Celebrating Government’s Unsung Heroes: Submit a Nomination for the NextGen Public Service Awards

Public servants rarely seek the spotlight. They spend their days solving problems, improving services, supporting colleagues, and helping communities thrive. Yet many of their contributions go unrecognized outside their immediate teams. That’s why the NextGen Public Service Awards were created: to celebrate the government employees who are making a real difference and ensure their work gets the recognition it deserves.

If you know someone whose leadership, innovation, or dedication has had a meaningful impact, now is the time to nominate them. The July 31 deadline is approaching, and every nomination helps shine a light on the people working every day to make government better.

While anyone can submit a nomination, nominees must be current government employees serving at the local, state, or federal level. To keep the awards focused on recent accomplishments, nominations should highlight achievements from the past two years.

This year’s awards feature five categories designed to recognize the many ways public servants contribute to their organizations and missions.

Manager of the Year honors supervisors who truly support their teams. These leaders listen, advocate for employee needs, encourage new ideas, and create environments where people can succeed.

Innovator of the Year recognizes individuals who have improved their organization through creative thinking, whether by modernizing processes, enhancing remote and hybrid work, or strengthening virtual culture.

Advancing the Mission Award celebrates someone who consistently turns challenges into opportunities and delivers results that move their agency’s mission forward.

Tech Champion highlights forward-thinking employees who use technology, including emerging tools like artificial intelligence and machine learning, to drive transformation and help teams focus on mission-critical work.

Connector of the Year honors individuals who bring people together, break down silos, and build relationships that help teams collaborate more effectively and achieve shared goals.

Each nomination will be reviewed by a selection committee and evaluated based solely on the information provided in the nomination form. Judges will look at the nominee’s impact, leadership qualities, commitment to improving government, and ability to create positive change. Because the nomination itself plays such an important role, specific examples and measurable results can help showcase a nominee’s accomplishments.

Award winners will be notified on August 20 and recognized during the NextGen Virtual Summit on October 21.

If someone in your organization comes to mind, don’t wait. Take a few minutes to submit a nomination and help ensure their hard work receives the recognition it has earned.