Seeking the brightest rising stars

Do you have to wear sunglasses at work because of the brilliance of some of your young employees? Now’s your chance to give them the recognition they deserve because it’s time once again for Federal Computer Week’s annual Rising Star awards for up-and-comers in the federal IT community.

To nominate someone, go to fcw.com/forms/rising-star-2012.aspx and fill out the form. Rising Stars is for younger employees — those under 40 — but is similar to the Federal 100 in many ways. For one thing, it recognizes individuals who have gone above and beyond their job descriptions to make an impact in their organizations. With Rising Stars, there’s an added element: The judges are looking for nominees who have clear potential to grow into more responsibility in their organizations and in the community at large.

The deadline for nominations is May 25.

Last year’s 25 winners represented the best of a very strong field of nominees, wrote former Editor-in-Chief John Monroe.

“But there’s more to it than that,” he said. “Those individuals were in a position to win the award because their managers gave them opportunities to do meaningful work. That is something we have seen over the years: Young people who join federal agencies or their contractors often get to work on programs that are larger, more important and sometimes cooler than anything they might have touched in the private sector. How great is that?”