Government Innovation Awards
Congratulations to the 2019 Rising Stars
- By Troy K. Schneider
- Aug 26, 2019
Each year, the Rising Star Awards recognize individuals who are early in their federal IT careers yet already are having an outsized impact. The women and men listed below have been selected both for their accomplishments over the past year and for their leadership potential in this community.
These awards are part of our larger Government Innovation Awards program. A joint effort of FCW, GCN, Washington Technology and Defense Systems, these awards also recognize the companies supporting the government’s transformation and the most innovative technology initiatives across the public sector.
The Public Sector Innovation winners were announced today as well; the 2019 Industry Innovators will be revealed in the coming days. You can learn more about the overall Government Innovation Awards here.
We'll be running full profiles of the 2019 Rising Stars this fall, and the winners will be honored in person at the Nov. 7 Government Innovation Awards dinner. Until then, here's a quick salute this year's winners — 21 individuals we're confident you'll be hearing about for years to come:
- Brecken W. Auchterlonie
Business Development Manager
SAIC
- Kevin E. Brisley
Manpower Analyst / Senior Human Resources Manager
Command, Control, Communications and Cyber Systems Directorate, U.S. Transportation Command
- Kaitlin I. Bulavinetz
Managing Director
Washington Cyber Roundtable
- Will Cahoe
Projects Coordinator, 10x
General Services Administration
- Gilberto Castro
Global Networking Manager
Georgetown University
- David Catanoso
Director, Enterprise Cloud Solutions Office, Dept of Veterans Affairs
Department of Veteran Affairs
- Taylor K. Chott
Data Scientist
CACI
- Anna Cordrey
Deputy Program Manager
NASA
- Mahtab Emdadi
Regional Sales Director
Dell Technologies
- Omid Ghaffari-Tabrizi
Acquisitions Lead
Centers of Excellence, General Services Administration
- Ryan V. Hendricks
USA Performance Product Development Supervisor
Office of Personnel Management
- Dr. Leonie Heyworth
Director of Synchronous Telehealth, VHA Office of Connected Care/ Telehealth Services, Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs
- Michelle Johnson
Communications Manager, Senior Research Analyst
Section 809 Panel, Defense Acquisition University
- Samer Madarani
Partner Account Director - Partnership Development
Dovel Technologies
- Ellen Nadeau
Deputy Manager, Privacy Framework
National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Lt. Jason A. Pawlak
Cyber Battle Captain
U.S. Transportation Command
- Jonathan Riksen
Associate Partner & Client Leader
IBM
- Christopher Rorvig
Senior Consultant, Consulting Services
CGI Federal
- Blake M. Scates
Digital Program Manager
Department of Veterans Affairs
- Robert G. Sheldon
Head of Technology Strategy, Public Sector
CrowdStrike
- Travis Sorensen
CEO
Oddball, Inc.
About the Author
Troy K. Schneider is the Editor-in-Chief of both FCW and GCN, two of the oldest and most influential publications in public-sector IT. Both publications (originally known as Federal Computer Week and Government Computer News, respectively) are owned by GovExec. Mr. Schneider also serves GovExec's General Manager for Government Technology Brands.
Mr. Schneider previously served as New America Foundation’s Director of Media & Technology, and before that was Managing Director for Electronic Publishing at the Atlantic Media Company, where he oversaw the online operations of The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal, The Hotline and The Almanac of American Politics, among other publications. The founding editor of NationalJournal.com, Mr. Schneider also helped launch the political site PoliticsNow.com in the mid-1990s, and worked on the earliest online efforts of the Los Angeles Times and Newsday. He began his career in print journalism, and has written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, WashingtonPost.com, Slate, Politico, Governing, and many of the other titles listed above.
Mr. Schneider is a graduate of Indiana University, where his emphases were journalism, business and religious studies.