Wanted: Bold Leaders Who’ve Taken Risks to Make Government Work Better

It’s time for the annual Nextgov Bold Awards to honor federal employees who are using technology in innovative ways to tackle some of government’s thorniest problem and, against considerable odds, are succeeding. You know who we’re talking about. It’s the woman in the cubicle next to you who wouldn’t take no for an answer, who refused to be dissuaded from solving that seemingly insoluble problem your agency faced. It’s the man on your staff who hacked his way to an idea that dramatically improved customer service. It’s the team you worked on that reinvented a critical operation, saving lives or money or both.

In other words, we’re looking for those uncommon government employees most of us know about but rarely hear enough about. They’re the people who are on a mission to tap the potential offered by new technologies to make government work better. We want to tell their stories and honor their service. Here are the particulars:

• We’re accepting nominations through June 23.
• Our editorial team will select a dozen or more finalists (last year we had 19 finalists), which will be announced in July.
• You, dear reader, will have an opportunity to vote for a “people’s choice” winner online from July 28-August 8.
• We’ll announce the winners, including the People’s Choice, at Nextgov Prime on Sept. 8-9 in Washington.

Last year’s winners were an eclectic group whose work improved the lives of veterans, reduced the threat to endangered whales and boosted the effectiveness of humanitarian aid. We’re looking forward to learning about all the transformative things the 2014 nominees are up to. If you know of a worthy candidate (or team), please nominate them today.

Please note the nomination period has been extended through June 23.   

(Image via kentoh/Shutterstock.com)