The Secretary’s Award for Team Excellence 2024

The Secretary’s Award for Team Excellence recognizes any unit within the Department (such as a Component, directorate, office, division, or section) with outstanding team achievements in operational areas such as law enforcement, aviation, cybersecurity, border patrol, hiring, acquisition, and information technology. The work will have resulted in measurable improvements in training and development and will have demonstrated an investment in the workforce to make it more capable. The work of the unit will include superior performance and significant operational improvements and/or notable innovation in support of DHS missions. The results will include an overall improvement in workforce morale.

Ahmed OAW Litigation Team

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Jennifer Beveridge
Carolyn Abdenour Bogues
Sara Brown
Ashley Caudill-Mirillo
Lakshmi Kilaru
Bonnie Kustra
John Lafferty
Mark Ludeking
Caitlin Miller
Jenny Penado
Mia Psorn
Annemarie Roll
Claudia Schwartz
Alyssa Xu
Katherine Zill

Business Operations Division

Privacy Office

Monica Carter-Johnson
Jessica Cooper
Sue-Ying Cosbert
Sandra Debnam
JoVaun Holmes
Ria King
Melanie Long
Amy Nafziger
Leslie Schwager
Tamara Walker

CG YARD 270' Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) and IndoPacific Support Cutter (IPSC) Team

U.S. Coast Guard

Eric Alexander
Barry Appolin
Stephen Bailey
Timothy Behan
Gabrielle Benson
Anthony Bernacki
Adam Brown
James Calvert
Al Carroll
Darren Conrad
Seth Crittenden
Dennis Curry
Christopher Darrow
Jacob Davis
Joshua DiPietro
Raymond Dix
Ivan Dorsey
Matthew Dumsha
Joseph Esposito
David Forrest
Cody Fultonberger
Daniel Garza
Michael Griffith
Che Hale
Jonathan Hartman
Leonard Herd
Ryley Ingraham
James Justice
David Keats
Ronnie Lowman
Tom Maszczenski Jr
Tommy Minor
Mike Nolan
Gary Oakley
Chris O'Connell
Matt Orgill
Vincent Peterson
Matthew Powers
Justin Price
Douglas Rutherford
David Scharf
Walter Skowrunski
Kevin Stachowski
Aneisha Vester
Scott White
Leon Wilson
Christopher Wooden

CISA ISD Faith-Based Community Team

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Daniel Abreu
Daniel Avondoglio
Katrina Brasfield
Scott Breor
William Brown
Aileen Clemenete
Nalleli De Jesus
Scott Dunford
Shawn Fiebiger
Laurie Goodell
Daryle Hernandez
Christena Johnston-Pulliam
Robert Mooney
Hayley Yorke

CISA School Safety Task Force and USSS' National Threat Assessment Center Team

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Lindsay Burton
Don Hough
Aimee Melendez
Paige Settles
Ryan Streeter
Julia Treanor

U.S. Secret Service

Lina Alathari
Wade Buckland
Steven Driscoll

CRCL and OCIO CRET

Management Directorate

Rosa Fisher
Hans Larrain
Manuel E. Ramirez

Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Kimberly Bandy
Stephanie Fell
Victoria Porto
Rebekah Tosado
Amy Vance

Credible Fear for Detailees Training Team

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Sherri Barker
Katherine Burt
Rene Cardona
Cory Clements
Kelley Costello
Jeremiah Farrelly
Chariane Forrey
Meredith French
Jerod Klein
Vikram Kumar
Mallory Lynn
Diana Navas
Christina Nelson
Marta Sisco-Izak
Patrick Swan

CWMD Chemical Support Branch Team

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office

Lindsey Fletcher
Rebecca Fontenot
Mark Kirk
Adam Leary
Uei Lei
Dante Stellar
Steve Townsend

CWMD Research and Development Roadmap Team

Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office

Dr. Katie Ballering
Dr. Richard Bindell
Dr. Anthony Esposito
Michael George
Roger Gima
Sandra Gogol
Michael Grundy
Maria Huynh
Dr. Alan Janos
Ron Major
Owen McDougall
Sabina Noll
Dr. Jennifer Pavlick
Capt. Mark Scheckelhoff
Dr. Richard Vojtech

Deferred Action Implementation Team

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Nancy J. Alby
Kathleen Bausman
Charles Corlett
Nikki H. Dinh
Gerry Dubois
Matthew F. Fenske
Shannon L. Hovanec
John Kramar
Kevin Kumlin
Nils M Thomsen
Leah L Rogal
Christina Salidzik
Arthur P. Schat
Sheila Solaimani

