Extra Mile Award Winners

Gregg Beebe is the president of a little-known organization called the AIDE Association, which is run solely by volunteers. Gregg established the AIDE Association in 1996 out of compassion and concern for his colleagues and community; he has been devoting his personal time to this cause for 24 years now. His altruism stems from the recognition that the emotional stress caused by financial strain often affects someone’s ability to work. As a result, Gregg has inadvertently aided DOL to continue running efficiently through the minimization of absenteeism.

The AIDE Association works with a very small budget that comes from one-time and payroll contributions, fundraising events, and an online DOL merchandise store. Since 1996, the organization has provided DOL employees with approximately $500,000 in loans, in addition to over $25,000 in grants; it has also donated roughly $5000 to local charities.

In his capacity as senior planner with DOL facilities, Gregg’s colleagues describe him as compassionate, kindhearted, and respectful, with an innate desire to help. Gregg has been quietly and steadfastly tending to his philanthropic effort within DOL and the local community with little recognition. This is in gratitude for his dogged commitment to those communities. Thank you, Gregg.

In 2019, The Washington Veterans Home was awarded The Northwest Healthcare Response Networks "Innovation in Emergency Preparedness Award", proving this team is dedicated to excellence. Jill and her team have participated in and conducted numerous trainings and drills; helping to build an emergency preparedness program from the ground up.

By implementing robust Emergency Procedures, developing mutual aid agreements with community neighbors, and holding safety fairs for staff, she has promoted a culture of safety and preparedness.

Jerri & Chelsea demonstrate leadership by heading the Safety and Emergency Management Committees as part of their collateral duties, ensuring monthly safety inspections, satellite phone testing, and any other required drills are conducted and recorded, always looking for ways to build on and improve their facilities program. Together, this team has gone the Extra Mile for the residents and staff at the Washington Veterans Home!

Nominating a team of individuals that design delivered the I-5 Steamboat Slough Advanced Mitigation project for an extremely rare design opportunity of estuarine wetland in Marysville in order to mitigate wetland impacts for an I-5 interchange project. The teams’ leadership enabled swift acquisition of environmental permits and relocation of utilities so the mitigation project could start as Advertised and complete in time to generate the mitigation credits required; a full year before the interchange project begins in 2021.

Proactive and visionary thinking helped the team overcome the obstacle of no off-site mitigation programs (banks or fee based) available for estuarine wetlands. The group engaged several internal and external agency stakeholders to discuss taking advantage a failing dike at the site by turning the dry upland area into an estuarine wetland for site mitigation and relieving WSDOT maintenance of repetitive dike repairs.

The project developed: 11.32 acres of estuarine wetland; 3500+ linear feet of tidal channel; fish, wildlife, islands, and tree habitat; mitigation for the interchange project to ultimately provide customer service to taxpayers and the primary food chain members; the orcas of Puget Sound.

Alisha King is a visionary servant-style leader with a passion for empowering those around her. As a public servant, Ms. King has brought her unique brand of unbridled enthusiasm and creativity to her work, developing innovative solutions that scale beyond her own agency.

• Her recent contributions include:
• 2018-2020 Co-founded the nation’s first technology clinic for survivors of domestic violence and cyberstalking with Seattle PD and the non-profit New Beginnings. Alisha not only onboards new volunteers, she also works directly with clients, implementing security measures, performing account remediation, assisting with evidence preservation, and helping clients feel safe.
• 2019 Coordinated a statewide continuity planning workshop that brought in subject matter experts from the public, private, and non-profit sectors to educate over 50 attendees from 28 state agencies for free.
• 2019-2020 At the request of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Federal Emergency Management Agency, presented her work at a series of community-based cybersecurity workshops across the US. Ms. King presented alongside the US Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FEMA, CISA, NYPD and numerous others.

Despite her extraordinary accomplishments, Alisha King remains thoughtful and humble, always ready to lend a helping hand, encourage others, and exceed all expectations.

Jasper Marino has made impressive equity and inclusion contributions to the State, through their leadership position in the State Rainbow Alliance and Inclusion Network (RAIN) group, as a member in ESD’s LGTBQ+ Employee Resource Group, and as an Equal Opportunity Consultant at ESD.

They are brave and generous with sharing their personal story; participating in 13 gender identity panels, where they increased awareness, understanding and inclusion, and are making it safer and more equitable for transgender employees, customers and applicants. Over 600 people attended panels at 9 agencies and at a State HR Managers meeting.

As co-chair of the RAIN best-practices sub-group they played a leadership role in creating and implementing RAIN’s first employer awards to recognize employers who are creating inclusive work places for LGTBQ+ employees. They helped create recommendations to agencies for inclusive restroom signage and non-gendered language, helped create Pride month toolkits, and led many other projects and practices that are making the state more inclusive.

Some coworkers have said that Jasper is dedicated to public service and brings people together while acknowledging differences. Jasper is passionate about making inclusive work environments for all people. We are lucky to have them working for the State of Washington.

The evening of February 15, 2020, a Cadet at the Washington Youth Academy attempted to hang himself in his bunk with his belt. A Cadre member at the Washington Youth Academy and one of four staff members responsible for 157 Cadets that night, immediately responded, took control, ensured the Cadet was not in immediate physical danger, and separated the Cadet from the situation.

The Cadre member simultaneously managed the chaotic situation; notified 911; notified the staff at the Washington Youth Academy for necessary medical, counseling, and supervisory assistance; ensured the health and wellbeing of 47 other Cadets, and personally supervised the Cadet in distress until the ambulance arrived.

Most importantly, he made a personal connection with the Cadet in distress, helping him process his emotions and ensured his safety. Mutual tears were shed. Ever the professional, the Cadre member continued to control the situation after the Cadet’s departure, coordinated with law enforcement for interviews, and provided for the health, wellbeing, and emotional wellness of the remaining 47 Cadets through the night.

