Davie wins ACT-IAC's 2014 Franke Award

A 25-year federal employee, Mary Davie has spent her entire career pushing for better collaboration at the General Services Administration.

Mary Davie 2014

Mary Davie was honored by ACT-IAC for her years of championing collaboration at GSA. (Photo: Zaid Hamid) 

The General Services Administration's Mary Davie is the recipient of this year's John J. Franke Award from ACT-IAC. Davie, the assistant commissioner for the Office of Integrated Technology Services in GSA's Federal Acquisition Service, accepted the award May 19 at the Management of Change Conference in Cambridge, Md.

David McClure, associate administrator of GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies and the winner of last year's Franke Award, praised Davie for her collaborative approach, commitment to staff, and willingness to take risks. "She has always championed the improvement of government for the entire American public," he said, and "her priorities have always been about helping other agencies."

Davie, who declared herself "completely flattered and honored," has spent her entire 25-year career at GSA.  Given that agency's role in supporting the rest of government, she said, "it became clear to me pretty quickly that collaboration, communication, openness is the way that it has to be to make government run more effectively." 

Davie is a three-time Federal 100 winner, earning the award most recently in 2013 for her work as acting FAS commissioner. 

John J. Franke was a Marine, businessman and local politician before shifting to a highly effective career in federal government service.  He was a regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, assistant secretary for administration at the Education Department and then director of the Federal Quality Institute. Franke died in 1991. 

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