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Best-Run Government Awards
Executive’s awards recognize leadership and innovation at King County
The Executive’s Best-Run Government Awards honor individuals and project teams at King County for their exceptional contributions in performance, leadership, and innovation and a commitment to improving the equity, efficiency, and effectiveness of how King County operates. “The awards shine a light on individuals and teams who use continuous improvement methods to better serve the people of King County,” said King County Executive Shannon Braddock. “Thank you to all the winners and nominees for your hard work and innovative thinking.” Learn more about the award winners and their achievements by watching the video.
Meet the 2024 award winners
Fred Jarrett Leadership Excellence Award
Honors a department or division leader
Recipient: Steve Larsen, Deputy Director, Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD)
Steve Larsen prioritizes partnership, collaboration, and communication with agencies that interface with DAJD to get things done. Working with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and Jail Health staff, he was the chief architect in reaching a settlement agreement with the Department of Justice to ensure the adult jails were meeting all required accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. He was also instrumental in facilitating King County’s agreement with the City of Seattle to eliminate misdemeanor booking restrictions at the county jails due to severe staffing challenges during the pandemic. Steve truly cares about those in custody. During the pandemic, he worked to quickly make video visitation available when in-person visitation was paused. As a leader, he engages with employees by checking in with staff at all shifts in all facilities, prioritizing inclusivity and belonging, and employee health, safety, and well-being.
People Leader Award
Honors a leader below the department or division leadership level who directly manages staff
Recipient: Shuyi Hu, Technology Division Manager, Technology Services Division, Department of Judicial Administration
Under Shuyi Hu’s leadership, his division worked on a project to replace and integrate components of the court case management system, including a component to electronically file cases and documents. The project presented significant challenges with an external vendor tasked with configuring the case management system to meet the county’s legally mandated requirements for customers. When told by the vendor that the requirements for electronic filing were not possible, Shuyi, with his team, developed solutions to ensure the product aligned with the business needs, statutory requirements, and King County’s equity and racial and social justice values and stayed within budget.
Individual Contributor Award
Honors an individual contributor who does not directly manage staff
Recipient: Kerry Wade, Best Starts for Kids Community Partnerships Manager, Children, Youth and Young Adult Division, Department of Community and Human Services
Kerry Wade embodies King County’s values and demonstrates Best-Run Government behaviors in her work. Taking a “One Team” approach, she works closely with county team members in the Department of Community and Human Services and Public Health - Seattle and King County to support outreach, engagement, and community relations for all Best Starts for Kids strategies. When managing the Youth Bill of Rights project, she embraced data collection through surveys, asking youth to identify issues having the greatest impact on their lives. She was a foundational contributor to creating the Sista Let’s Talk subgroup of her department’s Equity and Racial and Social Justice workgroup.
Innovation Award for Cost
Recipient: Revenue Recovery through Outreach to Businesses – Department of Executive Services/Finance and Business Operations Division/Treasury Operations
Project Team: Ana Schoenecker, Larry James, Nanci Lambert, Valerie Mora, Nora Bennet, Nicole Baker, and Mark Thompson
The Personal Property Escalated Collection Team worked collaboratively with King County commercial businesses to recover more than $5 million in tax revenue from 2023 and 2024 delinquent property taxes. The team proactively reached out and personally engaged with delinquent taxpayers to better understand their unique challenges and educate them about their options to bring their accounts current. The portion of taxes that were delinquent was reduced to less than 3 percent in 2024 from a previous year of more than 4 percent.
Innovation Award for Service
Recipient: Parent Champions Pilot – Department of Community and Human Services/Developmental Disabilities and Early Childhood Supports Division
Project Team: Juliette Escobar; External Facilitators: Ya’Vonne Hubbard and Fathia Hammad
The project team partnered with staff, community leaders, and parents to create a community-driven solution to address stigmas and misconceptions that prevent families from accessing developmental screenings and related services for children. The pilot included community programs with parent champions who engaged 153 people about early childhood development and/or developmental screening. It built trust with families and increased their engagement and awareness about developmental testing and related services.
Innovation Award for People
Recipient: Closing the Officer Vacancy Gap – Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) /Administrative Services Division
Project Team: MJ Wheble, Jaclyn Smith, Jacob Black, Ursula Mole, Jennifer Eugene, Jasna Rustempasic, Johnson Chao, Darren Stewart, Jennifer Schneider, Kyle Williams, Mark Hanning, Ernesto Vazquez, Fred Graves, Joshua Bott, Marc Divina, Takisha Logwood, Donald Moen, Moses Irungu, Matthew Lewis, Eleanore Batchison, and Jack Valdez
Facing nationwide recruitment challenges in law enforcement hiring due to the impacts of the pandemic, DAJD experienced an increase in corrections officer vacancies from 19 in 2020 to 120 by early 2024. The project team rapidly scaled its recruitment and onboarding efforts to accelerate hiring and improve retention and diversity. In 2024, DAJD hired 102 corrections officers and 34 juvenile detention officers, and first-year attrition for corrections officers dropped to under 16%. People of color now comprise 65% of corrections officers, 78% of juvenile detention officers, and 61% of all DAJD staff.
Innovation Award for Equity and Racial and Social Justice
Recipient: Green Workforce Development Training – Department of Natural Resources and Parks/Solid Waste Division
Project Team: Brody Abbott, Kinley Deller, Quest Jolliffe, Nori Catabay, and Jesse Gonzalez
Developed in collaboration with community-based organizations, the equity-driven job training program recruits participants from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and frontline communities to develop skills in deconstructing buildings and salvaging materials that still have value. This leads to a healthier environment for our region and better job opportunities for people who complete the training. Several graduates have been hired by salvage companies and construction firms. Trainees helped divert an estimated 40,000 pounds of reusable building materials from landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Innovation Award for Climate and Environmental Stewardship
Recipient: Green Diesel Pilot Project – Department of Natural Resources and Parks/Solid Waste Division
Project Team: Scott Barden, James Gentili, and Anthony Slaughter
The pilot project demonstrated that renewable green diesel is an effective alternative to conventional diesel. As a result, the Solid Waste Division is now using this option. The reduction in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or MTCO2e, will reduce potential health impacts in communities near Solid Waste facilities and near the roads used by their equipment. This reduces the environmental and climate impacts of the division’s operations.