December 6, 2024 – Each year, CDT celebrates outstanding employee achievements through the Ovation Awards. The virtual 2024 Ovation Awards Ceremony on December 3 included several award categories that honor those whose exceptional efforts advance the Department’s mission and enhance services for California.
During the annual nomination period, CDT managers and supervisors are invited to submit nominations for the eight award categories. An annually established Ovation Awards Committee screens all nominations and selects the award recipients who are honored at the awards ceremony.
2024 Performance Excellence Award — Keith Parker
Keith Parker, Information Security Officer
This year, the Performance Excellence Award — the highest honor — was presented to Information Security Officer Keith Parker. Keith has been instrumental in safeguarding our information assets, protecting sensitive data, and fostering security awareness.
As CDT’s ambassador for security awareness, Keith’s leadership of the Security Governance Work Group, contributions to the Risk & Security Action Committee, and development of year-round security training have set a high bar. Even during periods of fiscal challenges, Keith has consistently delivered outstanding results. At the end of December 2024, Keith will end his remarkable career with CDT, retiring from state service.
Other Recognitions
In addition to the Performance Excellence Award, the ceremony presented awards for Leadership, Innovation, Organizational Enhancement, Customer Service, Superior Accomplishment, and Team Excellence.
This year, at the request of Director Liana Bailey-Crimmins, a Special Recognition Award was given to honor outstanding achievements that fell outside the usual criteria of the Ovation Awards.
2024 Ovation Award Recipients
Congratulations to this year’s award recipients! Below is the full list of award winners who were honored this year.
PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE AWARD
- Keith Parker, Information Tech Manager II, Dept. Info Security Office
LEADERSHIP AWARD
- Alice Nguyen
- James Finch
- Manju Kamalamma
- CAMS NextGen Application Leadership Team: Chris Frelly & Jennifer Wenzel
INNOVATION AWARD
- Amandeep Shahi
- Digital ID Team: Greg Fair, John Florian, Jarrett Krumrei & Anirban Sen
ORGANIZATIONAL ENHANCEMENT AWARD
- Cost Recovery Model Modernization Team: Erin Bryant, Stefanie Carpenter, Tien Le, Christopher Lee, Steven Noguchi & Robyn Uyeda
- Security Solutions Administration Team: Elle Frodahl, Suja Maskey, Michael Mont-Eton, Nicholas Moody & Woodrow Sanders III
CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD
- Anthony Coleman
- Jamie Martin
- John Hanafee
- Kevin Smith
SUPERIOR ACCOMPLISHMENT AWARD
- Nina Westphal
- Business Continuity Team: Karen Bailey, Andres Bravo, Jessica Carter, Diran Gilian, Amanda Huynh, Anissa Kane, Soudabeh Najarzadeh, Jeffrey Skidmore, Mary Wright & Annie Zhang
- CDT Website Redesign Team: Shalica Bracciotti, Harvey Dhillon, Xenia Guido, Danny Guzman, Ryan Hamilton, Michael Lakey, Pia Lomboy & Sharon Rabang & Greg Watanabe*
TEAM EXCELLENCE AWARD
