自2001年起， 塞缪尔·J. 海曼美国服务奖章®(或称Sammies)一直是联邦雇员的首要奖励计划. 被认为是政府服务的“奥斯卡”, 萨米一家证明了为什么一个有效的政府对我们的民主至关重要, highlighting the federal workforce’s most significant accomplishments in protecting our health, 安全和福祉. 自成立以来, the program has honored more than 660 public servants 和 helped inspire others to enter government. 阅读更多 to learn how winning a Sammies primed one leader to build the State Department’s global youth portfolio 和 advance his career in government.

Before he began work as a Director for Global Engagement 和 Multilateral Diplomacy at the White House, 安迪·拉贝 had launched a promising State Department career focused on engaging young leaders 和 foreign publics around the world—with travels taking him to 70-plus countries in all corners of the globe, 从北京到巴格达, 耶路撒冷到约翰内斯堡, 基辅到坎帕拉, 从利马到琅勃拉邦.

But 拉贝的 early successes might have gone less noticed—both within 和 outside government—had he not won a 塞缪尔·J. 海曼美国服务奖章®，这是表彰优秀联邦工作人员的国家最高荣誉.

以合伙公司已故创始人塞缪尔. 海曼, Sammies已经认可了在220多个机构工作的660多名公务员, 自2001年起分部门和办事处.

萨米的获奖者受到了 当前的 还有前总统、高级政府领导人和数十名知名人士. 每年, the Sammies showcase the many ways public servants impact our lives for the better 和 demonstrate the critical role that effective government plays in our democracy.

2013年，拉本斯赢得了萨米奖。 新兴领袖奖章这是一项为35岁以下的联邦雇员保留的认可.

的 award—punctuated by a trip to the White House to meet President Obama—helped propel his progression from a 30-year-old public diplomacy officer to the Special Advisor for Global Youth Issues at the State Department to a director role at the National Security Council.

在此过程中，拉本斯帮助建立了美国.S. government’s global youth engagement portfolio—a robust suite of programs 和 policies to strengthen relationships with 和 further empower the next generation of leaders worldwide while also building bridges with American counterparts.

这些努力包括以下项目:

• 的 非洲青年领袖倡议.
• 的 东南亚青年领袖倡议.
• 的 美洲青年领袖倡议.
• 的 跨大西洋青年创新领袖倡议.
• 的 全球创业峰会.
• 的 新兴青年领袖奖及交流计划.
• 和更多的.

Collectively the programs have reached thous和s of young people across the globe 和 spanned three different administrations—the Obama, 特朗普和拜登担任总统.

最近，拉本斯还帮助美国经济复苏.S. 在多边外交舞台上，协调白宫努力推进美国的外交政策.S. 七国集团内部的利益, 二十国集团和亚太经合组织论坛, 或亚太经合组织，这是与盟友接触的三个关键工具, 合作伙伴和竞争对手应对紧迫的全球挑战.

今天, Rabens acknowledges that winning a Service to America Medal served as a powerful launching pad to elevate the global youth agenda 和 further his civil service career.

“的 Sammies served as a powerful vehicle to shine a spotlight on public diplomacy 和 youth engagement work. 他们也激励我从更大的角度思考我和更大的美国.S. government as a whole—could have greater impact going forward 和 empower larger numbers of young global leaders through our programs 和 efforts,他说.

“People had described the 澳门顶级网赌网址大全 as the ‘Oscars’ for the federal government. And it lived up to the hype as a truly unique opportunity for civil servants—和 the issues that they worked on—to be spotlighted, 从不同类型的政府机构中举起并庆祝, 部门及政策局.”

911事件是对服务的呼唤

拉本斯在911事件后不久就开始投身澳门网赌正规网址平台. 的 attacks occurred during his first week as a Harvard University undergraduate 和 sparked his interest in American foreign policy 和 global issues.

他修读外交方面的课程, 反过来，他重新评估了自己想成为一名职业网球运动员的兴趣, 努力克服对公开演讲的恐惧, 和 earning a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Harvard 和 a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, 分别.

拉本斯进入国务院时是 总统管理研究员 2008年在负责公共外交和公共事务的副国务卿办公室工作.

He then embarked on what became more than a decade-long commitment to empowering young people at home 和 abroad through the building of youth programs designed to inspire active citizenship, encourage political activism 和 create global networks of young leaders across the globe—包括 here in the United States.

Rabens completed stints as a public diplomacy officer 和 a youth outreach coordinator at the U.S. 在格鲁吉亚第比利斯、约旦安曼的大使馆，以及在耶路撒冷的领事馆. 他还担任过政策办公室的职员, 规划, 和 Resources for Public Diplomacy 和 Public Affairs 和 as an advisor in the Bureau of African Affairs, 他在那里为非洲青年领袖倡议工作.

By 2013, Rabens had parlayed this experience into a special advisor role within the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, 在那里他领导和监督着美国.S. 中东和北非的青年规划和政策.

萨米一家给了拉本斯一个奖 新兴领导人奖章，以表彰他在该局工作期间所做的工作——突出表现在他努力组织 积极公民峰会, a 10-day convening of more than 50 young leaders from the Middle East 和 North Africa to share ideas, 制定具体的项目在当地社区实施, 并在整个地区和美国建立有意义的关系.

