August 02, 2019 - The Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC) is pleased to announce that Gloria Leung, Digital Experience Architect with Service Alberta and Jeanne Brassard Léveillé, Analyst, at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada are the recipients of the 2019 Promising New Public Servant Award.

IPAC's Promising New Public Servant Award was created in 2010 to honour an individual who, having worked for less than five years within the public service, has already distinguished themselves as a leader, demonstrates a positive attitude towards their work and learning, embodies the ideals and values of public administration; and uses initiative to improve service delivery and the work of public servants in their region and/or across Canada.

Gloria joined Service Alberta in 2017, and has consistently demonstrated her abilities as a leader, working tirelessly to transform and modernize the delivery of public services. Having spent the previous four years with IBM in Edmonton, she brought significant transformational skills and experience to her current role of Digital Services Architect.

For those who work with her, Gloria has become well-known as a problem-solver who applies a user-focus in designing and delivering citizen-centred government services. One notable example of her empathetic approach to helping citizens in need was her integral role in transforming the MyAlberta Evacuation Payment System to be more accessible, efficient and responsive. She also led the redesign of Alberta's user interface, enabling citizens to scan the barcode on their physical ID cards, decreasing response times and frustration.

Gloria is also recognized by her peers for creating and applying an open-end collaborative culture in her workplace. Like IPAC, she believes in the importance of recognizing and celebrating jobs well done.

As one of Gloria's supporters expressed it: "Gloria's work is critical to the digital transformation of a government because it allows Albertans to access public services online - securely, conveniently and efficiently."

Jeanne joined the federal public service in 2016 and since then she has demonstrated a strong commitment to advance the professional and human development of her co-workers. Her strong leadership skills also shone through in her work on the Accelerated Growth Initiative, which contributes to simplifying government for Canadian businesses.

Her commitment and dedication to improvement through continuous learning and by engaging diverse communities and individuals has been a fundamental asset to the workplaces where she has been employed and to the stakeholders she has connected to.

On of Jeanne's main focuses has been New Professionals and here she has been extremely active in various networks and has provided a key contribution to the planning and delivery of the 2019 New Professional workshop in Ottawa by volunteering as the Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee.

Jeanne is dedicated to public administration values, which can be demonstrated in her commitment to continuous improvement, respectfulness and transparent governance for a better delivery of high-quality services to Canadians.

We also take the opportunity to acknowledge the contributions made by the other finalists:

Benjamin Orr	Government of Saskatchewan
Esteban Naranjo	Canada Revenue Agency
Harry Timla	Canada Revenue Agency
Jenny B. Ge	Government of Ontario
Loreen Seblani	Canada Revenue Agency
Natacha Despes	Canada Revenue Agency
Sarah Bleiwas	Government of Canada (Ottawa)
Susan Suarez	Government of Saskatchewan
Tyffany Amy	Government of Saskatchewan

 

"IPAC created the Promising New Public Servant Award because of the importance to encourage and distinguish leadership among all public servants and recognize the role new professionals can play" Scott Thompson, IPAC CEO stated. "This award is premised on the fact that new professionals in the public service are at the heart of tomorrow's public sector.''

The Promising New Public Servant Award was presented at IPAC's 71st Annual Conference held in Winnipeg. This conference brings together public servants from all orders of government, academics and guests from around the world to share knowledge and celebrate innovation and transformation in Canada's public sector.

2019 Annual Conference of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada

Each year the J.E. Hodgetts Award is awarded to the finest article in English appearing in the previous year's volume of Canadian Public Administration (four issues). This annual award was created in 1992 by the Institute of the Public Administration to honour the contributions of Ted Hodgetts, who passed away in 2009.  Professor Hodgetts received the Order of Canada in 1989, in honour of his lifetime of achievement and public service. He also was awarded IPAC's Vanier Gold Medal in 1981 in recognition of his exceptional leadership and significant contribution to the field of public administration. 

 

This year, CPA's award committee was comprised of: Michael Atkinson (Saskatchewan), Amanda Clarke (Carleton) and Luc Juillet (Ottawa). Committee members independently reviewed all of the English articles in the 2018 volume of Canadian Public Administration and met to compare their respective rankings. The committee noted that their decision was made difficult by the fact that several outstanding articles were published over the year, tackling a wide range of issues and offering a wealth of insights on public administration in Canada.

 

The committee is pleased to announce the 2018 winner of the J.E. Hodgetts Award is:

 

Susan D. Phillips, "Dancing with giraffes: Why philanthropy matters for public management." Canadian Public Administration v.61:2 (June 2018), pp. 151-183.

 

Over the years, philanthropic foundations have become important players in promoting social change and shaping public policy in many countries. However, in Canada, the role of private foundations in public management remains insufficiently acknowledged and poorly understood. Based on a study of Canada's largest family foundations, a group of 38 foundations that together hold nearly $13 billion in assets, Phillips argues that these foundations play an important role in Canadian governance, funding some causes but not others, shaping public discourse, supporting the nonprofit sector and co-creating policies with governments. Their rise presents new opportunities for the public sector, but also raises important questions of democratic governance. In awarding the J.E. Hodgetts Award to this article, members of the committee noted that it exemplifies how academic research can improve our understanding of public administration and draw attention to important contemporary trends that could impact its practice. A well-written and thought-provoking contribution, the article should inspire a new research agenda in the field of Canadian public administration going forward.