Accenture Celebrates Excellence in the Public Sector at Third-Annual Government Women's Leadership Awards Tea; Three Outstanding Women in Government and Small Business Honored
WASHINGTON; Jan. 17, 2006 – Accenture today honored three women who have pioneered the journey to high performance in the public sector by bestowing each with a 2006 Accenture Government Women’s Leadership Award.
The honorees -- each of them an employee of the federal government or a small-business leader working in the government sector -- were selected for outstanding achievements, leadership and ingenuity in three categories: Government Visionary, Government Rising Leader and Small Business Icon. The Awards were presented at the third-annual Accenture Government Women’s Leadership Awards Tea, hosted by Kathleen Matthews, local news anchor for WJLA-TV, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Following are the winners in each category:
Government Visionary Category: Dr. Katharine B. Gebbie, director, Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce
"In her 15 years of leadership at NIST’s Physics Lab, Dr. Gebbie has repeatedly proven her dedication to the spirit of scientific discovery and teamwork," said Matthews. "Under her direction, scientists from NIST have received three Nobel Prizes, and her leadership has led to improvements in the quality of clinical mammography, port entry radiographic devices, and the irradiation of potentially contaminated mail."
Government Rising Leader Category: Robin Ware, manager, Business Service Network Integration, United States Postal Service
"Ms. Ware has demonstrated true leadership and innovation throughout her 27-year career at the Postal Service, from leading organizational redesigns to introducing a Web-based self-service capability for large customers," Matthews said. "In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Ware was instrumental in restoring normal postal operations, as well as leading search-and-account efforts for nearly 750 employees, establishing support and counseling services, and working with relief agencies."
Small Business Icon: Helen Greiner, chairman and co-founder, iRobot Corp.
"Beyond pioneering advances in robot and unmanned vehicle technology, Ms. Greiner’s leadership has strengthened her company’s leadership position and helped to guide it through the IPO process," Matthews said. "In addition, Ms. Greiner’s success has prompted her to encourage women toward engineering careers and entrepreneurship through participation in organizations like Springboard Enterprises and the National Youth Leadership Forum."
"For three years, Accenture has been proud to recognize the outstanding contributions women bring to the public and private government sector," said Gayle Nix, an executive director with Accenture’s Government group. "We are pleased to continue that tradition by honoring three exceptional women whose leadership, innovation and commitment to high performance serve as an inspiration to us all."
The winners were chosen from a pool of qualified nominees by an independent panel of judges that included past award recipients. Among the many qualities and capabilities the judges looked for were creative thinking, problem solving, success in delivering quality service to citizens or clients, and the achievement of tangible results in transforming program and service delivery.
The judges included:
- Dr. Joyce Johnson, rear admiral, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret.), current vice president of health sciences for Batelle, and winner of the 2004 Government Visionary Award
- Eleanor Roberts Lewis, chief counsel for international commerce, Office of General Counsel, U.S. Department of Commerce, and winner of the 2005 Government Visionary Award
- Nancy Laich, manager, Human Capital Enterprise Programs, U.S. Postal Service, and winner of the 2005 Government Rising Leader Award
- Kay T. Ely, senior principal, Acquisition Solutions Inc., and winner of the 2005 Small Business Icon Award
- Lolie Kull, program manager for the Joint Office of Identification and Credentialing, Department of Homeland Security
- Janet Stevens, director, Web services staff, Office of Public Affairs, Education & Outreach Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Alice Rivlin, a senior fellow and director for metropolitan policy at the Brookings Institution and former vice chair of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors, delivered the ceremony’s keynote speech.
The Government Leadership Awards Tea developed from Accenture’s Government Women’s Leadership Forum, which provides an opportunity for private-sector and small-business leaders to come together with women in government and share ideas. The 2006 Government Women’s Leadership Forum -- the fifth-annual forum -- is scheduled to take place this June.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. With deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills, and technologies to help clients improve their performance. With more than 126,000 people in 48 countries, the company generated net revenues of US$15.55 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2005. Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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Cara Knox
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