Department of Housing and Urban Development


The Partnership for Public Service honored the nine winners of this year’s Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals at a Washington, D.C. gala Thursday evening.

This video features Susan Angell of the Department of Veterans Affairs and Mark Johnston of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, winners of the Citizen Services medal. Angell and Johnston worked together on an interdepartmental program that reduced veterans homelessness by 12 percent in one year. Keep reading →


This is one in a series of profiles on the 2012 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal finalists. The awards, presented by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, recognize outstanding federal employees whose important, behind-the-scenes work is advancing the health, safety and well-being of Americans and are among the most prestigious honors given to civil servants. This profile features Citizen Services medal finalists Susan Angell, executive director of the Veterans Homeless Initiative at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mark Johnston, deputy assistant secretary for special needs, Office of Community Planning and Development at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Homeless Veterans Initiative Team.

Some have called it a “national disgrace,” the presence of thousands of homeless veterans on American streets and in shelters. Keep reading →

Last month marked the one-year anniversary of the Obama administration’s initiative to speed up the time it takes to fill federal job vacancies. So, how has government fared in the past year?

Overall, progress has been made in the federal hiring process. Where it once took government an average of 122 days to fill a position, it now takes 105. Keep reading →

Last week, my organization and Deloitte released a snapshot of the Best Places to Launch a Career in the Federal Government.

The good news for government is that a majority of new federal employees under the age of 30 report high levels of overall satisfaction when it comes to their specific jobs and agencies. Keep reading →