On Thursday, September 13, the Partnership for Public Service will presented nine outstanding public servants with the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals (Sammies). Having earned the reputation as the “Oscars” of public service, the achievements of the 2012 medal recipients range from reducing veterans homelessness to medical and scientific advances for our nation’s combat amputees to saving billions of taxpayer dollars through smart procurement practices. The top medal, Federal Employee of the Year, was presented to Lynne Mofenson of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for her pivotal role in preventing the AIDS epidemic among children by studying ways to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
“The Service to America Medals are a powerful illustration of the good that government does, which positively affects our lives every day,” said Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service president and CEO. “We will never get what we want out of our government if we focus solely on its shortcomings and fail to celebrate its successes.”
The Partnership for Public Service was launched in 2001 to improve our government’s effectiveness by revitalizing our federal workforce. While we remain steadfastly committed to our core principle, we have learned a great deal over the past 10 years about improving government. The 2011 annual report celebrates the achievements of our first decade and shares our updated vision for the future. We are exceptionally proud of the progress we have made, and we are emboldened to take on the challenges that lie ahead.
Last week over 200 federal employees from 22 agencies graduated from the Partnership’s Excellence in Government Fellows program—a year-long leadership program that helps develop the next generation of federal leaders. Over the past year, the Fellows learned new management strategies and techniques from innovative coursework, engaged with a wide-range of successful organizations, and worked with agency executives to tackle complex issues facing our country.
The final session culminated in a graduation featuring keynote speaker Maurice Jones, deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, who commended the Fellows for the work they do each and every day on behalf of the American public. “Not everybody has a job that almost every day has an opportunity to impact people’s lives. It is important work, and there is no question that we can solve the challenges that we are working on. There is also no question that the people that can solve them are in this room,” said Jones.
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to revitalize our federal government by inspiring a new generation to serve and by transforming the way government works.
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