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Colorado: Governor Polis Announces 2026 Tom Clements Better Government Award Winners

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Honoring State Employees Leaving a Lasting Positive Impact on Colorado

DENVER - Today, Governor Polis announced the Tom Clements Award winners, recognizing state employees who go above and beyond in service to Coloradans, delivering results that matter, save Coloradans money, and make government more efficient.

"It's a great honor to reward excellence in state service. We have some great stories of our wonderful state workers going above and beyond, and the Tom Clement Awards allow us to recognize them. Behind every state service is a dedicated state worker who chooses to go further than a job description to better the lives of Coloradans. That's true of every honoree we celebrate today, public servants who embody Tom Clements' legacy of exceptional service and innovation. I'm proud to call each and every person part of our state workforce team and highlight the remarkable contributions and achievements these state workers deliver for all of us," said Governor Jared Polis.

The awards are in memory of Tom Clements, a dedicated public servant who was killed in 2013 while serving as Executive Director of the Department of Corrections. His legacy continues to inspire Colorado's commitment to building a lasting culture of operational excellence, extraordinary leadership, cutting-edge innovation and outstanding customer service.

The Tom Clements Award recognizes individuals and teams that elevate the standard of excellence in government, adapt systems and processes to more effectively and efficiently serve Coloradans, and have an outstanding impact on their organization. State agencies nominate their individuals and teams from their workforce for one of three categories: Outstanding Service in Government, Outstanding Innovation in Government, and Inspirational Leadership in Government. In 2021, the Governor's Office introduced the Chief of Staff award to recognize employees who deliver exceptional results when facing critical challenges or crises. The Operations Director award, now in its second year, was created to recognize operational leadership in transforming the way the State of Colorado delivers for Coloradans.

A panel of community leaders served as judges. The judges reviewed nominations from state agencies to identify submissions that solved complex problems through exceptional dedication, delivered innovative solutions that highlight the state's operational and policy priorities, and transformed the strategies, productivity, and culture of their agency. This year's winners and honorable mentions are directly helping to achieve those goals.

This year's judges included Pat Meyers, former Chief Economic Recovery Officer and Chief of Staff to Governor Hickenlooper, Early Childhood Workforce Development Program Manager at the City and County of Denver Mathangi Subramanian, and Colorado State University System Chancellor Dr. Tony Frank. The panel of judges also included two of Tom's family members: Behavioral Health Consultant and former Colorado Behavioral Health Administration Commissioner Dr. Lisa Clements, who was Tom Clements' wife and the FINRA Communications Manager Rachel Clements, who is the daughter of Tom Clements.

This year's winners and honorable mentions are directly advancing major priorities for Colorado, including fostering an economy that works for everyone, saving Coloradans money on healthcare, and ensuring all Coloradans can attain housing. The winners of this year's awards are:

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Outstanding Service:
  • Winner: The Department of Local Affairs for "CERA - Beacon of Hope for Coloradans in Need." DOLA's Colorado Emergency Rental Assistance (CERA) team was selected for their outstanding service in providing support to Coloradans at imminent risk of eviction. The team has made major improvements to the program delivery by streamlining operations, collecting recipient data, and expanding collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders. Specifically, this team made the application process easier through plain language improvements, reduced hold times in the call center, and reduced the average application time to less than 5 minutes. All of these service improvements led to stronger outcomes to some of the most vulnerable Coloradans.
  • Honorable Mention: The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for "FAMLI - More Calls, Less Wait: OCC's Turnaround." The CDLE FAMLI Contact Center Branch Manager Jade Humphries-Graves was selected for her leadership in making critical improvements to the FAMLI One Contact Center. Through Jade's leadership the average speed to answer was halved, and the customer service satisfaction score rose to 4.2/5 after a challenging start at the launch of the program. Through updating the phone tree, improving operational standards, and taking an employee-first approach, FAMLI serves as an exemplary contact center for the State and provides exceptional support in Coloradans accessing benefits.
  • Honorable Mention: The Department of Public Safety for "DHSEM Recovery Team - Supporting Local Governments and Communities in Crisis." DHSEM went above and beyond the past two years in their extraordinary disaster recovery efforts, specifically for the Lee and Elk fires in Rio Blanco County and flooding in Archuleta and La Plata counties. The extent of these disaster recoveries was immense. However, the team successfully supported the completion of 66% of electrical grid repairs, coordinated repairs for over 90 miles of county roads, helped restore drinking water intake systems, and most importantly, set each of these communities on a solid trajectory for long-term recovery.