- CalHR ECOS Migration Team: Elvira Artiaga, Selamawit Belete, Kermit Bonner, Linda Bonner, Eric Buckle, Thuc Bui, Wilbert Chin, Craig Cirimele, Eric Ehnisz, Kurtis Errecart, Christopher Langston, Fred Owens, Phillip Oyog, Jamaal Price, Raymond Rios, Thomas Scott, Brett Snedeker, Cole Tadlock, Michelle Takeda, Navreet Takhar, Tiena Tran, Shannon Warren, Josh Wicks, Eric Woodford & Azimee Yusoff
- CAWeb Migration Team: Jim Burke, Harvey Dhillon, Angelina Gerasimov, David Goebel, Danny Guzman, Xenia Guido, Jacob Han, Linda Tracy, Yee Vang & Tiffany Wilson
- Domain Name Request System Team: Artem Andrusov, Tina Borcherding, Shalica Bracciotti, Surendrababu Chenneerappa, Ryan Hamilton, Sandeep Johl, Selvarani Janarthanan, Jarrett Krumrei, Koji Kumpulainien, Thuy Ly, Paula Martinez, Tom Rhodes, Donn Thomson, Tiffany Wilson & Jing Hua Zhao
- GenAI POC Sandbox Team: Mario Andrade, Ashok Bhatla, Kermit Bonner, Raphael Chan, Surendrababu Chenneerappa, Kurtis Errecart, Kory Fesliyan, Steven Garrett, Sam Hayashi, Harnaik Kang, Abdullah Lababidi, David Lane, Shera Mui, Stephanie Olivera, Henry Pham, Renoir Pope, Jamaal Price, Katie Regan, Raymond Rios, Anneli Wong & Eric Woodford
- Governor’s Office Website Redesign Team: Jim Burke, Harvey Dhillon, Greg Duncan, Christina Florente, Angelina Gerasimov, Jon Grant, Danny Guzman, Ryan Hamilton, Artem Khomishen, Konstanin Koryaka, Koji Kumpulainien, Michael Lakey, Pia Lomboy, Carter Medlin, Alice Nguyen, Sharon Rabang, Linda Tracy, Yee Vang & Tiffany Wilson
- Tipping Point Replacement Team: Jonathan Brenes, Levi Choate, Stephanie Davis, Durell Durham, Eric Ehnisz, Marc Hanson, Christopher Kashuba*, Christopher Lau, Harold Poling, Ryan Price, Brett Rabang & Long Xiong
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
- CrowdStrike Service Restoration Team: David Adcock, Mario Andrade, Kermit Bonner, Linda Bonner, Jose Chavez, Nick Danyluk, Danielo Dolar, Kurtis Errecart, Carlos Falero, Diana Garcia, Steven Garrett, Steve Gulde*, Scott Kawamoto, Randy Kotecki, Ryan Mekata, Christopher Miller, Shaun Owens, Raymond Rios, Douglas Sahleen, Brett Snedeker, Ron Suster, Taron Walton & Bill Wong
- Desktop & Voice Services Team: Mustafa Alogaili, John Ryan Cadaing, Travis Dusenberry, Curtis Haynes, Darren Huynh, Courtney Lombard, Courtney Malbrough, Adam Martin, Man Nguyen, Freddie Sells, Kevin Smith & Pat Van
- FI$Cal Onboarding Team: Kristine Abella, Kent Arnoldy, Cynthia Basa, Tracy Bendle, Natalia Bodnar, Olga Boyarkin, Kendra Brickner, Lorena Candia, Yan Chang, Isiah Clay, Lindsey Eagle, Jennifer Estonilo, Mark Fong, David Friedman, Chris Groves, Christine Hefler, Carol Horan, Blanca Ibarra, Israel Jimenez, Neena Kang, Pegah Kaviani, Christopher Lee, Jason Lu, Erin Morgan, Michael Morgan, Anh P. Nguyen, Anthony (Tony) Nguyen, Steven Noguchi, Kelly Nowak, Kimberly Poole, Vandhana Prakash, Reshma Prasad, Stephanie Seymore, Roddy Son, Sarah Sy, Jane Taylor, Thu Tran, Lien Trinh, Eric Truong, Robyn Uyeda, Hamilton Vo, Nhu Vo, Dave Wilson, Elaine Xie & Darryl Yee
- MMBI GIS Team: Eric Anderson, Michael Andrade, Mery Kieng, Hang Liang* & Louie Rowley
- State Digital Equity Plan Team: Scott Adams, Aresha Auzenne, Ricki Carnes, Kristina Crowe, Aracely Hernandez, Luke Ivazian, Maria Kelly, Kyle Knapstad, Amanda Lee, Toni Ligons, Anh Q. Nguyen, Cole Przybyla*, Kristian Ramirez, Laura Sasaki* & James Spencer
*No longer with CDT