Jamie Findlater: A diplomat for social media

Findlater championed the use of new-media tools at the State Department, including the new Corridor professional networking site.

Name: Jamie Findlater

Age: 29

Organization: State Department

Title: Communications Strategist

Nominated for: Championing the use of new-media tools at the State Department, including the Diplopedia wiki, the Communities@State blogging platform and the new Corridor professional networking site.

First IT mentor: Roxie Merritt, Defense Department. She trained me to be an entrepreneur and self-starter.

Latest accomplishment on the job: Traveling to Moscow to be a keynote speaker at CONS 4.0, a social media conference for consular/visa officers.

Career highlight: When my family met former President George W. Bush, and he asked my mom if she was a “surfer girl” because we’re from California.

Your advice for a government IT wannabe: The job you want five years from now has probably not been created yet.

What you enjoy most about working in government IT: The job is always changing, and there are always new opportunities.

Three favorite job-related bookmarks or apps: Facebook, Corridor (State’s internal social networking site), Starbucks app (totally job-related)

Dream non-IT-related job: Judge for “America’s Next Top Model”

Read the next Rising Star profile or view the full list of winners.

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