Awards Eligibility

Thank you for your interest in submitting a Sammies nomination! If you know a federal employee who demonstrates innovation, strong leadership and a passion for public service in their work, we want to recognize them through the Service to America Medals. 

General Information

In addition to meeting eligibility requirements, successful nominees will also demonstrate:  

• Strong commitment to federal service. 
• A significant accomplishment within their field that meets the needs of the American people. 
• Excellence in customer service to citizens or other beneficiaries. 

We welcome nominations for individuals and teams. While we acknowledge that many important accomplishments involve hundreds of federal employees, our honoree recognition is limited to a maximum of three named individuals who can represent a larger team and their achievements. 

Nomination Guidelines

Nominator Eligibility

Nominators can be anyone—federal employee or not, friend or family member, supervisor or employee. We also accept self-nominations. 

Nominee Eligibility

While nominators are not required to be federal employees, nominees must be or previously were career civilian federal employees of the Executive Branch of the U.S. government. Similar employees of the Library of Congress, Government Accountability Office, Congressional Budget Office, Architect of the Capitol, Government Publishing Office, Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Smithsonian Institution and Botanical Gardens, plus commissioned officers of the U.S. Public Health Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are also eligible. 

There is no time limit on the nominated accomplishment, but a strong nomination will demonstrate sustained, positive impact on the American public. We encourage you to include details about the impact from the time of nomination. We want to share government success stories that will best resonate with the American public.