Katie’s nominator wrote “Katie's leadership is rooted in genuine care, compassion, and a deep commitment to uplifting those around her. Every colleague who has worked with Katie has felt her unwavering support and kindness, qualities that make her not only a remarkable manager but an extraordinary human being. Katie is a tireless advocate for individual growth and team success. She encourages each person to pursue their desired career path and actively works to open doors that make those aspirations attainable. She actively nurtures the professional development of her team, regularly sharing articles, resources, and opportunities she discovers, often unsolicited, simply because she believes in helping others thrive. Katie doesn’t just manage people, she empowers them. She doesn’t just lead, she lifts. Her actions create ripples of encouragement, confidence, and growth throughout our organization. I can think of no one more deserving of the "Empower Others to Succeed" award. Her impact is profound, and her example inspires us all. Katie’s leadership is quiet yet powerful, marked by selflessness, thoughtfulness, and a genuine desire to see others succeed."

Mariusz's nominator wrote, “Mariusz Ostasz is our very talented audiovisual system programmer within the MSS department. He manages the entire Crestron AV control system deployment across both campuses, which comprises approximately 600 systems. Q-Sys’s popularity has grown very quickly in the Audiovisual realm. Unfortunately, our experience with this platform has been limited, so we needed to step up our capability to support our project clients. Mariusz has stepped up to the challenge big time by learning the new hardware platform and attending classes to receive certifications for the Q-Sys programming ecosystem. As we prepare to design, implement and install our new Q-Sys systems in the CCAI project, Mariusz will be able to contribute the same level of expertise that we regularly rely on, to this exciting new platform."

Hannah was nominated for the Act with Integrity and Trust Award by two different people.  Her first nominator wrote, “Hannah embodies the heart of VCU Technology Services through unwavering integrity, genuine support for colleagues, and a relentless drive to help every customer and colleague to  succeed. Her daily actions—rooted in transparency and accountability—uplift our team culture and set a powerful example. Hannah's authenticity inspires trust across the division and encourages open communication at every level. Hannah creates an environment where one feels heard, valued, and empowered to excel.”  

Hannah's second nominator noted, “Hannah demonstrates this principle through her incredibly refreshing, no bs approach to getting things accomplished while also being fair and respectable with all partners and collaborators. Hannah leads and navigates projects that involve wide casts of professionals both within and outside of Technology Services. She does this with tact and wisdom. Whenever there are discussions about next steps in a project that is dependent on collaboration across Tech Services or other units at VCU, Hannah is quick to offer contacts and facilitate connections. These many connections and relationships come from years of garnering trust and demonstrating integrity. These qualities make Hannah extremely good at leading projects successfully, but they also show that somebody can be very successful while also being an honorable and trustworthy person.”

Jon's nominator wrote, “Jon has significantly broadened the scope of Learning Systems beyond traditional support ticketing. He has proactively partnered with a wide range of departments and schools. As the sole trainer for Learning Systems, Jon works closely with LEDstudio to coordinate and deliver training sessions. He consistently makes himself available to support other departments when they request his expertise, contributing to a record-breaking number of training registrations over the past two years. Since launching these sessions in 2022, Jon has directly served more than 900 faculty, staff, and students through both in-person and virtual formats. Jon regularly exceeds expectations by collaborating with faculty on customized departmental training seminars. Jon’s contributions extend to the development of Canvas itself. Through alpha testing of new features, he has provided valuable input to Instructure, our vendor partner. His deep understanding of customer support, shaped by extensive collaboration across the university, has directly influenced Canvas enhancements tailored to the needs of the VCU community."

Eliza received two nominations for this award. Her first nominator said, “She has a very methodical approach and thinks of a ton of scenarios and how we can flexibly achieve those goals while still staying true to our process. However, changing processes when needed. Through more and more responsibilities, Eliza has adapted to her position and has been a huge part in strategic planning for multiple projects.” 

The second nominator wrote, “The first in a series of unexpected personnel changes bequeathed a considerable amount of technical debt to be shared between the Platform Team and the OS Team. Eliza, already working several other high priority projects at the time, had to undertake the herculean task of sifting through meandering, complicated Puppet code. For several months, she and her colleagues worked tirelessly to decouple numerous mission-critical systems from this platform in order to better prepare for other more modern automation and desired state configuration platforms. Once completed, yet another unexpected change in personnel soon finds Eliza supporting the VMware compute environment. In both the Puppet environment as well as the VMware environment, Eliza had no support or institutional knowledge. Infrastructure Services, TS, and the University as a whole should be in gratitude for the immense technical debt she and her team have paid off. Her ability to deftly handle such uncharted territory places her in a rarified circle of highly talented technologists.”

Phillisha's nominator stated, “Her coworkers consistently turn to her not only for technical troubleshooting support but also for guidance in navigating interpersonal communication challenges—confident in the knowledge that she will not only listen but assist with attempting to find a solution. She recently submitted an internal improvement proposal aimed at streamlining and optimizing the training process for both new hires and long-standing team members. This effort reflects her commitment to the advancement, well-being, and continued development of her peers. I believe Phillisha fosters a collaborative and supportive workplace culture and truly embodies what it means to embrace people and service.” 

Rebecca Browder is the first recipient of this new award. Her nominator wrote, ”Rebecca approaches every task with professionalism and enthusiasm. She is always eager to volunteer, stepping in whenever help is needed without hesitation. Her positive attitude uplifts those around her, and her willingness to go the extra mile sets an outstanding example for her peers. One of Rebecca’s most significant contributions has been her automation work. Her skill in identifying inefficiencies and creating solutions has brought meaningful improvements to our workflows. These enhancements have saved time, streamlined processes, and improved the overall quality of our team’s output. Quite simply, we could not operate as smoothly without her.”