19 GSA leaders honored with Service to the Citizen Awards

19 GSA leaders honored with Service to the Citizen Awards

Hundreds of civil servants and industry partners became proud honorees at the annual Service to the Citizen Awards ceremony on Sept. 13 in Washington, D.C. The event celebrated their continued commitment to delivering effective services that impact the American people and build their trust in government.

Among this year's award recipients were 19 GSA employees whose work focused on projects in GSA priority areas, including cybersecurity, customer experience and digital services. Learn more about them.

Award Category: Government Agencies Serving Other Government Agencies

GSA's own IT Modernization Division from the Office of Government-wide Policy won a Service to the Citizen Award for applying customer experience principles and practices to the services delivered to other agencies. The entire team was proud of their contributions in providing cybersecurity workforce development, which involves training the workforce for emerging cyber challenges.

Team: Kiran Balsa, deputy director; Mark Bellinger, senior advisor; Fred Bisel, trainer; Laura Cullum, analyst; Lee Ellis, IPv6 Lead; Steve Naumann, data center SME; Thomas Santucci, director; and Maya Vishwanath, analyst.

"Each of us is dedicated to providing value and savings to government agencies who directly serve the American people, so it's an honor to be recognized for this work," said Cullum.

Award Category: Delivering Excellence in Digital Services

Our Public Experience Portfolio, Technology Transformation Services team won an award for reimagining digital services to deliver cross-agency services at specific life events, equitable and inclusive services, and excellence in benefits (e.g. healthcare services).

Team: Laura Godfrey, language lead; Samira Sadat, software engineer; Erin Strenio, program manager; Kelsey Thomas, content strategist; and John Yuda, senior policy analyst.

Sadat said, "It is an honor to receive this award alongside my team, who are some of the most dedicated, hardworking, and kind public servants out there."

Award Category: Using Innovation, Data and Breaking Down Organizational Barriers

GSA's Office of the Chief Financial Officer celebrated two Service to the Citizen Award recipients for instituting innovative practices to reimagine government services and using human-centered design and data to break down barriers and streamline processes.

Team: Ashleigh Sanders, acting director of the Office of Analytics and Decision Support; and Isabel Metzger, data scientist.

Metzger (pictured) said, "I'm stoked that we're being recognized in the category of using innovation, data, and breaking down organizational barriers. Working across various federal and state agencies, we've been able to enhance critical digital services that will ultimately better support the public's essential needs."

Award Category: Enabling customer experience improvements

GSA's Office of Customer Experience (OCE) collaborated with the Partnership for Public Service and the Office of Management and Budget, earning Service to the Citizen Awards for enhancing customer experience.

Team: Arfa Alam, senior manager; Amber Chaudhry, customer experience (CX) portfolio director; Mo Earley, federal customer experience, agency portfolio lead, Office of Management and Budget; and Alexander Lopez-Perez, senior CX advisor.

Lopez-Perez said, "I'm deeply honored by this nomination and proud to be part of GSA's efforts to enhance the customer experience, which ultimately leads to a more empathetic and efficient government. This recognition underscores the power of collaboration, which I believe is essential for driving innovation in public service."

--- Learn more about this annual recognition program that honors champions of change.