57% to 93% and infrared cameras from 5% to 86%, improving Border Patrol Agents’ capacity to monitor border security.
Rebecca Mauldin
Department of Transportation
Revolutionized FAA Technician training by leading several projects focused on improving instructor and classroom resources, creating critical needs training, and developing a training requirements documentation system. Ms. Mauldin’s leadership efforts have increased the efficiency of training and reduced costs associated with conducting training.
Robert Potter
General Services Administration
Building Manager Robert Potter worked with the Dept. of Defense, Defense Logistics Agency to make changes that have enhanced workplace safety and health at the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Ensured that all valid, registered Financial Intermediaries met their Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Reporting obligations and updated FATCA registration system to provide new functions, capabilities, and process improvements. The team’s work allows for more cost effective analysis of data.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Improved the cybersecurity of federal computer systems through the removal of Kaspersky Lab security products. Kaspersky Lab products were identified to have ties to the Russian government.
Team Award
Social Security Administration
Created a new training program to better equip SSA employees to prevent and prosecute Social Security fraud in the digital age. This specialized training on emerging legal issues and technology protects public resources and promotes public confidence in the SSA.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Improved the efficiency of national security processes through the consolidation of electronic entry and exit status information into a single repository for the Arrival and Departure Information System.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Enhanced the approval process for alcohol bottle labeling to ensure timely and accurate information for consumers and an efficient process for suppliers.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Led a department-wide effort to streamline, simplify, and clarify USDA policies and improve labor relation activities. These changes have inspired senior leadership and employee confidence and strengthened the Department’s accountability to Congress and the American people.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Improved the security of soft targets, such as sporting venues, shopping malls, and public transit stations, through exceptional leadership, teamwork, and the development of the DHS’ Soft Target and Crowded Places Security Plan.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Eliminated a 12-year backlog of terrorism-related information in digital media, which resulted in the identification of over 1,000 individuals on terrorist watchlists.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Modernized the National Food Safety Data Exchange platform to improve the detection and surveillance of America’s food supply. This effort saves American taxpayers $750,000 annually.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Supported agricultural and critical infrastructure recovery in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The team often worked seven days a week, in physically demanding environments, and found innovative ways to re-open 20 USDA offices and rapidly deliver USDA programs across Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.
Team Award
Department of Agriculture
Designed a new program to address the negative impacts of recent international trade issues impacting U.S. agriculture on a break-neck timeline. This effort provides essential help to producers in the short-term and will help expand and develop new markets at home and abroad in the long-term.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Created a new system for scanning carry-on luggage which has improved the TSA’s ability to detect prohibited materials without additional personnel or equipment.
Scott Jackson
Department of Commerce
Ensured communications and interoperability between disparate first responders during the 2017 hurricane season. Scott’s efforts during his deployments to Texas and Puerto Rico optimized the partnerships between federal and Texas and Puerto Rico Public Safety entities to serve Americans affected by the hurricanes.
Shachak Pe’eri
Department of Commerce
Transformed education and training opportunities for cartographers in the Marine Chart Division through the creation of an internationally-recognized geographic information systems (GIS) training curriculum. Mr. Pe’eri’s work has helped to establish NOAA as a leader in the GIS community.
Sheila Blount
General Services Administration
Improved emergency response efforts during Hurricane Harvey through robust collaboration among federal agencies.
Team Award
General Services Administration
Increased the speed and efficiency of federal procurement processes through the development of a tool that reduces errors and redundancies in contract processing.
Steve Binkley
Department of Energy
Improved Department of Energy security processes through the implementation of new security policies that resolved vulnerabilities and secured sensitive information within laboratories.
Steve Clark
Department of Energy
Decreased administrative costs of managing DOE facilities by 50%, which will save taxpayers $900,000 per year. Steve’s work to redesign the DoE’s decades-old facilities review audit program has made the process more efficient and effective.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Created a program to monitor the existence and health of shellfish along the northwest which prevents recalls for shellfish.
Team Award
Department of Commerce
Execute statistical models that use data from a variety of data sources and make survey and census data collection efficient and effective. The team’s work will allow workload improvements for hundreds of thousands of 2020 Census field personnel with significant cost savings.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved efficiency and effectiveness of CMS Medicaid operations at the national and state level. This effort reduced the administrative burden of processing Medicaid transactions leading to better service for individuals and families who rely on Medicaid services.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Modernized and digitized the management of lab data. The team reduced paper usage in the labs by 45%, reduced operating costs, and made data more publicly accessible and useful.
Team Award
Department of Health and Human Services
Expanded physical therapy services with limited resources. These efforts improved health outcomes and reduced the frequency of opioid medication prescriptions by 8%.
