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DFAS HEADQUARTERS, Dec. 5, 2024 – Recently the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) announced the recipients of the 2024 Presidential Rank Awards (PRA) conferred by President Joe Biden. The PRAs are one of the most prestigious awards in the career civil service, recognizing the important contributions of public servants across the federal government.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) is proud to recognize Melissa Sikora for winning the prestigious 2024 President Rank Awards for their leadership, contributions, and relentless commitment to public service. In her role as Director, Enterprise Accounting and Audit Support, Sikora leads many of the most critical and challenging programs within DFAS and DoD.
The President selected 236 winners from 30 federal agencies for their exceptional leadership, accomplishments, and service over an extended period of time. These individuals are all members of the Senior Executive Service (SES), Senior-Level (SL) and Scientific and Professional (ST) corps. “This year’s honorees are representative of the patriotic and hard-working public servants across the federal government who work day in and day out to make life better for all Americans,” said White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. “The President, the Vice President, and everyone across the Biden-Harris Administration are grateful for their service.”
Not one to shy away from a challenge Sikora’s results-driven achievements are the product of her excellent skills as a leader. Some of her accolades include:
• Acting as a revolutionary and visionary by implementing a robust telework program at DFAS Cleveland in the spirit of the 2010 Teleworking Enhancement Act, while the DFAS Cleveland Deputy Site Director. What Sikora initiated as a flexibility to the workforce evolved into the cornerstone of success DFAS had sustaining mission during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Leading in the development of the current and future DFAS and DoD workforce, Sikora has mentored over 25 employees from DFAS, Army, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Logistics Agency, and Defense Contract Audit Agency. A strong proponent of providing career broadening experiences, she has facilitated rotational assignments for over 20 DFAS employees, with several assignments involving rotations to Agencies external to DFAS.
• Managing a cross component team responsible for the day-to-day management, analysis, and investment recommendations for the largest DoD securities portfolio including the Military Retirement Fund and the Medicare-Eligible Retiree Health Card Fund.
• Promoting and supporting the DFAS culture by ensuring employees’ voices are heard. In her first year as Deputy Site Director, her leadership helped increase the Cleveland Organizational Assessment Score response rate 17%, and her focus on site employee recognition led to a 9% increase on the Organizational Assessment Score for recognition.
• Presiding over a collaborative effort to retire historical systems, incorporating the capability into the DoD centralized data and analytics platform (Advana).
“Each day, thousands of dedicated federal employees work tirelessly to address our nation's most urgent challenges and drive innovation that positively impacts millions of lives,” said OPM Acting Director Rob Shriver. “The Presidential Rank Awards recognize those who demonstrate outstanding leadership, unwavering integrity, and an enduring commitment to public service. Congratulations to this year’s honorees—your exceptional contributions make our government stronger and our communities safer, and your dedication is an inspiration to us all.”
| Date Taken: | 12.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.06.2024 11:08 |
| Story ID: | 486736 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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