Rising Star awards and why I love my job

So I have been spending a lot of energy and effort on FCW's new Rising Star awards program. (For those of you who know all about it, skip ahead to the next graph.)... The Rising Star awards program is co-created with the help of the AFCEA Bethesda, Md. chapters Young AFCEANs and it is modeled after the prestigious Fed 100 awards. But while the Fed 100 awards look at people who have made a difference in the past year, the Rising Star awards look at the younger people who have made a difference.

I have been an ardent believer in the program from the start. This is a big issue for government as the bubble of people eligible for retiring looms. And the program does two important things. First off, it recognizes work that right now goes unrecognized. Secondly, for other young people, it offers an insight into the kinds of work that younger people can do in the government. And I have been working to get as much publicity for this program as possible because I think it does have larger ramifications.

And I think the program has really struck a cord. We have 54 winners. (You can see the full list at fcw.com/risingstar) Of those people -- and we have heard from just about all of them -- all but about two are coming to the awards ceremony on Oct. 12 here in Washington, D.C. That is remarkable given that many of them are not the senior people in their organizations -- we even have a few interns on the list -- and that about half of them are located outside the Beltway. That says a lot to me about the quality work these people have done. But it also says a lot to me about the organizations they work for that they respect them so much, they will send to DC to earn their recognition.

Talk about reaffirming the work that you do. What a great job that I get to highlight the great work done by others.