Ted Kaouk
Department of Agriculture
Created the first Cabinet-level suite of comprehensive administrative dashboards for seven administrative functions. Ted’s work has helped USDA become more lean and accountable by maximizing employee performance and reducing operating costs.
Thomas Haner
Social Security Administration
Identified, assessed, and investigated hundreds of cases of potential fraud and misuse of benefits. Thomas’ commitment to the stewardship of taxpayer money and prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse resulted in the recovery of more than $667,000.
Thomas Perkins
Department of Commerce
Created the world’s best atomic force microscope tailored to biological measurements. Dr. Perkins’ technologies and results are improving drug design and advancing biomedical research on cancer and brain diseases.
Thomas Smith
Department of the Treasury
Spearheaded creation of Certified Professional Employer Organization process at IRS for third-party payers; certification provides assurance to employers that third party payment entities would pay employment taxes and not expose job creators, inadvertently or otherwise, to tax liability.
Truc-Chi Huynh Tran
Department of the Treasury
Led the development of a new, highly-innovative security feature for future banknotes. This has enabled the United States Currency Program to scale back other projects, saving $2 million to date.
Team Award
General Services Administration
Increased safety for military personnel from explosive devices through the award of a $847M task order that protects and maintains Mine Resistant Ambush Protected military vehicles.
Team Award
Department of the Treasury
Deployed the Field Assistance Scheduling Team (FAST) tool to help taxpayer assistance centers save almost 70,000 phone assister hours for use elsewhere by more efficiently handling taxpayer issues during peak demand periods.
Team Award
Environmental Protection Agency
Supported federal employee well-being and mental health by consolidating 19 separate contracts in the Employee Assistance Program into one vehicle. Barbara’s efforts produced $180,000 in savings per year.
Team Award
Department of Homeland Security
Created a new approach system to recertify Transportation Security Officers, aiding the safety of airline, bus, and train passengers through cargo and baggage inspections.
Team Award
Department of Energy
Improved organizational transparency and increased citizen awareness of the Western Area Power Administration’s (WAPA) mission through the modernization of WAPA’s website. WAPA provides power to 50+ million customers including cities and towns, who can now access services and operational and financial information more easily.
Team Award
Small Business Administration
Shortened the process to issue surveys to small businesses by more than 100 days. Yvonne’s work will provide real-time data to improve service to small businesses and enhance SBA’s efforts to strengthen America’s economy.
William Buckhold
United States Agency for International Development
Led USAID’s legal efforts to safeguard billions of taxpayer dollars from litigation, clearing the way for the Agency to advance its goals and priorities around the world. In one year, Bill successfully defended one $9 billion contract, resolved a $24 million dispute, and recovered $13 million from waste, fraud, and abuse.
Ximena Degroux
Small Business Administration
Helped communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey access high quality customer service from SBA. Ximena led a staff of 380 spread across 123 locations in response to one of the worst disasters in state history.
Yvette Collazo
Small Business Administration
Overcame widespread communication outages in hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico to deliver disaster assistance to small businesses. Among many efforts, Yvette launched an initiative that reached 94% of municipalities and 4500+ individuals with vital information and services. Her initiative has been adopted for future disaster efforts.
Carl Pocratsky
Department of Energy
Improved government security systems through the development of a risk assessment tool. The tool has been used to protect the national electric critical infrastructure and has saved the taxpayer millions of dollars.
Team Award
General Services Administration
In an effort to save taxpayer dollars, reduce the federal footprint and decrease the number of high-cost leases, the R9 Consolidation team from across PBS undertook several consolidation projects in Oakland, CA, resulting in substantial savings, cost-avoidance, and superior space utilization.
Team Award
General Services Administration
Helped transform the approach to maintaining the critical military fueling stations across the globe that provide critical support to ships, tanks and aircrafts. They worked with the Army Corp of Engineers to improve the acquisition strategy for maintenance services with increased speed and flexibility of service to the military while saving tax dollars.
Jeremy Emmert
Department of Agriculture
Developed and led an employee engagement and feedback program across the Food Safety and Inspection Service. Jeremy’s program identified thousands of feedback points and immediate actions to improve training, efficiency, retention, and communication with front-line employees.
John Bragaw
Department of Homeland Security
Implemented innovative recruitment and training programs that saved time and money and enhanced fleet readiness. John’s leadership at the Coast Guard Yard allowed for the facility’s largest expansion since 1945.
Dr. Lisa McAdams
Department of Health and Human Services
Provided model leadership during the devastating 2017 hurricane season. Her focus on strategy and detail to align federal agencies, local governments, communities, contractors, and healthcare providers resulted in a synchronized level of effort rarely seen in the chaos following national disasters. Her leadership provided access to thousands of life saving interventions for acute and emergency care.
Mary J. Epstein
Department of Homeland Security
Oversaw the counterfeit currency process in the Washington field office, removing a backlog of more than 60,000 pieces of counterfeit currency.