Inspirational Leadership in Government:
  • Winner: Sarah Edwards at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs for "Restoring Organizational Culture and Performance." Sarah was selected for her unheralded leadership that revitalized the Department's health, operational momentum, and internal culture during the critical transition before Major General Davis joined. As Deputy Director, Sarah inherited sensitive personnel issues, unaddressed pay compressions, and localized communication gaps that had previously degraded trust. To address this, Sarah instituted small-team listening sessions, cross-divisional working groups, consistent 1:1 mentorship and coaching loops, ultimately helping cut annual turnover from 20% to 15% over the past two years. Staff found her leadership to be an inspiration, serving as a blueprint for sustainable culture shifts and building a culture where strategic goals are consistently reinforced and cascaded to all levels.
  • Honorable Mention: Dr. Rachael Collie at the Department of Public Safety for "Data-Driven work on Determinate Sentence Project." Dr. Rachel Collie was selected for her work on the Determinate Sentence Project, which aims to  address the issues faced by the Sex Offender Treatment and Management Program and the Sex Offender Management Board. Dr. Collie single-handedly formulated a structured decision framework, providing the State Board of Parole with an improved process for assessing suitability for community-based treatment. This innovation helps mitigate long-term costs by identifying individuals ready for the reintegration, minimizing administrative time for profile review, and increasing likelihood for success using a more data-driven approach. Dr. Collie's ability to translate research into policy and practice and her adherence to evidence is best practice and inspirational as a form of leadership.
  • Honorable Mention: Brehan "Bre" Riley at the Colorado Department of Education for leading and implementing Healthy School Meals for All. Bre serves as the Executive Director of School Nutrition at CDE overseeing all child nutrition programs including Healthy School Meals for All. Under her leadership, 31.5 million breakfast meals and over 72.8 million lunches were served to Colorado students in school year 24-25. HSMA has significantly expanded access to nutritious meals for students and has maximized federal funds for the program. Not only has her work had a profound and lasting impact on Colorado's students, Bre is committed to cultivating a supportive and empowering workplace culture and prioritizing professional development, which has resulted in a highly engaged and mission-driven team.

Outstanding Innovation:
  • Winner: The Colorado Department of Agriculture for "Yo Soy De Rancho - Helping Agricultural Workers become business entrepreneurs." The Yo Soy de Rancho program is designed to create a pathway for frontline agricultural workers to transition into independent business ownership and professional roles. The program breaks down traditional barriers to professional development for agricultural workers with a bilingual cohort-based education and technical assistance model. In its first year alone, the program exceeded enrollment goals and produced tangible results with 10 cohort members already having started independent agricultural businesses, setting Coloradans on a more sustainable trajectory for an even stronger, more equitable agricultural industry.
  • Honorable Mention: The Department of Local Affairs for "Prop 123 implementation - Accelerating Affordable Housing Delivery for Coloradans." Proposition 123 Community Support and Fast Track teams were selected for their innovative approach that enabled 217 local jurisdictions to commit to building or preserving almost 23,000 housing units, and 134 jurisdictions through the adoption of a 90-day fast track approval process for affordable housing permits. In addition, the team got local governments to implement these two initiatives ahead of schedule to ensure Coloradans received more affordable results sooner. Their regional collaboration frameworks, structured technical assistance, and data tracking tools were profoundly impactful in accelerating adoption to maximize impact and change the approach to building housing across the state.

Chief of Staff Excellence Award:
  • Winner: The Colorado Department of Human Services's SNAP team. The SNAP team successfully brought Colorado into full compliance with application processing time requirements set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an increase from 71.5% in early 2023 to 97% in 2026. Under Abby McClelland's leadership, in collaboration with the Governor's Office, Colorado Digital Services, all 64 county partners, and many others, this timeliness rate helped to get 76,682 additional Coloradans their benefits on-time.

Operations Director Award:
  • Winner: The Governor's Office of Information Technology's Colorado Digital Service team. Over the past eight years of the Polis-Primavera Administration, CDS has played an integral role in delivering better digital experiences for Coloradans, engaging in deeply challenging technology issues within agencies, and building lasting impact across the State. Through partnerships with agencies, CDS supported Universal Preschool in rebuilding their application portal to help thousands access the program, grew myColorado as the State's premier identity access app to be used by over 2 million users, helped more than 2,500 Coloradans to identify savings through the Colorado Energy Savings Navigator, and collaborated with the SNAP team to reach 97% timeliness of application processing.


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