FAQs

The nomination deadline is December 13, 2024. The 2025 finalists will be announced in early May during Public Service Recognition Week.

Download the Word version of the form which you can email back to us once it’s completed.

Anyone can submit a nomination—federal employee or not, friend or family member, supervisor or employee, but you need to be familiar with the nominee’s work and accomplishments.  

No, but you can ask someone else to nominate you.

Yes! We accept nominations for teams of any size but ask that you designate a team leader and up to two additional named team members who will represent the entire team at recognition events, in media coverage and published materials. 

All career civilian federal employees of the executive branch of the U.S. government are eligible. 

For special employee categories, we often ask the following to determine eligibility: “Is the employee covered by or eligible for the Federal Employees Retirement System and the Federal Employees Health Benefits programs, or similar agency retirement and health programs?”

Yes, Foreign Service employees are eligible.

U.S. Personal Services Contractors are eligible, but private-sector employees are not. All contractors may be part of a team nomination led by a civilian federal employee.  

Active-duty military personnel are not eligible but may be part of a team led by a civilian federal employee. 

Non-combat uniformed services, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public Health Service, are eligible.

Foreign nationals are not eligible but may be part of a team led by a civilian federal employee. 

No, we do not accept posthumous nominations or nominations for retired federal employees.

Our goal is to publicly recognize current federal employees and their achievements on behalf of the American people. Nominees must be active federal employees at the time the nomination is submitted. 

No. We also strongly encourage you to tailor the accomplishment description to justify why the nominee should be recognized in the selected category. However, we can reassign nominations to a better medal category, if we feel it’s a better fit elsewhere.

No. The more, the merrier! We especially encourage nominators and agencies to nominate federal employees of different social identities (e.g. race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, neurologic or physical ability, background, experiences) to celebrate and honor how they serve the public.  

No. While some agencies or divisions may conduct an internal review process, we do not require advance sign-off by a particular office. However, we request that each nomination includes the nominee’s supervisor or higher-level official as a nominator or reference so we may verify that the nomination is endorsed and/or supported by the agency. 

The finalists are determined by the Partnership for Public Service staff following a careful review of the nominations and vetting of the potential finalists, including interviews with the potential finalists, their nominators, references and additional sources. 

The winners are determined by the Partnership based on the votes submitted by a Selection Committee consisting of national leaders representing government, business, entertainment, media and the nonprofit/foundation communities. 

Most nominees appreciate learning that a supervisor or colleague has recognized their hard work and achievements and took the time to submit a nomination. The Partnership for Public Service will send a congratulatory letter to each nominee to say thank you for their service. In addition, we are always looking for opportunities to showcase nominees in other Partnership programs or media coverage about government service. 

Nominators, nominees and submitters (if applicable) will receive emails by the end of April letting them know the status of the nomination. 

For additional information, contact Catherine Wilson at sammies@ourpublicservice.org.