Extra Mile and Leadership Awards

In 2022, Tony Aceves, compliance specialist with Agricultural and Seasonal Workforce Services, began gathering evidence and collaborating with federal agencies to investigate fraudulently obtained work visas and the unlawful transport of over 500 temporary foreign laborers into Eastern Washington. Over the course of years, Tony was the “boots on the ground” investigator, building trust and rapport with workers to ensure they were supported and kept safe from retribution. Tony leveraged his professional background and investigative skills to create a system of internal reporting and documenting, adhered to existing data-sharing rules, and kept state and federal offices and agencies informed and engaged. This year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced four indictments, and the farm labor contractor and its associates are now barred from operating in Washington state. Tony’s hard work has resulted in a safer farmwork industry, improved employer compliance, and better worker awareness about the resources available for victims of fraud, human trafficking, and employer misconduct. 

Beth exemplifies exceptional internal service, treating every partner as a valued customer and tailoring support to real operational needs rather than rigid processes. She takes time to understand staffing limits, competing deadlines, system constraints, and varying familiarity with procedures, then adapts — adjusting timelines, offering alternative formats, and providing direct help when teams are under pressure. She deftly transforms internal workflows that have been confusing and inefficient, and instead of adding new layers, instead simplifies procedures to focus only on what is essential. She champions plain language, introduces standardized templates and tools, and sets clear expectations so teams understand exactly what is required and when. Beth is widely trusted for her dependable follow‑through and clear communication. Partners never need to chase updates because follow–ups are always built into her processes. Her strong stewardship of time and resources has strengthened internal service delivery in ways that benefit HCLA staff and the public they serve. 

Team Members: Julia Bennett, Kimberly Carlson, Amanda Dodd, Nicholas Graff, Michelle Holshue, Esther Lam, Elisabeth Long, Cami Rencken 

During a measles outbreak over two intense months in early 2026, the Vaccine-Preventable Disease team remained centered on the needs of local health jurisdictions (LHJs), Tribal partners, and other affected communities. They worked tirelessly over long hours, managing multiple suspect case consultations with detailed follow-ups and hands-on technical assistance. The team translated complex measles outbreak response requirements into clear, actionable guidance that enabled partners to respond quickly and confidently. They developed public health alerts, news releases, and web updates in plain, accessible language, making technical information understandable for diverse audiences. The team developed a new measles outbreak reporting tool with texting ability, streamlined data sharing, and refined workflows through ongoing collaboration with laboratories and program partners. Outside of emergencies like the measles outbreak, the team maintains consistent weekday on-call coverage to respond promptly to vaccine-preventable disease inquiries. They do not simply answer questions; they remain actively engaged until each issue is fully resolved, keeping Washingtonians healthy and safe year-round. 

Team Members: Aaron Weaver, Troy McDonald, Matthew Matson, John Biedzian, Jarrod Chase, Scott Lande, Tony Genuardi, Thomas Snyder 

The Area 4 Renton Incident Response Team delivers clear, simple, and efficient service during some of the most stressful situations on our roads. They provide practical help — such as moving disabled vehicles, setting up traffic control, and coordinating additional support — all while communicating calmly and clearly, remaining on scene until issues are resolved or properly transitioned to partner agencies. By coordinating with law enforcement, tow providers, and maintenance crews, they ensure continuity of service and build public trust. Drivers feel comfortable asking questions, confident in the guidance provided, and supported in taking their next steps safely. Crucially, responders on the team are always aware of potential barriers such as language differences, disabilities, financial constraints, or distrust of authorities, and they adjust their approach with cultural humility and respect. Their participation in after-action reviews and collaboration with partner agencies helps to advance safer, more efficient, and more responsive incident management statewide. 

Nicole co-designed and launched the Young Entrepreneur Academy, a complex, multi-agency equity‑centered resource for young adults. She stalwartly advocated for young adults themselves to be brought on as consultants and listened deeply to their input, honoring their lived experiences. She ensured that undocumented, system‑impacted, and other marginalized youth were always centered in the process. Nicole consistently considered the diverse starting points, abilities, and levels of understanding, adapting the curriculum to reflect language needs, digital access, and the confidence required for youth to imagine themselves as entrepreneurs. She partnered with the Young Adult Advisory Council to shape curriculum, tools, and outreach based on real needs rather than assumptions. Nicole’s dependable updates, problem solving, transparency, and steady presence built trust across agencies and made a smooth, statewide launch of the Academy possible. Her leadership created a statewide resource that meets young people where they are and affirms their identities while supporting their economic mobility. 

