Rising Star Christina Bapst
Name: Christina M. Bapst
Age: 28
Organization: Homeland Security Department's Office of the Chief Information Officer
Title: Program manager, Enterprise Data Management Office
Nominated for: Managing the Enterprise Data Management Office, which coordinates the data collected, managed and shared across DHS’ 22 components. Also oversees the budget for the Office of Applied Technology. Tightened up OAT’s acquisition process, with 98 percent of projects now completed on schedule.
First IT mentor: My father, who taught me at an early age that proper planning prevents poor performance. No matter what I am working on, those words hold true everyday.
Latest accomplishment: Every day I go to work doing something that I like to do. Yes, some days are longer and more frustrating than others, and a weekend gets thrown in every now and then, but I work hard and do whatever it takes to get the job done right. I was also recently accepted into the George Washington University MBA program, and classes start this fall.
Career highlight: Having worked at ExxonMobil, General Motors and now DHS — the challenges of all the diverse projects.
Favorite bookmark: NIEM.gov
Dream non-IT related job: Commissioner of baseball
The annual Rising Star awards are presented by the 1105 Government Information Group, publisher of Federal Computer Week, GCN and Washington Technology, to public and private sector employees in the federal IT community who have gone above and beyond their job descriptions to make a lasting impact in their organization. See all the 2009 Rising Star award winners.