“积极公民峰会 reaffirmed my deeply held belief that people—和 particularly young people—from different parts of the globe are much more similar than we are willing to admit,他说.

“After the first couple of days of guarded 和 tense discussions where delegates from feuding places were cautious to engage with one another, 年轻的领导人打破了政治壁垒, 人与人之间的联系, 找到共同兴趣, 共同志向，共同事业, 未来的纽带和关系.”

的 澳门顶级网赌网址大全 as a platform for elevating issues: Global youth 和 government service

拉本斯回忆说，当他得知马里奥·克里弗(Mario Crifo)被谋杀时，他感到“震惊和震惊”, then the deputy director of the Office of Public Diplomacy 和 Public Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, 提名他澳门顶级网赌网址大全.  

“People had described the 澳门顶级网赌网址大全 as the ‘Oscars’ for the federal government. And it lived up to the hype as a truly unique opportunity for civil servants—和 the issues that they worked on—to be spotlighted, 从不同类型的政府机构中举起并庆祝, 部门及政策局.” 

由于他的提名，拉本斯的作品在 华盛顿邮报, in 联邦新闻机构 在 当地新闻 在华盛顿特区.C—publicity that he says “lifted up stories of young leaders in different parts of the world” 和 underscored the impact 和 promise of global youth engagement work.   

在活动中, Rabens recalled the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with other government leaders—包括 his award presenter, former Deputy Secretary of State for Management 和 Resources Heather Higginbottom—that built the foundation for a strong relationship that helped elevate youth engagement as a key agency priority. 

“的 澳门顶级网赌网址大全 gala opened up new doors to further engage State Department leadership on public diplomacy 和 global youth issues,他说.  

今年晚些时候, Rabens discussed his global youth engagement work with President Obama during a visit to the White House with more than 30 Sammies honorees. 他称这次访问是“一次不可思议的经历——我永远不会忘记的一天。.” 

的 2013 Sammies occurred at a unique time amid a 16-day government shutdown—when roughly 800,000名政府雇员, 包括 那一年的四位获奖者，被他们的机构认为是“不必要的”.   

Rabens said it was an important moment to see the work of public servants recognized 和 valued in a nonpartisan setting.  

鉴于萨米斯是在政府停摆期间举行的, I felt strongly that my acceptance speech had to also include a couple of lines about the larger belief in public service 和 impact of government employees—the stories of people working across Democratic 和 Republican administrations to further U.S. 尽管这个国家的政治两极分化，但利益仍然过高.”  

更广泛的影响和更大的发言权

拉贝的 萨米斯的获奖感言 at the Mellon Auditorium was a formative experience that opened his eyes to the possibility of exp和ing his voice 和 broadening his impact.

“That speech gave me the confidence to further overcome my fear of public speaking 和 find ways to better utilize my voice when opportunity presented itself,他说.

在2013年获得萨米斯奖后的几个月里, Rabens was elevated to become the State Department’s Special Advisor for Global Youth Issues—the principal representative at the Department for Global Youth Issues 和 a role that allowed him to help oversee the agency’s youth engagement portfolio. 他一直担任该职位直到2018年.

的 role was 拉贝的 most public-facing one to date 和 positioned him to advise State Department leadership—all the way up to the Secretary—on meaningful ways to engage, 授权并与世界各地的年轻人合作.

接下来是白宫

Taking on these new responsibilities prepared Rabens for his next career move—a two-year detail at the White House working at the National Security Council as a Director for Global Engagement 和 Multilateral Diplomacy.

在国家安全委员会工作期间, 拉本斯曾担任七国集团(G7)的白宫首席幕僚, 20国集团(G20), 亚太经济合作组织, 或亚太经合组织, 投资组合.

He is also responsible for coordinating the interagency process to ensure alignment on White House priorities ahead of the G7, G20, 以及亚太经合组织领导人峰会, 包括与国际同行就可交付成果进行谈判, 公报和联合声明.

Rabens notes that his prior experience taking part in multilateral youth engagement efforts at the United Nations 和 past work on the Y7 和 Y20 youth summits have helped equip him for this NSC role.

当谈到这项工作和他对多边外交的热情时，他容光焕发, saying that he appreciates the relational elements 和 energizing challenge of working with partners, allies 和 strategic competitors to find overlapping interests 和 areas of convergence on pressing global challenges—包括 ending the COVID-19 p和emic, 促进可持续和包容性经济增长, 应对气候危机, 以肯定所有人的尊严的方式解决更广泛的不平等问题.

Rabens views his Service to America Medal as a highlight of his government career to date 和 believes that the program can help inspire 和 catapult other young leaders to chart a similar course.

“的 Sammies are a good reminder for young people in government—or exploring careers in government—that there is a role for all of us to play in our communities 和 country. 通过澳门网赌正规网址平台, there are meaningful ways to harness the unique skill sets that each of us bring to the table to shape the world that we want to see. 它有可能跨越政治和党派界限产生有意义的影响, 远远超出了我们日常政治环境中过于两极化的本质,他说.

“的 Sammies are a good reminder for young people in government—or exploring careers in government—that there is a role for all of us to play in our communities 和 country.”