In just over two years, Lindy has built State Parks’ internal communications program from near scratch, turning internal communication delivery systems into accessible, easy–to–use information highways that have helped the entire agency become better connected and healthier. In a time when it is more important than ever to maintain morale, Lindy has found creative ways to build bridges and celebrate staff for both the little wins and the big achievements, even in a virtual environment. She prioritizes time with field staff and takes their thoughts and insights up to her meetings with executive leadership, ensuring those running the agency are in tune with what’s happening on the ground. Lindy has fostered a safe and accepting internal communications environment where employees feel comfortable coming to her with questions, frustrations, and ideas. She makes sure that State Parks employees feel seen, even when they’re working in far-flung corners of the state. 

Monique has spent her career centering Veterans and frontline staff in every process she touches. She has worked tirelessly to meet the federal Veteran Priority of Service (POS) requirement, making the process more accessible for Veterans with disabilities, those experiencing homelessness, and those navigating complex barriers. She recognized that inconsistent application of POS disproportionately harmed Veterans with the highest barriers. She examined how Veterans were welcomed, identified barriers in intake and triage, and ensured staff statewide understood how to honor Veterans’ rights with empathy and cultural humility. Monique simplified instructions, clarified expectations, and created tools. This work reduced errors, increased staff confidence, and ensured Veterans received timely, accurate service. This clarity, alongside her persistence and dependable follow‑through, led Washington to surpass the 48% POS threshold, the first time the state has ever met that target. Without Monique’s constant advocacy and passion for POS improvement, this milestone achievement to support Washington Veterans simply would not have happened. 

Team Members: Zack Gifford, Eva Escape, Justice Gilbert, Cat Whipple, Rachel Ensminger, Joel Haarstad, Susan Pniewski, Holly Bonvillian, Chansie Donald, Rich Lopez, Kevin Gorder, Elton Gifford, Doak Mahlik, Jim Cummings, Gene Bevan, Debbie Bevan, Hank Cramer, Juan Branche, Katelyn Hyunh, Paul Fishback, Bon Vernarelli, Dan Fox 

In December 2025, heavy storms led to some of the worst flooding in the state’s history. Every employee in the Military Department’s Human Services division was called up, and the Recovery Section team in particular took center stage, listening and responding to community needs while mobilizing staff to support impacted areas as quickly as possible. The team brought together multiple state agencies and community partners to streamline support and reached beyond traditional channels, leveraging every available resource for affected Washingtonians. Team members traveled hundreds of miles, often working overtime and staying overnight, to reach community events and ensure services were delivered. Assistance prioritized low-income families to ensure those most in need received support. Local community leaders were consulted to identify pressing needs such as removing muck, offering financial resources, and delivering supplies to dry and repair homes. The team’s remarkable efforts were all done under intense pressure, demonstrating extraordinary timeliness, reliability, and dedication to the communities they serve.

Alexandra enthusiastically shares the rich history of Western State Hospital as a volunteer with the Historic Fort Steilacoom Association, setting up events and leading tours at the hospital’s cottages. Her passion for the preservation of history adds a new dimension to staff’s workplace satisfaction and has made everyone more appreciative of the stories held within the hospital’s walls and the grounds around it. For Black History Month, Alexandria wrote an insightful article highlighting Black employees who have worked at the hospital over the years, a thoughtful way to highlight the contributions of the community. Alexandria also deftly tailors tours and information for members of the public, from children to adults, displaying artifacts and re-enactments of the daily lives of those who occupied the cottages. Alexandria’s work also ensures that visitors and staff preserve the parts of the land’s history that are intertwined with the Coast Salish people, respecting the area’s first inhabitants. Alexandria’s educational contributions ensure that Washington’s history is kept alive by everyone who passes through or works at Western State Hospital on the grounds of the historic fort.

As behavioral health inspection manager, Cassandra models the agency’s values by providing consistent direction, training, and collaboration, developing a culture of trust between herself and the team. She navigates the 2,000+ Behavioral Health Agencies and Residential Treatment Facilities throughout the state to ensure inspections and new applications are completed thoroughly and promptly. Cassandra creates consistent expectations for the agencies overseen by DOH, ensuring the services they provide are appropriate and safe for Washingtonians. Her steady and evenhanded approach is a benefit not only to the team at DOH but also to the vulnerable residents of our state. Cassandra fosters a culture of inclusion by ensuring her entire team has an equal opportunity to contribute and provide feedback, ensuring quieter voices and diverse perspectives are heard and valued. She has been instrumental in aligning the team’s vision with the public need, delivering tangible results, and managing resources responsibly in all areas.

