Nominations for 2024 awards are open March 1-April 12.

Submit a Nomination

The Governor’s Award for Excellence (GAE) is the highest honor a state employee may receive for dedicated service to the State of North Carolina and its residents. Nominations may be submitted by coworkers, managers and/or Agency Leadership to recognize any exemplary state employees who lead by example and contribute well beyond their normal job requirements.

Details regarding the nomination process and seven recognition categories may be found on this page. For your convenience, a checklist to aid you in preparing your nomination and a listing of each Agency/University Governor’s Awards coordinator is available here. You can also find the “Past Recipients” tab below to access all previous winners’ videos since 2017. This will give you ideas of the qualities the Selection Committee looks for when assessing nominations.

Nominations for the 2024 Governor's Awards for Excellence will open Friday, March 1 and close Friday, April 12 at 5 p.m. Honorees selected for this prestigious award will be notified by the end of July and recognized in a ceremony on Tuesday, October 15.  

Qualifying Employees

Nominees must be permanent state employees and include:

  • Employees who have a permanent appointment, including the managerial and administrative levels such as:
  • Deputy and Assistant Department Heads
  • Division Directors
  • Deputy and Assistant Directors of major divisions in the larger departments
  • Key assistants to the Department Head or University Chancellor who exert major policy influence.

Employees not eligible

  • Elected officials, Department Heads, and University Chancellors
  • Employees of the public school system or Community Colleges
  • Employees of the Judicial Branch
  • Employees of the General Assembly
Tab/Accordion Items

Awards are presented in seven categories:

  1. Customer Service – Provided exceptional service that left the customer fully satisfied with their experience. Exceeded expectations to meet the needs of the customer. Added value to the customer experience.
  2. Efficiency and Innovation  Improved the efficiency of state government services. Established new and/or improved methods, practices, plans or designs resulting in innovation, savings and/or efficiencies. This is an ideal area to nominate an employee who has thought of and implemented an employee suggestion that has proven successful.
  3. Human Relations  Made outstanding contributions toward enhancing the quality and morale of the workplace or creating a better public image of state government (such as positive personal interaction with other employees; public awareness; working on relations internally within an agency; or collaboration between different agencies).
  4. Outstanding State Government Service  Exhibited unselfish devotion to duty far and above the normal requirements and contributed significantly to the advancement of state service to the citizens of North Carolina. 
  5. Public Service  Made outstanding contributions by participating in or implementing community and public service projects (such as volunteering with various non-profit organizations).
  6. Safety and Heroism  Demonstrated outstanding judgment or courage in an emergency, voluntarily risking his/her life or exhibited meritorious action to prevent injury, loss of life or prevented damage to or loss of property.
  7. Spirit of North Carolina  Exemplified the state motto “To be, rather than to seem.” Mentored others in the pursuit of excellence.  Served as an ambassador for the State of North Carolina. This special award is reserved for exceptional circumstances and for accomplishments and achievements of the highest caliber.

Online Submission Checklist

  • Employee’s name, work phone number, email and address
  • Employee’s job title and basic job description
  • Name and contact information for employee's supervisor
  • Name and email for the GAE coordinator at the employee's agency/university (see next tab)
  • A written summary of a minimum of 350 words explaining why the employee is being nominated.
    • For group nominations, an overall explanation of 350 words or more as well as details explaining each employee's specific contribution are required.
  • Nomination category
  • Consent from the nominee’s supervisor. 
    • The supervisor must be made aware of your intent to nominate the employee before you complete the nomination form.

Once you have this information ready, you are all set to begin the online nomination!

 

Number of Submissions Allowed Per Agency University

Number of Employees Number of Nominations
Less than 300 employees 3
300-1,999 employees 6
2,000-10,000 employees 8
More than 10,000 employees 12

Agency/University Coordinator Email
Administration  Lauren Scott lauren.m.scott@doa.nc.gov
Adult Correction Barbara Revels barbara.revels@dac.nc.gov
Agriculture Tara Sandford tara.sandford@ncagr.gov
Appalachian State  Tina Chaffin chaffincl@appstate.edu
Auditor Lauren Eiswirth lauren_eiswirth@ncauditor.net
Commerce  Deborah Wilkerson deborah.wilkerson@nccommerce.com
Community Colleges Magnolia Lugo lugom@nccommunitycolleges.edu
Veronica Watson watsonv@nccommunitycolleges.edu
Natural and Cultural Resources  Kim Campbell kim.campbell@ncdcr.gov
East Carolina University Rob Weatherly weatherlyr19@ecu.edu
Elizabeth City State University Beverly Bowe-Barnett  bdbowebarnett@ecsu.edu
Department of Environmental Quality  Jennifer Homan jennifer.homan@ncdenr.gov
Fayetteville State  Abby Folgate afolgate@uncfsu.edu
Health & Human Services   Monika Williams monika.williams@dhhs.nc.gov
Information Technology Services Samuel Stephenson samuel.stephenson@nc.gov 
Insurance  Monica Shank monica.shank@ncdoi.gov
Justice  Maggie Rodriguez mrodriguez@ncdoj.gov
Labor Kyla Virden kyla.virden@labor.nc.gov
Military & Veterans Affairs DeShun Perry deshun.perry@nc.gov
NC A & T Tadra Atkinson tmatkinson@ncat.edu
NC Central University Connie Boone cboone@nccu.edu
NC Lottery Van Denton Robert.denton@lotterync.net
NC State University  Stephanie Davis sskelber@ncsu.edu
Office of Administrative Hearings Angeline Hariston Angeline.hariston@oah.nc.gov
Office of the Governor Karen Cheek Karen.cheek@nc.gov
Office of State Budget & Management Melissa Martin melissa.martin@osbm.nc.gov
Patty Garcia patty.garcia@osbm.nc.gov
Office of State Controller Glenda Ellerbee glenda.ellerbee@osc.nc.gov
Office of State Human Resources Karen Cheek Karen.cheek@nc.gov
Public Instruction Brian Conyers brian.conyers@dpi.nc.gov
Public Safety Margaret Ekam Margaret.ekam@ncdps.gov
Revenue  Angelina Harvey Angelina.harvey@ncdor.gov
Cheryl Benedetto cheryl.benedetto@ncdor.gov
Secretary of State  April Tibbs atibbs@sosnc.gov
School of Science & Mathematics  Jaime Kelsky jaime.kelsky@ncssm.edu
Transportation Christopher Law cjlaw@ncdot.gov
Treasurer  Josephine Stith josephine.stith@nctreasurer.com
UNC – Asheville   Karla Piccirillo kpicciri@unca.edu
UNC – Chapel Hill Jessica Pyjas Jessica_pyjas@unc.edu
UNC – Charlotte   Linda Diggs ldiggs3@uncc.edu
UNC System Office Kathy Bryant kwbryant@northcarolina.edu
UNC – Greensboro  Jeanne Madorin j_madori@uncg.edu
UNC – Pembroke  Sheila Hardee Sheila.hardee@uncp.edu
UNC – School of the Arts Camilla Norris norrisc@uncsa.edu
UNC – Wilmington  Amy Hector hectora@uncw.edu
Tessa Lachman lachmant@uncw.edu
Western Carolina University Cory Causby causby@email.wcu.edu
Wildlife Resources Commission Patricia Barnes Patricia.barnes@ncwildlife.org
Winston Salem State University Sharon Hill hillsd@wssu.edu