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WASHINGTON D.C., March, 11, 2024 – Agencies don’t win awards, people do.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) team consisting of Greg Outlaw, Shaunna Morris, Vanessa Robinson, and Al Mackey received an Award for Exceptional Service by a FOIA professional or team of FOIA professionals as part of this year’s U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), Office of Information Policy, Sunshine Week, awards.
Sunshine Week is an annual nationwide celebration of access to public information.
Greg Outlaw, DFAS FOIA Officer, traveled from Indianapolis to attend and receive the award on behalf of our DFAS FOIA team.
“This was the first time we received an award of this magnitude (outside of the DoD),” said Outlaw, about the recognition.
“I really enjoyed being there for the event,” Outlaw said. “I got to see so many people I knew and shake hands and say hello,” being in the Great Hall, and part of this Department of Justice event was just incredible” he added.
“Our team goes above and beyond, I'm just so proud of our team,” Outlaw said.
This year marks the fourteenth year of the Department of Justices’ event recognizing the importance of FOIA for government transparency and celebrating the efforts of those professionals dedicated to the success of their agencies’ FOIA administration, according to the Justice Department.
A statement by the DoJ noted that this year’s nominee pool was highly competitive with over 70 entrants all of whom were awarded for their exceptional service.
Vanessa Robinson, who has been part of FOIA a total of eight years, wants people to know that FOIA plays an important role in keeping government transparent to the extent the law allows.
“As an Air Force retiree, I always wanted a position where I could assist military members and military retirees,” Robinson said about her role on the DFAS FOIA team. “This position allows me to not only assist the military community, to which I hold a special bond, but I get to assist annuitants and other federal civilians like me with access to records or information,” she added.
”The federal government could not process the hundreds of thousands of FOIA requests that are received every year without its dedicated FOIA professionals,” according to the Attorney General Merrick Garland’s FOIA Guidelines. Agency FOIA professionals are at the center of ensuring successful FOIA administration and we look forward to celebrating the work of these individuals from around the government,” he continued.
The ability to assist a wide range of requesters from all walks of life knowing that (for the most part) their request is related to a financial issue that needs to be started, amended, or corrected is what’s important to team member Al Mackey.
“I feel honored to be part of DFAS FOIA Team and the solid groundwork and processes our team creates show how things have changed for the better,” Mackey said. “I’m glad that other agencies know that DFAS FOIA is one of the best!”
Angela Schultz, Director of Corporate Communications, took the lead for submitting the DFAS FOIA team’s work for the Sunshine Week recognition.
“Their dedication to the mission, exceptional customer service, and professionalism have upheld our reputation as a first-class leader in providing services and products to our internal and external customers,” Schultz wrote about the team.
She continued on to summarize the amazing work the FOIA team does and delivered the nomination package to the Department of Justice. Just a few highlights among their impressive list of accomplishments were that the FOIA team:
• Significantly enhanced the component website by improving navigability and usability of the DFAS FOIA public webpage, giving site has a fresh, modern style that customers should find easy to understand;
• Created templates to respond to a multitude of FOIA requests, resulting in significant improvements to FOIA administration;
• Continued to build relationships and collaborate with functional areas of DFAS to ensure prompt and efficient responses for requested records;
• Implemented the use of Microsoft Teams to facilitate release determinations among functional areas responsible for requested records; and
• Conducted a review/redesign effort of the FOIA/PA database redesign, creating increased efficiencies for DFAS submissions to the Department of Defense FOIA Annual Report, increased search functionality, simplified case research, case lifecycle functions, and improved monthly metric reporting.
Successful formulation, implementation, and execution of the FOIA Program resulted in DFAS having one of the lowest backlog rates within the Department of Defense. The DFAS FOIA Team was one of five DoD Components to process every new request received and open requests carried over from the previous year within the first month of the new fiscal year.
“Because we deal directly with the public, I not only get to assist individuals, but also provide outstanding customer service by educating them as well,” said Shaunna Morris. “I think providing the public with a mechanism to get an inside look at how a federal agency functions [hopefully] promotes trust and encourages engagement
“Our goal here at DFAS FOIA is, and always will be, to be the best FOIA Office within the DoD,” Outlaw said.
“I feel honored that our team has been recognized for this exceptional service award,” Robinson said. Our team is dedicated to the success of administering the FOIA program on behalf of DFAS,” she added.
The DFAS FOIA team was recognized at the Sunshine Week kickoff Event March 11 at 10 AM in Washington, D.C., at the Department of Justice Robert F. Kennedy Building.
The recorded event will be posted on the Justice Department’s YouTube channel and linked in a FOIA Post blog.
| Date Taken: | 04.04.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 04.04.2024 10:39 |
| Story ID: | 467773 |
| Location: | DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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