Aschlee has personally developed and delivered trainings for DVA, making sure that staff understand and care about the topics so they can all see their role and how it connects to the bigger picture. As a problem solver and efficiency finder for the agency, Aschlee never shies away from finding a better way to get more done. When difficult budgetary situations arose, Aschlee was ready to take on the challenge. With the ending of a nursing assistant training program, she immediately pivoted to find new partnerships and models, working with local colleges to train new hires and deliver invaluable services to Veterans. When the team suffered a sudden loss of a valued colleague last year, Aschlee insisted that she tell the team first. Despite being in shock and grief herself, she still held space for the team and made sure everyone had the support they needed as they processed the loss.

In her role as research and data division director, Staci provides clear vision and direction by connecting the data to real-world outcomes so that partners see how their work supports statewide traffic safety goals. Staci works directly with law enforcement agencies to help them interpret their data and identify traffic safety hotspots. With WTSC staff, she ensures fatality data is complete and consistent, sets clear standards, and builds quality checks into the workflow. Staci creates an environment where staff feel heard, valued, and safe when raising concerns. This has strengthened morale and reinforced a culture of trust and accountability. She continually improves how information is delivered, refining dashboards to highlight meaningful trends and present findings in plain language so they are accessible. By making demographic patterns more transparent and actionable, she helps WTSC commissioners, partners, customers, and the Legislature make better-informed decisions around traffic safety.

Heather is respected by her team for her devotion to work, passion for building bridges, and her ability to face challenges with flexibility, positivity, and grace in uncertain and difficult times. Heather consistently seeks the team’s opinions and encourages inclusion in their daily work. Heather’s leadership enables her team to have a shared purpose and focus to ensure that the needs of the end users, the public, are satisfied. She works constantly to improve the skills and procedures of the division in actual practice. Heather provides fact-based information to solve issues. Her efforts regarding interdepartmental communications have led to more efficient processes, streamlined procedures, and better delivery of the team’s primary functions for those relying on their work. Heather’s expertise is sought by internal partners, regional leadership, and national organizations whenever she facilitates meetings or trainings, and whenever she sits on boards (usually in a leadership role).

In her role as the L&I Office of Human Resources initiatives and performance manager, Sarah demonstrates dedication, compassion, and strategic vision to elevate L&I’s HR operations. Agency leaders elected her Chair of the Operations Leadership team, a post she has volunteered to take on in addition to her normal responsibilities. Sarah has led impactful efforts that affect the entire agency, such as the HR contributions to the workers compensation project and the creation of dashboards to easily display HR’s results and actions. When Sarah leads an effort within L&I, staff know that it will be performed with the utmost care and thoughtfulness. She also ensures that all staff are heard so that everyone’s concerns are understood, including those others may not have thought of. Sarah is a role model for L&I’s values by being respectful and kind, and her ethical compass always does the right thing, even when no one else is looking.

As a newer team manager, Thao has completely transformed her team through a rare blend of empathy, technical precision, and strategic foresight. She helps to ensure services for nearly two million Medicaid members, managing the state’s largest contracts (Managed Care Organizations [MCOs]) and approaching the task with unwavering dedication to program quality and rigorous oversight. She has implemented key metrics to improve performance toward a more cohesive strategic vision, ensuring the value of managed care for Washingtonians. She consistently applies a lens of fairness and inclusion to her decision-making and has led a quarterly process with our Tribal health care leaders to improve MCO performance and contracting. Her team trusts her implicitly because she pairs high expectations with genuine care, ensuring that every staff member feels supported in the high-stakes environment of Medicaid. 

Michal has been an integral part of the Aquatic Resources Division Management team for over 15 years and has served in various roles within DNR since 2001. He empowers his team to think critically and work together to best serve the public, state, and environment. Staff are quick to point out his inclusive and motivational approach to very complex problems, often leading people to say “Just call Michal,” whenever there are questions about land management. Michal has written and supported countless pieces of DNR-requested legislation that have become law, including the creation of the derelict structures removal program, watercraft excise tax funds being added to the derelict vessel removal account, and the development of the kelp and eelgrass health and conservation plan. Michal’s leadership has helped to shape both the trajectory of state-owned aquatic land management and the people critical to perform this work.

