2024 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Public Service

(KNOX) – Gov. Doug Burgum and Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller today announced the 2024 Governor’s Awards for Excellence in Public Service, recognizing team members across state government for their commitment to providing the highest levels of service to North Dakota.

“Team North Dakota members continue to excel in serving our state’s citizens and delivering on our shared purpose: to Empower People, Improve Lives and Inspire Success,” Burgum said. “The record number of nominations we received this year – over 1,400 submissions across more than 55 agencies – highlights the exceptional work of our team members. We are incredibly grateful to these individuals and their teams for their dedication and unwavering commitment to our state and its citizens.”

Burgum and Miller presented the awards during a ceremony livestreamed from the Capitol’s Memorial Hall during State Team Member Recognition Month.

The awards and recipients are:

Pioneer Award for Excellence in Innovation: Jackie Ressler, marketing specialist, North Dakota Game and Fish Department, for her efforts to increase the agency’s social media presence, create new partnerships and lead marketing campaigns on crucial topics such as aquatic nuisance species, job recruitment, boater safety, hunting and fishing participation and more.

Zezula Award – “One Who Helps”: Brett Wold, veterans employment officer with Job Service North Dakota, for his work to bridge the gap between veterans and businesses by connecting qualified candidates with employers, and mobilizing community resources to help veterans overcome barriers to employment such as homelessness, addiction or lack of transportation.

Harvest Award for Excellence in Quality: Sindhuja Pillai-Grinolds, Water Development Division director for the Department of Water Resources, for her management of North Dakota’s water resources and large-scale water projects such as the Southwest Pipeline Project, ensuring the state’s water needs are met with precision, foresight and strong relationships with stakeholders.

Landmark Award for Excellence in People Management: Jace Beehler, chief of staff, Governor’s Office, for consistently demonstrating the ability to navigate complex challenges with a steady hand and creating an atmosphere of open communication, collaboration and respect that fosters creativity and efficiency across state agencies and branches of government.

Telegraph Award for Excellence in Technology: Harrison Yates, senior cybersecurity engineer, North Dakota Information Technology, for his leadership in the Joint Cybersecurity Operations Command Center and his work to improve consistency in the state’s cybersecurity responses to better protect the data of citizens, agencies and team members.

Heritage Award for Excellence in Citizen Focus: Fred Walker, global marketing manager with the Department of Commerce’s Tourism Division, for his work in forging strategic partnerships and elevating the state’s global presence to increase tourism and promoting Native American tourism through his work with the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance.

Frontier Award for Excellence in Continuous Learning: Kristi Embry, accessibility instructional designer at the University of North Dakota, for her work to support staff and faculty in creating and maintaining accessible content, including converting documents into screen-reader-friendly formats, ensuring websites meet accessibility standards and training others in best practices – ensuring accessibility isn’t an afterthought but a core part of educational design.

Sodbuster Award for Excellence in Growth Mindset: Kayla Ver Helst, sustainability officer at the Bank of North Dakota, for demonstrating exceptional leadership and coordination skills by spearheading a groundbreaking ESG study in collaboration with multiple state agencies and key stakeholders, ensuring that diverse perspectives and expertise in a complicated field were integrated into the study.

Roaming Bison Award (Team) – 3 recipients:

• Department of Public Instruction Fiscal Management team, for establishing a disbursement system for federal pandemic relief dollars with strong oversight and minimal red tape, ensuing nearly 100% utilization of funds with no audit findings while strengthening instruction in critical skills such as reading, math and science.

• Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Re-entry Simulator team, for creating a hands-on re-entry simulation program that helps leaders understand the challenges faces by individuals transitioning from incarceration back into the community, with program participants navigating 15 stations that mirror real-life scenarios
• S’mores World Record Team, a multi-agency team led by the Parks and Recreation Department, for creating a fun and memorable way to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Fort Stevenson State Park by organizing a successful Guinness World Record attempt for the most number of people to make s’mores together.