Get to know the 2023 Rising Stars

The Rising Star Awards recognize individuals who are early in their public sector IT careers, but 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 intended to identify and elevate the next generation of government tech talent at federal, state and local organizations as well as in the contracting sector. For the first time, Nextgov/FCW and Route Fifty teamed up to identify this year's class of Rising Stars.

As this year's list makes clear, there's tremendous talent coming up through the ranks. You can learn more about each of the 2023 Rising Stars via the links below.

• Aurelle Amram, senior director of strategic partnerships for Code for America's Social Safety Net
• Josie Birch, disaster recovery program manager, MNIT Services
• Malaika Carpenter, design supervisor for the United States Digital Corps, General Services Administration
• Santiago Garces, CIO, City of Boston
• Angelika Hall, security operations center manager and supervisory IT cybersecurity specialist, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
• Wendy Harman, senior director of CX strategy, ICF
• Brock Lambert, senior manager, EY
• Zachary Nandapurkar, technical account manager, Public Sector, Tanium
• Shermaine Nedd, portfolio manager, Federal Acquisition Service, Office of Information Technology Category, Identity Credential and Access Management Division, General Services Administration
• Chris Polack, strategic initiatives program manager, NYC Emergency Management
• Aaron Rice, security administrator- I.T., St. Lucie County Board of County Commissioners
• Bridgette Savino, senior analyst, U.S. Government Accountability Office
• Ryan Sibbald, assistant special agent in charge, Special Operations Division, Drug Enforcement Administration
• Katrina Sizemore, director, Division of Program, Contract & Budget Management,  Marketplace IT Group, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
• Conrad Stosz, AI lead, Office of the Federal CIO, Office of Management and Budget