This medal recognizes a federal employee whose professional achievements reflect the important contributions that a new generation brings to public service and is accompanied by a $5,000 award.
Position: Director, Office of Public Housing Programs
Agency: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Location: Washington, D.C.
Achievement: Created income verification program that eliminated more than $2 billion in fraudulent payments by HUD’s rental assistance programs.
Position: Special Assistant
Agency: U.S. Department of State
Location: Washington, D.C.
Achievement: Served as chief of the legal office at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and provided critical support for Iraq's democratically elected government.
Position: Director of Anti-Terrorism
Agency: Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Location: Washington, D.C.
Achievement: Developed the Office of Anti-Terrorism, which was created soon after 9/11 to help better secure the nation’s ports and borders from terrorists and terrorist weapons.
Position: Director
Agency: U.S. Department of Energy, Tokyo Office
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Achievement: Led U.S. delegation to the Arctic Circle for negotiations with Russian officials to better secure Russia’s nuclear materials and weapons. This agreement led to the creation of a service and training center for nuclear material and weapons security in Murmansk, Russia.
Position: Program Development Officer
Agency: U.S. Department of State
Location: Washington, D.C.
Achievement: When three North Korean refugees jumped over the wall of the U.S. Consulate in Shenyang, China, seeking asylum, it captured worldwide attention and touched off negotiations within the highest levels of the U.S., Chinese and South Korean governments. Alyson McFarland, one of the consulate’s only Korean-language speakers, helped defuse the situation—a major diplomatic achievement, given that McFarland has been in the State Department only three years.
Position: Foreign Policy Specialist/Country Director for Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon
Agency: U.S. Department of Defense
Location: The Pentagon, Washington, D.C.
Achievement: In her three years of federal service, she has played a leading role in developing policies to improve relations with a key U.S. ally and helped advance the formulation of America’s post-Cold War national security policy.
The Service to America Medals are presented annually by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service to celebrate excellence in our federal civil service.