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The Secretary’s Award for Team Excellence 2023

The Secretary’s Award for Team Excellence recognizes any unit within the Department (such as a Component, directorate, office, division, or section) with outstanding team achievements in operational areas such as law enforcement, aviation, cybersecurity, border patrol, hiring, acquisition, and information technology. The work will have resulted in measurable improvements in training and development and will have demonstrated an investment in the workforce to make it more capable. The work of the unit will include superior performance and significant operational improvements and/or notable innovation in support of DHS missions. The results will include an overall improvement in workforce morale.

Asylum Processing IFR Implementation Team

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Lisa Andre
Cory Clements
Robert Daum
Jeremiah Farrelly
Arthur Hale
Katherine Hall
Nathaniel Jones
Ebbed Joseph
Mallory Lynn
Ajai Mathew
Erin McEvoy
Diana Navas
Tara Pinkham
Stacey Rusnak
Jeffrey Schwartz
Elizabeth Scott
Marta Sisco-Izak
Mitsie Smith
Karen Turo
Ashley Walker
Matthew Wille
Alyssa Xu

Chicago Technical Operations Squad

U.S. Secret Service

Guy Carroll
Brian Dunnagan
Joseph Fletcher
Owen Hammett
Michael Lorkiewicz
Ryan Rodriguez
Dwayne Sanders
William Warden

CWMD State and Local Engagement Team

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office

Mark Burlington
Thomas Cao
Donald Clarkson
Julia Colon-Mathews
Ki Harvey
Jenna Hayfield
April Hodges
Jamey Hyland
Candi Jones
Kate Kolstad
Brian Kuleski
Christopher Magrino
Matthew Martin
Kristina Mastropasqua
Chris Rauh
Kim Robinson
Mark Scheckelhoff
Nick Smith
Cara Stankewick
Brian Stevens
Robert Whitehurst
Matt Ziemba
Kristina Frierson

Cyber Mission Center Ukraine Crisis Team

Office of Intelligence and Analysis

John Burns
Joseph Cheravitch
Leo Dorsey
Derrick Elliott
Samantha Glass
Matthew Hackner
Jarrod Hinton
Eric Horton
Scott Karo
Emily Koenig
Michelle Martin
William Mackenzie
James Miller
Christopher Peyton
Christopher Phair
Saul Roselaar
Isabella Smart
Juse Venzor, Jr.

Cyber Safety Review Board Team

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Dan Ahr
Michael Aycock
Elizabeth Gauthier
Helen Jackson
Steve Jamrozy
Rachel Liang
Erin McJeon
Celinda Moening
Mike Pickford
Kaiya Pontinen
Megan Westmoreland
Kate Whitehead

Office of General Counsel

Michael Goad
Brian Puchalsky

Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans

Abby Deift
Kimberly Gajewski
Gabriel Kohan
Jonathan Murphy

Cybersecurity Performance Goals

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Daniel Bardenstein
Peter Colombo
Rachel Russo Gaiser

Disaster Information Systems Clearinghouse (DISC)

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Randall Lupton
Mary Mizell
Daniel Orminski
James Rush
Kathryn Simpson
Jesse Torrey

Employment Based and Adjustment of Status Litigation

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Lauren Bernstien
Lori Bruun
Kathleen Busnekll
Robert Cox
Andrew Diroll-Black
Paul Egan
Greg Furtado
Liane Garza
Laurie Goudge
Evadne Hagigal
Kevin Highman
Jeanne Hughes
Miriam Morse
David Nazer
Andrew Parker
Bianca Phillips
Jeffrey Savage
Cherita Smith
Craig Stalzer
Michael Steinberg
Samantha Stout
Heba Tellawi
George Ulrey
Michael Valverde
Jessica Walters
Debby Wang
Elizabeth Zelman

Ethos Training Development Team

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Antonio Scurlock

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Michelle Burton

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

Michael Creo

Management Directorate

Deborah (Dawn) Corley
Mark Denis
Patrick Newman

Transportation Security Administration

Brian Moses

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

James (Milt) Greer

U.S. Coast Guard

Kristen Jaekel

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Donna Gordon

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Dean Hagadorn

U.S. Secret Service

Tammy Means

FLETC Enforcement Operations Division Use of Force Branch

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

Gregory Amundson
Joey Comstock
Glenn DeMar
Dion Deroia
Jeffery Dolson
Gerardo Durazo
Bryan Feeney
Andrew French
Todd Hoover
Ulyess Hutchens
Penny Jones
Christopher Lair
Samuel Lochridge
Mary Mara
William Matze
Albert Medlock
Charles Moore
Liberty Moore
Michael Niven
Scott Reed
Martin Roddini
Kevin Rourke
Kenneth Stewart
Matthew Swartz

