Eight Members of Congress Win Democracy Awards for Extraordinary Public Service

by CMF on October 05, 2020

Eight Members of Congress Win Democracy Awards for Extraordinary Public Service

The Congressional Management Foundation's "Oscars for Congress" Recognizes Outstanding Achievement, Best Practices in House and Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. –The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) today announced in a virtual ceremony the winners for the third annual Democracy Awards, CMF's annual honors program recognizing non-legislative achievement and performance in congressional offices and by Members of Congress.

"Americans usually only hear about Congress when something goes wrong. The Democracy Awards shines a light on Congress when it does something right," said Bradford Fitch, President and CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation. "These Members of Congress and their staff members deserve recognition for their work to improve transparency in government, foster innovation in Congress, modernize their work environments and serve their constituents."

The 2020 Democracy Awards winners are:

Constituent Service

  • Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
  • Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA)

"Life in Congress" Workplace Environment

  • Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE)
  • Rep. Donna Shalala (D-FL)

Transparency and Accountability

  • Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX)
  • Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA)

Innovation and Modernization

  • Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX)
  • Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)

CMF has created a detailed process to identify and recognize the best congressional offices in four categories: 1) Constituent Service; 2) "Life in Congress" Workplace Environment; 3) Transparency and Accountability; and 4) Innovation and Modernization. House and Senate personal offices self-nominated in late 2019 using an online questionnaire. In early 2020, CMF followed up with offices to conduct interviews assess the office's adherence to the established criteria using a detailed checklist to determine a list of finalists, which was announced on April 2, 2020.

Next, a Selection Committee comprised primarily of former Members of Congress and former congressional staffers selected two winners (one Democrat and one Republican) for each category using the nomination forms, interview notes, and supporting material provided by the office.

The Congressional Management Foundation also recognized posthumously two former Members of Congress, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Amo Houghton (R-NY), as the recipients of the 2020 Democracy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Finally, at the ceremony CMF announced the congressional staff member who is the winner of the 2020 Democracy Award for Lifetime Achievement: Liz McBride, Director, Office of Employee Assistance (OEA) at the U.S. House of Representatives. Throughout her 29-year tenure at the OEA, Liz has maintained primary responsibility for overseeing the daily operations of the office, as well as providing an extraordinary volume of direct service to employees, including counseling to staff, managers, their family members, and work teams of all sizes.

In addition to Liz, there were four other staff finalists for Lifetime Achievement:

  • Kevin Fogarty, Chief of Staff, Representative Peter King (R-NY)
  • Janine Osborne, Director of Constituent Services, Representative Mark Walker (R-NC)
  • Tim Rieser, Minority Clerk, Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations;Senior Foreign Policy Aide, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
  •  Lisa Sherman, Chief of Staff, Representative Susan Davis (D-CA)

Details on all winners' and finalists' accomplishments can be found here.

The Founding Partner for the Democracy Awards is the Bridge Alliance, which provided a generous grant to launch the program. Bridge Alliance is a diverse coalition of more than 100 organizations committed to revitalizing democratic practice in America.

CMF is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan nonprofit whose mission is to build trust and effectiveness in Congress. Since 1977, CMF has worked internally with Member, committee, leadership, and institutional offices in the House and Senate to identify and disseminate best practices for management, workplace environment, communications, and constituent services. CMF also is the leading researcher and trainer on citizen engagement, educating thousands of individuals and facilitating better relationships with Congress.

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Past Winners (DA)