NextGen Public Service Awards

Nominations for the 2025 NextGen Public Service Awards Are Now Closed.
Winners Announced!
Please see below for the full list of 2025 Award Winners and all of the Nominees.

GovLoop is proud to host the NextGen Public Service Awards, recognizing superior public service and achievement, each year at the NextGen Government Training Virtual Summit. The awards recognize deserving individuals selected from the public service community for their intelligence, exuberance and dedication to improving and invigorating government.
General Information
Award winners will be notified on Sept. 12, 2025, and the category winners will be announced at the NextGen Government Training Virtual Summit on Oct. 22, 2025. Please read more about the award categories and their specific attributes. The selection committee will determine and assign categories based on the information submitted via the nomination form. Nominations can be submitted for individuals only. We understand that it takes a village to make change happen. However, we limit the award recognition to one person representing the larger team and their achievements.

Nominator Eligibility 
Nominators can come from a range of people —govie, non-govie, colleague, or supervisor. However, we do not accept self-nominations.

Nominee Eligibility 
While nominators are not required to be government employees, nominees must be current government employees working at any level of government. When submitting the nomination form, please provide accomplishments within the last two years. We want to ensure the finalists are being recognized for recent achievements taking place in government.

Please read on below for more information.

2025 Award Winners


Managers of the Year

Deena Bower
Learning and Organizational Development Manager, Senior
County of Orange

Brynn Fogerty
HR Manager
Jackson County Library District
Innovators of the Year

Matthew Mielke
Regional Chief
Federal Railroad Administration

Michelle Mooney
Impact Manager
Salt Lake City Corporation - Office of the Mayor


Communicators of the Year

Rob Guillemin
Pollution Prevention Coordinator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Danilla Vandersee
Anti-Harassment & Conflict Resolution Program Manager
78th Air Base Wing, Robbins Air Force Base
Outstanding Colleagues

Ana Medrano
Business Operations Coordinator
U.S. National Science Foundation

David Raley
Digital Program Manager
U.S. Marine Corps Community Services (USMC-MCCS)
Advancing Tech Champion

Richard Chan
Branch Chief, IT Business Solutions Consulting Services
U.S. Census Bureau


2025 Award Nominees
  • Neda Afshar, DNP, FNP-C, VA Mather - Dermatology Department
  • Dena Anderson, IT Resource Manager, Tarrant County | Information Technology Stuart Bapties, Anti-Harassment Program Manager, 78 Air Base Wing/Equal Employment Opportunity
  • Casandra Barkley, Family Investment Supervisor, Dept. of Social Services
  • Gary Barrett, Director- USDA Forest Service National Forest System National Partnership Office
  • Altovise Battle, Program Coordinator, United States Department of State
  • Brandon Bayless, Asset Management Applications Manager, City of Lawrence, Kansas
  • Kiara Bent, Life Scientist, Air and Radiation
  • Ashlee Blickenstaff, Correctional Ed. - ABE Teacher (RCI), MD Labor - DWDAL
  • Dr. Treisha Thorpe Borris, PhD, Senior Technology Specialist, FD
  • Spencer Burgos, Program Analyst, Department of Veterans, Office of Information and Technology
  • Heather Byrd-Grubbs, Workforce Development Program Manager, Dept of Army, Crane Army Ammunition Activity
  • Pamela Cobb, Public Works Assistant Director, Beaufort County Public Works
  • Tina Collier, OnSite Lead Grant Specialist, Contractor, Office of Head Start
  • Kathy Costello, State Business Architecture Supervisor, Washington Technology Solutions (WaTech), State Data Office
  • Shane Davis, Field Operations Manager, Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service (FMCS)
  • Nick DiStephano, Director, Office of Customer Experience, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  • Todd Doolittle, Product Owner, VA Nintex Workflow GE / Imprivata Products, Department of Veterans Affairs
  • Dr. Pauline Ewulonu, Ph.D., Education Advocate, Office of the Child Attorneys, Fulton County Juvenile Court
  • Kathryn Webb Farley, Regional Supervisor, West Region, FRA, DOT
  • Amanda Ferguson, Supervisor, Naval District Washington
  • Kyle Flowers, Eligibility Determination Specialist, CEDA
  • LaTrina Foster, Director, Fulton County
  • Katrina Fotovat, Principal Deputy, U.S. Department of State
  • Wendy Frelich, RN-DON, Lake Region District Health Unit
  • Christopher Galipo, Branch Chief, HRSA
  • Shannon Griffin, Director, Division of Contracts, Office of Head Start, Administration for Children and Families
  • Jermaine Harris, District Field Lieutenant, Chicago Police Department
  • Lori Hertel, County Clerk, Ness County
  • Bob Johnson, Product Owner, Joint Munitions Command
  • Paige Johnson, Senior LinkAge Line Manager, Minnesota Board on Aging
  • Steven Kallenbach, Western Supervisor, MDA Meat and Poultry Inspection
  • Matthew King, WaTech's Office of Privacy and Data Protection (OPDP) Manager, Washington State Office of Privacy and Data Protection
  • Kyle Kohles, Chief of Staff, EBS-MFCT; Division Chief, FIM-E, ASA FM&C, DASA FOI
  • Gina Langan Garcia, Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center (CPRC) Director, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
  • Eugene Lee, Supervisory IT Specialist (Program Manager), DHS 
  • Catrena Legier, Chief, IT Project Delivery Services, U.S. Census Bureau
  • Mel Lewis, Development & Training Coordinator, City of Appleton (Wisconsin)
  • Ed Maestas, Director, Business Systems and Integration, NNSA Office of Management & Budget, NA-MB-1.4
  • James Mamone, Formal Training Manager, 3rd Maintenance Operations Squadron (3 MXO)
  • James Maranta, Supervisory IT Specialist (INFOSEC), Cyber Assessment Division, FEMA
  • Vanessa Medina, Training & Programs Manager, New Mexico Health Care Authority
  • Matthew Murray, IDMS Engineer, TCO
  • Jessica Palatka, Chief Human Capital Officer, Department of Commerce
  • Andrew Peternith, Regional Chief, Federal Railroad Administration
  • Nikki Peterson, Quality Assurance & Improvement Planner, Minnesota Board on Aging
  • Glenda Puckett, Director, Lois Nelson Public Library
  • Olivia Roston, Administrative Clerk for Auditor, City of Galion
  • Kristina Sage, Grants and Cost Allocation Team Lead, Wyoming DFS
  • Walter Sippel, Aerospace Engineer, Technical Policy Branch, AIR-620
  • Rebecca A. Small, Human Resources Specialist (Recruitment & Placement), Staffing & Classification Group, DOI HR/ BOR
  • Michcel Shoultz, Community Transformation Director, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Financial Management and Comptroller
  • Amy Snyder, Sr. Project Manager, Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Andrei Stephenson, System Administrator, Forestry Department
  • Adam Stroud, Assistant Principal, Paoli School Corporation
  • Kathleen Sullivan, Open Data Librarian, Secretary of State, State Library
  • Duke Taylor, Coach, NARA
  • Constantine Unanka, Public Health Analyst, DOEE/DC-HEALTH
  • Katie Vandewater, Regional Supervisor, Federal Railroad Administration
  • Helen Wiles, Outreach Manager, Dover Kent MPO
  • Al-Malik Williams, Business Process Reengineering Lead, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Financial Management and Comptroller
  • Emily Witters, Department Analyst, MI Department of Attorney General