The extra mile is in the Cadre member's extraordinary compassionate leadership, respect, and service to the youth the Washington Youth Academy serves.

Joceile is the ADA & Reasonable Accommodation Specialist at DFW. She takes the time to truly listen to understand staff who are experiencing life-altering situations. Her high level of empathy, sincere care, and exhaustive knowledge has made her a trusted and valued resource for staff, peers, and managers.

Additionally, she continually seeks ways to be more inclusive for employees with disabilities before issues arise. She led implementation of Virtual Remote Interpreting, which is now being used by multiple agencies, because she saw an area where deaf or hard of hearing individuals were not being valued and included in their work.

Not only is Joceile an advocate for people with disabilities, she has also dedicated her life to ensuring that people of all minority groups feel included and respected. She has been extremely active and integral in employee resource groups and was a key resource for driving change and challenging the status quo.

She asks questions that others don’t want to ask, and pushes others to challenge their bias’s and supports staff as they learn more about underserved populations. Joceile has made an impact on countless state employees and has been an amazing resource and advocate for multiple minority groups.

It is my pleasure to nominate Misty Morgan, PBS3 with the Belltown CSO, for The Extra Mile Award. Misty is well known to go the extra mile to help any client in need. Misty is a caring human being and once again, demonstrated her ability to jump into action to save a life when it mattered the most. In January 2020 we had a client collapsing in the restroom.

All safety security measures were taken while approaching the individual and it was ultimately decided that the person was not only unconscious and non-responsive, but showing no signs of breathing. 911 was contacted, but that was Misty’s opportunity to use her recently learned skills and administer Narcan, the antidote that reverses an opioid overdose.

After two unsuccessful dosages of Narcan, Misty, without any hesitation promptly started chest compression, as recommended by 911 operator, which eventually allowed the person to breathe until Emergency Response Specialists arrived.

Her actions not only reflect our commitment to help our clients become self-sufficient through utilizing our services, but also shows the disposition we have to go above and beyond. For those reasons I believe Misty to be the perfect candidate for this year’s Extra Mile Award.

Dan is an outstanding leader.

He supervises, as Warden, the men's receiving prison in Shelton, WA. All men, sentenced to state prison time, travel through this prison that houses at least 2000 incarcerated, and Dan holds his role with grace, dignity and a style of goodness that is hard to replicate in our business of Corrections.

Dan is a kind man who is good to others and I am nominating him specifically for his continued efforts with his role in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Dan has a local Diversity council that he supports with passion.

He attends their meetings, helps to plan, shows up at events, walks the talk and makes the workplace better by practicing this kind of message.

I mean a lot better for staff and the incarcerated population. As a senior leader of the second largest state agency in WA, and corrections no less, it is IMPORTANT to have a leader that can embrace what compassion and empathy for others looks like with a message of not mistaking kindness for weakness. I hope Dan knows how much his leadership is appreciated by others. He makes being a positive human, in our line of work, both professionally inspiring.

To the category of Outstanding Customer Service, Rebekah Wilkes, is nominated for the Extra Mile Award in recognition of her exemplary leadership, going above and beyond in service to internal and external customers. Rebekah is committed to the Employment Security Department’s (ESD) Customer First Initiative, where she proudly and humbly serves external customers in the WorkFirst program.

Serving internal customers, Rebekah volunteers as Co-Chair for the Veteran Employee Resource Group (VERG); ESD Policy Committee Member with the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE); and Southwest Sub-Chapter President, Clarion Editor, and Communications Chair to the Washington State Chapter of the International Association of Workforce Professionals (IAWP).

Enjoying an exceptional year, in 2019, Rebekah was the only ESD Line Staff selected as a Speaker for IAWP’s State and International Conferences, presenting to workforce development professionals on the topic of ‘Perceptions, Attitudes, and Communication’. With the VERG, Rebekah voluntarily organized the 2019 Veteran’s Ceremony in Olympia.

For her outstanding internal and external customer service, Rebekah received a ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ signed by ESD Executive Leadership, reading, “She is valued for generously sharing her extensive knowledge and expertise with other team members. Her guidance and productivity are appreciated and ensure superior customer service”.

This nomination is submitted on behalf of the WSDOT Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division Leadership Team. WSDOT’s Transportation Safety and Systems Analysis Division was formed in the fall of 2018.

Yvette Wixson has provided outstanding leadership to coordinate the development of the new Division’s mission, vision, values, guiding principles, business plan, and work plan. She makes a difference through her work by providing outstanding customer service.

We are nominating her because she was innovative in developing and implementing ways to engage staff to create more buy-in and support for the organizational work. She fostered staff engagement through fun and interactive exercises, making the effort more appealing. It helped staff feel valued as she underscored the importance of their engagement so we could make informed decisions.

She has been cheerful and persistent in the face of challenging deadlines, while simultaneously respecting employee workloads. She worked to convey and meet our Director’s expectations, which resulted in keeping the entire division on the same page. She worked tirelessly to prepare draft products, solicited feedback, and integrate comments into multiple versions for product development. Modified her schedule numerous times to accommodate the demands of this work. Is developing the TSSA business plan as prototype that will help other programs align work with the agency’s strategic and risk plans.

Yvette has gone the extra mile by stepping up to do this work in addition to her regular duties.

She has been tireless, supportive, and encouraging in her efforts to bring this work to closure. Her professionalism and attention to detail exemplifies our intended outcome “of being part of a great team who assists the agency in making better decisions”. Her approach resonates with staff. We appreciate her effort, her attitude, and the products she fostered through her work.

Thank you, Yvette!