Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Pacific announced the winners of four individual awards and one team award of employees who will be recognized at the Honolulu-Pacific Federal Executive Board's (FEB) annual awards luncheon April 5.

The 61st Annual Excellence in Federal Government Awards Program and Expo luncheon is being held at the Hickam Officers Club at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam May 5. This event honors outstanding federal employees from government agencies in Hawaii for their efforts, leadership and initiative.

"We are extremely proud of all the winners and their continuous hard work and dedication to meet the goals and vision of NAVFAC," said NAVFAC Pacific Commander Rear Adm. John Korka.

The winners who will represent NAVFAC Pacific at the FEB Awards are: Kristopher Tom, Federal Leader/Supervisor/Manager of the Year;
Fidelita Ignacio, Federal Employee of the Year (Professional, Administrative, and Technical);
Chrysti Lu, Exceptional Community Service;
Joanne Higuchi, Mentor of the Year;
and the NAVFAC Pacific Operations Department for Team Excellence.

Leader/Supervisor/Manager of the Year, Kristopher Tom, supervisory contract specialist, demonstrated exceptional leadership to develop his employees. He executed 427 actions in fiscal year 2016 with a staff of seven employees. He rapidly responded to urgent and high visibility projects to ensure they were executed timely, while ensuring the other mission requirements were met. Also under his leadership and guidance, he awarded contracts valued at $125M.

Federal Employee of the Year (Professional, Administrative, and Technical)
Fidelita Ignacio, lead transportation specialist, demonstrates excellent customer service. She has processed and coordinated more than 2,000 travel orders and vouchers totaling over $4.8M. She also superbly manages the command's travel card program and delinquency rates, reaching outstanding zero dollar and zero accounts delinquent.

Exceptional Community Service
Chrysti Lu, Asset Management architect, exemplifies community service as she continues to serve on the Community Advisory Board for Kapiolani Medical Center, which allows community perspective to improve hospital services. She is a founding member of Beyond the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Doors, serving as secretary since 2009, which is a group that supports families with any NICU experience. She also serves as the Iolani School Fair Support Division Chair since 2012 and coordinates all logistics, which supports travel activities for children at Iolani School. She also takes the time to coach her sons' tennis teams.

Mentor of the Year
Joanne Higuchi, engineer, is a dedicated mentor to the NAVFAC Pacific Asset Management (AM) Guam team. She continues to remain flexible with a rapidly changing program while encouraging the team to deliver their best. She constantly cultivates the team's communication and technical skills through mentoring sessions and has made a positive and lasting impact with the NAVFAC Pacific organization.

Team Excellence
The NAVFAC Pacific Operations Department consists of the following individuals - Capt. Michael Monreal, Randall Yuen, Lt. Cmdr. Brent Uyehara, Ross Shimabuku, Travis Hylton, Kristal Lizama, Alex Oviedo, Elisse Takara, Gayle Campbell and Chief William Chadwell. This diverse group possesses initiative and collaborates to accomplish critical, high visibility tasks. The team continues to analyze metrics to recommend strategies to improve effectiveness and efficiencies, lead new business efforts to support Air Force/Marines in Australia, and are responsible for realignment of project managers for full spectrum project management. The team is also responsible for execution of the United States Marine Corps program in the Pacific AOR, along with providing oversight of military construction projects to improve quality of life for Sailor/Marines and their families.

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