Kesha Braunskill, Department of Agriculture

Ms. Braunskill is the Delaware Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program director. This past year, she partnered with DNREC’s Non-Point Source Pollution program to offer a statewide free tree-planting program, as well as initiatives to promote tree planting in the critical Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

Over the past 10 years, programs Ms. Braunskill has overseen have funded more than $1 million in community-based tree projects in Delaware. In the past few months, she successfully secured $40,000 in funding from the Delaware Office of Energy and Climate’s Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program that will go directly to tree planting grants in the First State.

She also brought the Delaware Forest Service into a partnership with the “Arts, Culture & Heritage Field Days” on The Green in Dover each spring – which has reached hundreds of 4th grade students throughout the state, who learn about trees and their historical and economic significance to the development of the First State.

Kenneth P. Creedon, Superior Court

Mr. Creedon is the Assistant Jury Manager in New Castle County Jury Services. One of the most substantial projects Superior Court launched in 2018 was the Web Solution Project. Initiated in June, Superior Court incorporated new software into their existing Jury Management System, which allows jurors to login online, fill out their questionnaires and request a postponement or excusal if needed. Mr. Creedon wrote the business plan, redesigned the questionnaire and assisted on reworking the webpage platform. He not only saved Superior Court thousands of dollars, but most importantly, saved the jurors time and aggravation.

According to his nominator, Mr. Creedon is the “Face of Jury Services.” Most people called for jury duty arrive thinking, “How can I get out of this?” Ken uses knowledge and humor to calm the fears of the jurors, and by the time the jurors leave New Castle County Superior Court Jury Service, they are thinking, “That guy with the goatee really did a great job!”

James Dowling, Department of Health and Social Services

Mr. Dowling is a Health Program Coordinator with the Division of Public Health. He conducts presentations to explain statistical data and he works with others to track and report all aspects of HIV data.

This year, James developed a statistical analysis program to outline all elements of the HIV epidemic in Delaware. In addition, he is instrumental for bringing online a new 5th generation Contact Activities Tracking (or C.A.T.) system for the HIV Surveillance Program. This new program allows for analysis of work efficiency and procedural effectiveness in order to gain client leads and contact information. This is imperative for the data collection activities of the Medical Monitoring Program. This particular version of C.A.T. measures and reports on the success levels of efforts to return HIV positive persons to medical care with reports not seen in previous versions.

Ivelisse Torres, Department of Health and Social Services

Ms. Torres is an Administrative Specialist with Child Development Watch for the Division of Public Health. She recognized how difficult it was to maintain and track the Child Summary Outcome Forms, so she took it upon herself to scan all documents and forms to herself and then upload the information into the program data base. This was the first time in a long time that the outcome forms were successfully stored the right way. She also assumed the responsibility for preparing files for archives, which includes recording each file, labeling the boxes with detailed information and scheduling a date for pick up by Archives.

In addition to these tasks and her other regular duties, Ms. Torres, speaks Spanish she and contacts Spanish-speaking clients by phone, and voluntarily accompanies the Family Service Coordinator on home visits for Spanish-speaking families. She is able to empathize with the family’s struggles and explain information about the therapy services in their first language, reducing their stress and making them feel more at ease.

Christopher Gore, Robert Greybill (not pictured) and William Kirsch, Department of Transportation

Mr. Gore, Mr. Greybill and Mr. Kirsch are employees of the Public Works Section of DelDOT’s Division of Maintenance and Operations, and they proposed and created a new internet-based software for Entrance Permits System, called the EPS.

Prior to EPS, individuals and companies desiring a permit to create or modify an entrance to access a state roadway would have to report in person to begin a cumbersome application.

When Secretary Cohan made the call for innovation, these District Public Works Engineers agreed that they should try to develop an electronic system where applicants could apply from home.

In collaboration with DTI Consultant Shveta Aggarwal, their work resulted in a more transparent process in which fewer phone calls and e-mails are needed to check the status of the permit. In addition, application history is now traced which means 90 percent less time is spent researching. The implementation of this system has resulted in a huge savings of time, effort, and money for DelDOT staff; and the applicants who apply for entrance permits.