Sammies Awards Recognize Top Federal Employees, DOL Group Wins Employees of the Year
The 2024 winners of the “Sammies” otherwise known as the “Oscars” for federal government employees, were recently announced.
The “Sammies” are the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals and are handed out by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.
The Sammies are the premier external recognition program for excellence and leadership in the federal government.
“During a time when federal workers face more scrutiny and damaging rhetoric than ever, these talented individuals have embodied the highest standards of public service in America. With the coming change in presidential administrations, our nonpartisan, merit-based civil service will, as always, provide the critical continuity of government that is so vital for our democracy,” said Partnership President and CEO Max Stier.
Employees of the Year
The top award is the Federal Employees of the Year Award.
For 2024, a group of employees at the Department of Labor were given the honor.
Nancy Alcantara, Shannon Rebolledo, Justin Uphold and the Packers Sanitation Leads Team were honored, after they discovered extensive child labor violations that involved 102 children ages 13 to 17, who were illegally working at 13 meatpacking plants in eight states.
This investigation resulted in a historic fine against the company, sweeping changes in how the Labor Department conducts child labor enforcement, and the launch of a national initiative to identify and address child labor.
“We really brought attention to a problem that most people didn’t realize was so prevalent. When most people think of child labor, they picture that black-and-white picture of a kid in a coal mine 100 years ago. This isn’t a 100-year-old problem. This is a now problem,” Rebolledo told Federal News Network.
Other Winners
Some of the other winners included Pittsburgh-based Christopher Mark of the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) who received the Paul A. Volcker Career Achievement Medal. Mark was awarded for devoting a “lengthy federal career to preventing fatalities from roof falls and other underground mining disasters, saving countless lives.”
Another winner was Jerry Ma of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, based in Indiana.
Ma was awarded the Emerging Leaders Medal for developing new technology tools and leading efforts to establish the agency’s approach to using artificial intelligence (AI) to help inventors seeking patients.
Former OMB Amira Boland was awarded the Management Excellence Medal for pioneering policies to improve government services and customer service.
Two National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) employees, Marc Levitan and Long Phan, were awarded the Science, Technology and Environment Medal. The Maryland based duo was honored for creating the world’s first tornado-resistant building codes.
And three San Francisco based employees of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Steve Calanog, Tara Fitzgerland, and Pete Guria, were awarded the Safety, Security and International Affairs Medal. The trio was honored for directing EPA personnel in removing hazardous materials from the Maui wildfires while respecting local cultural norms.
The awards were handed out on September 11 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