Melissa lives the values that she expects of her employees. She never asks for anything that she isn’t willing and able to do herself and is always straightforward and honest, even during hard conversations. She has worked tirelessly to keep important programs for our Veterans operating. As a result of her actions, many of our programs are now working efficiently despite fewer staff and resources. Melissa treats everyone equally and this extends to programs within the department, ensuring that managers and staff of every program are heard and have as loud a voice as anyone else. She has thrown herself into the effort to end the siloed cultures that exist between teams at DVA, encouraging collaboration in the same way she does everything, with her whole heart. Melissa fights for people and makes sure to incorporate humanity into all the tough decisions.

Drew embodies the values that define strong trusted leadership: integrity, accountability, respect, and a commitment to building a culture grounded in trust. As an assistant region manager, he provides leadership across workgroups, including Product Sales, Recreation, Silviculture, Asset Management, and Engineering. He played a key role in implementing the T3 Watershed Experiment, evaluating innovative management approaches across 20,000 acres of state-managed forest in partnership with the University of Washington.

Recognizing that lands are best managed through partnerships, Drew prioritizes collaboration, meeting regularly with counties and Tribes to foster trust, align goals, and advance partnerships. During periods of uncertainty, Drew is a steady and focused leader. He helps teams concentrate on what they can control, while keeping sight of strategic priorities. Drew’s steady leadership has strengthened not only the performance of the region but also the confidence and capability of the people within it.

The Extra Mile Award is given to individuals or groups of state employees who go beyond routine expectations in their public service role.  

This year, the award spotlights customer service competencies that align with Washington state’s modern approach to public service. 

Who are our customers?  

Customers are anyone who interacts with a state program or service – including residents, businesses, organizations, and state employees. Simply put, customers are both those we serve and those who serve.  

Core customer service competencies 

Drawing from these frameworks, we have developed five core competencies that describe exceptional customer service.  

1. Person-centered and inclusive service
2. Clear, simple, and efficient delivery
3. Responsive and reliable follow-through
4. Equity, inclusivity, and bias-aware
5. Innovation, continuous improvement, and collaboration

How to complete the nomination form 

1. Open the Extra Mile Award nomination form. 
2. Enter your name and agency. 
3. Enter the nominee’s name, agency and job title, if known. 
4. Following each customer service competency, provide one example that describes what the nominee did, how they did it, and what changed as a result. 
5. Each competency response is limited to 1000 characters. 
6. Be specific and concrete, focusing on observable actions and outcomes rather than job titles or role expectations. Clear, well-supported examples help ensure that customer service excellence is consistently and fairly recognized across Washington State. 

Extra Mile Award nomination resources and tips 

• Downloadable Extra Mile Award Nomination Form (92KB) 
• Extra Mile Award Core Competencies 
• Extra Mile Award – Customer Definitions 
• Extra Mile Award Example Nomination – External Customer 
• Extra Mile Award Example Nomination – Internal Customer (75.2KB) 

The Leadership Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate leadership through their daily behaviors—actions, decisions, and influence—regardless of job title or formal authority.  

Nominees may demonstrate leadership by influencing people, shaping decisions, strengthening culture, improving systems, or delivering outcomes that benefit employees, customers, partners, and communities. 

Core leadership competencies 

1. Models values, culture and trust
2. Cultivates shared strategic vision and direction
3. Delivers results as a public servant
4. Embeds inclusion, equity and fairness in decision-making
5. Fosters collaboration, teamwork and learning

How to complete the nomination form 

1. Open the Leadership Award nomination form. 
2. Enter your name and agency. 
3. Enter the nominee’s name, agency and job title, if known. 
4. Following each leadership competency, provide one example that describes what the nominee did, how they did it, and what changed as a result. 
5. Leadership examples may reflect influence on people, teams, decisions, processes, culture, or results—formal supervision is not required. 
6. Each competency response is limited to 1000 characters. 
7. Be specific and concrete, focusing on observable actions and outcomes rather than job titles or role expectations. Clear, well-supported examples help ensure that leadership excellence is consistently and fairly recognized across Washington State. 

Leadership Award nomination resources and tips 

• Downloadable Leadership Award Nomination Form 
• Leadership Award Core Competencies 
• Leadership Award Example Nomination (76.4KB)