H-65 Conversion/Sustainment Program

U.S. Coast Guard

Roderick Ansley
Eric Barnett
Kevin Bartholomew
Matthew Bone
Christopher Breuer
Shannon Costales
Brian Daniel
Michael Dubinsky
Karyn Forsyth
Jonathan Frumkin
Traci Gerber
Kim Hebron
Jay Hoffman
Kassandra Hunter
Kenneth Irsik
Laura King
Sharita Leathers
Michael Mauro
Monica Mende
Daniel Miller
Margaret Morgan
Edith Nazario
Jason Pharr
Michael Pharr
Christopher Presnell
Keith Puzder
Kristine Red Elk
Sarah Richardson
Jonathan Shockley
James Slapak
Gabriel Soll
Charles Whitesel
Zachary Wiest
Adam Wolfe

Hack DHS Bug Bounty Team

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Christian Cosans
Pam Elliott
Dave Mooney
Shondalyn Smith

Management Directorate

Amanda Day
Lawrence Knachel
Martha Palacio

ICE Air Operations T8 Air Charter Application Team

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Alejandro Cruz
Jose Flores
Shane Kitchen
Michelle Linares
Coby Rivera
Steven Sanchez

Immigrant Military Members and Veterans Initiative Team

Management Directorate

Nina Cardwell
Anil Dewan

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Cara Behar
Vashon Citizen
Wendy Gonzalez
Emily Grimone
Ellen Hess
Mark Ludeking
Patricia McKenzie
Evangelina Ochoa
Michelle Wong
Debra Rogers

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Tzaili Quinones Mitchell
Carrie Anderson

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Daniel Batichon
Melina Jackson
Norma Jordan
Mark Murphy
Gregorio Perez
Cammilla Wamsley

IT Support for Operation Allies Refuge/Operation Allies Welcome (OAR/OAW)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Angela Bartow
Leah Carter
Baibhav Devkota
Michelle Kerchner
Benjamin Lanier
Lindsay McCarthy
Kendra Riley
Matthew Sarra
Christopher Wurst

NYC Active Shooter Response Team

Transportation Security Administration

Joel Bow ser
Daniel Cerino
Adrian Clark
Maurice Ellis
Joeseph Fatsenlla
Daniel Gibbons
Stephen Johnson
Leor Lahav
Aaron Leeper
Jose Marchadeo
James McGrath
Stephanie Metzger
Manny Ortega
Michael Schrader
Kareem Simon

Operation Mother City

U.S. Secret Service

Benjamin Chervenak
Bryan Chomicki
Zach Conklin
William Kirkland
Ultrich Kruger
Christopher McMahon
Carrie Moran
Matthew Robischon
Jacob Voigt
James Wigley

RGV Virtual Processing Team

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Jose Castro
Ana Esparza
Marcos Esparza
Matthew Godin
Joe Gonzalez
Todd Jewell
Lynda Leyva
Douglas McClure
Sean Mcvey
Mario Ortega
Jake Ortiz
Jessica Perez-Vilcsek
Andrew Scharnweber
Eric Secord
Roberto Zavala

Stand Up of the CISA Contracting Office

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Juan Arratia
Joanne Battaglia
Meghan Gilmore
Amy Knight

Transnational Organized Crime Mission Center (TOCMC) and DHS Intelligence Enterprise (IE) Migration Indications and Warning Cell (WIMC)

Awardees for this category are from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

TSA Pay Parity and Workforce Enhancement Team

Transportation Security Administration

Elisabeth Ambrozaitis
Stephen Barker
Jennifer Ellison
Annemarie Juhlin
Tom Regan
Kimberly Rhodes
Karen Tehaar

Unified Command Group

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Jacob Anderson
Lilian Colon
Scott McConnell

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Heather Bartholomew
Anthony Battaglia
Katherine Peterlin
Emma Poon
Andrew Sabata
Keith Turi

Office of General Counsel

John Havranek

Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans

Alfred Bender
Eric Falcon
Ilisa Weinberg

U.S. Coast Guard

Jonathan Lesieur
Andrea Molina

Last Updated: 04/20/2023
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