Team Award
General Services Administration
Led the acquisition strategy for the NewPay initiative, which will modernize how the Federal Government pays 2.1 million employees and increase efficiency and security.
Team Award
General Services Administration
Created a geographic information system enabled map of federal government’s real property inventory. This interactive map enables users to customize searches with data attributes such as distance, property type, sustainability, and significantly increases transparency.
Dr. Samuel Cushman
Department of Agriculture
Trained 150+ Forest Service silviculturists, 300+ managers, graduate students, professors, and researchers in the latest landscape ecology methods for natural resources management. Dr. Cushman has spent his career working across sectors and agencies to strengthen stewardship of public/private lands.
Tina Cheatham
Department of Health and Human Services
Improved efficiency and morale of Health Resources and Services Administration’s Office of Regional Operations staff. Under Ms. Cheatham’s leadership, ORO can better accomplish its of mission of improving health access to underserved communities across the United States.
Todd Porinsky
Department of Homeland Security
Coordinated and executed the indictment of multiple individuals from organized crime groups in the Ohio area on charges of conspiracy, device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Tracy Levstik
Department of Commerce
Strengthened NOAA's flagship leadership development program, and has seen a 37% increase in the number of participants being promoted to the SES or GS-15 levels.
William Vogel
Department of Homeland Security
Led thousands of personnel in Federal Response and Recovery efforts in the U.S. Virgin Islands after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Council Award Winners
Anita Robertson
Department of Defense
Through her leadership of the IT and Business System Reform effort, identified and deployed critical staff who modernized Federal IT systems and provided efficiencies that saved taxpayers $200 million in FY2018.
General Services Administration
General Services Administration
Saved $37M in acquisition costs through the consolidation of contracts that provide management, professional, and technical support for the U.S. Army’s Counter-Rocket Artillery Mortar program. These efforts also increased the share of contract work for small businesses by $140M.
Brittany Borg
Small Business Administration
Improved the performance and accountability of SBA programs by helping leads evaluate programs and identify opportunities. Brittany’s work is being used as an example for other agencies.
Small Business Administration
Small Business Administration
Modernized the Small Business Administration’s technology infrastructure yielding $11 million in savings. The updated systems and software are more efficient and have led to increased productivity from SBA employees.
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Protection Agency
Saved thousands of employee work hours by modernizing and automating how EPA reports activity across the country. The team improved coordination across departments and freed up employees and managers to focus on outcomes.
David Horn
Department of Health and Human Services
Led a government-wide coalition to improve federal spending data and increase accountability, performance, and efficiency through implementation of the DATA Act.
Federal Data Strategy Development Team
Improved government-wide data-driven policies through the development 10 year data strategy, principles, practices and priority projects in support of the PMA.
ED, USDA, USAID, OPM
Led a series of programs designed to fill critical IT and cybersecurity positions through a combination of innovative government-wide recruitment efforts and piloting reskilling initiatives.
Gerard Badorrek
General Services Administration
Enhanced business processes and operations, achieved cost reduction goals, reduced enterprise audit findings and control weaknesses, and strengthened employee engagement within GSA's Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO). The OCFO team and business partners identified 200,000+ hours of work across GSA that could be eliminated, optimized or automated through robotics and redirected to higher-value work.
Gisele Holden
National Science Foundation
Led the implementation of robotic processing automation to allow employees to spend more time on achieving mission outcomes.
Chief Acquisition Officers Council
Sped the fielding of improved capabilities for AC-130J gunship, AC-130W aircraft, and Small Glide Munition, while saving $551M through implementation of a tailored and collaborative acquisition strategy.
HHS, NASA, NSF, ED
HHS, NASA, NSF, Ed
Modernized and digitized grants management across government. The team’s efforts allow grant recipients to spend more time and effort on driving results in areas such as public health, science, infrastructure, and economic development.
Process Improvement Team
Department of Labor
Improved the effectiveness of agency operations through the implementation of a Lean Six Sigma Continuous Process Improvement (CPI). This work resulted in successes such as decreasing the Freedom Of Information Act requests response times and reducing case processing times for the Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Small Business Administration
Small Business Administration
Led SBA's implementation of the DATA Act, which provides transparency to the public, helps identify risk, improves services, and facilitates data-driven decisions to improve how SBA serves small businesses.
Thomas Santucci
Department of Justice
Led the Department of Justice’s Data Center Transformation Initiative, which optimized the data center’s infrastructure and improved cloud adoption resulting in $130 million in cost savings and a projected annual cost avoidance of $30 million.
Treasury Performance Improvement Team
Department of Transportation
Improved employee engagement and enabled staff to focus on high-value work through the implementation of Lean Six Sigma process improvement methodologies.