Environmental and Safety Branch

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

Timothy Bennett
William Brown
James Brown
Jason Butts

DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorkas (left) and Team Excellence Medal recipient Jason Butts (right). | View Original

David Dantzler

Nathan Deen
Stephen DeRohn
Cynthia Johnson-Hall
Cara Maxwell

FLETC Director Benjamine Huffman (left), Team Excellence Medal recipient Cara Maxwell and family (center), with DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorkas (right). | View Original

Richard Moore

Jason Sevin

ERO Buffalo Removal Team

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Shalena Denton
George P. Harvey Jr.
Matthew Kennedy
Erin R. Knecht

Team Excellence Medal recipient Erin R. Knecht (left) and DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorkas (right). | View Original

Kurt M. Lasly
James Maddox
Craig Meyer
Joedie Scott
Peter N. Sukmanowski
Robert E. Ulrey

FEMA Hiring Team

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Jessica Barnes
Emilie Berry
Shannon Blair
Lorraine Bowman
Robert Everett
Denise Hayes
Keri Huntzberry
Virginia Jordan
Ashley Lewis
Kimberly Lytle
Carla Poindexter
Anh Rhodes
Vonda Sparks
Radiah Washington
Jessica Willard
Julie Wozniak

FFRMS Team Award with FEMA

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Katie Barnes
Jennifer Chi
Luke Dodds
Jessica Eleff
Jeffrey Herd
Renita Hosler
Larissa Hyatt
Lori MacKenzie
Shannon Riess
Paul Rooney
Jennifer Tylander
Austin Watkins
Amy Weinhouse

Office of General Counsel

Holly Allen
Hayley Brandt
Danny Fischler

FLETC Physical Security Assessment Training Program Team

Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers

George Breed
Charles Brewer, Jr.
Thomas Flanagan
Kevin McCarthy
Mary Mercado

FLETC Director Benjamine Huffman (left), Team Excellence Medal recipient Mary Mercado (center), and DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorkas (right). | View Original

Raymond Powers III
Jennifer Ranger
John Riley
David Saunders
Erin Trew

Human Smuggling and Fentanyl Team

Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Emily Paull

Management Directorate

Morgan Ryan

Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans

Alejandro Aleman
David Cloe
Bobby Garcia
Michael Huston
Tracey Knott
Blas Nunez-Neto
Meghann O’Rourke

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Franklyn Abreu
David Amador
Heriberto Amaya
Evin Anderson
Sam Assad
Juan Avalos
Ryan Baughman
Lyle Black
Michael Carll
Daniel Castro
Erio Cavalieri
Chris Ceparano
Jose Cisneros
Jorge O. Comas
Joseph Draganac
Juan Espino
Patti Fitzsimmons
Tannia Garcia
Bruce Gates
Lee Goodridge
Ivan Grajeda
Steve Greskovic
Ray Hammett
Patrick Hosey
Karina Isaac
Eric Jones
Meghan Kennedy
Joseph Kester
Elizabeth Larson
Rick Lopez
Chris Macdonald
William Mayer
Keny Mejia
Mark F. Meyers
Javier Neria
Carlos Novoa
Dakota Nunweiler
Alfredo Ocasio
Jennifer Palmisano
Michael Pino
Robert Renner
Kenny Jo Ritchie
Mina Saad
Eugenio Sardinas
Nelson Silva
Jennifer Stults
Jimmy Valdez
Montana Whitehead

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Mathew Brodman
Anthony Decrescenzo
Shane Glassing
Chris Heck
Charles Kerby
Philip King
Carmen Morales
John Pasciucco
Harley R Shuler
Ben Teed
John Varrone

Israel Visa Waiver Program (VWP) Team

Department of State

Hillary Batjer-Johnson
Cris Dilworth
Stephanie Hallett
Kevin Kreutner
Adam Lenert
Brianne Marwaha
Patricia McNerney
Andrew P. Miller
Andrew T. Miller
Mary Mitchell
Isaac Oransky
Timothy Smith
Benjamin Snyder
Latasha Solomon
Denise Taylor
Jacob Vellacio
Jennifer Wetmore

Management Directorate

Kenneth Holt

National Security Council

Samantha Sutton

Office of General Counsel

Katherine Ruhs
Andrew Williams

Office of Intelligence and Analysis

Elizabeth Geary

Office of Public Affairs

Erin Heeter
Ethan Tan

Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans

Anjum Agarwala
Katherine Andrews
Caitlin Finn
Scott Jones
Robert Paschall
Reza Sepehri

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Macharia Davis
David Dodson
Alexander Kisselburg
Melanie Mataxas
Eric Peters
David Sanchez