Since 2001, the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals®(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, safety and well-being. Since its inception, the program has honored more than 660 public servants and helped inspire others to enter government. 阅读更多内容，了解赢得萨米奖如何帮助一位领导人建立国务院的全球青年组合，并推进他在政府中的职业生涯.

Before he began work as a Director for Global Engagement and Multilateral Diplomacy at the White House, 安迪·拉本斯在国务院开始了一段前途光明的职业生涯，他的工作重点是与世界各地的年轻领导人和外国公众接触，足迹遍及全球各个角落的70多个国家, from Beijing to Baghdad, Jerusalem to Johannesburg, Kyiv to Kampala, and Lima to Luang Prabang.

But Rabens’ early successes might have gone less noticed—both within and outside government—had he not won a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal®，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. Heyman, Sammies已经认可了在220多个机构工作的660多名公务员, subcomponents and offices since 2001.

Sammies honorees have been saluted by current 还有前总统、高级政府领导人和数十名知名人士. Each year, 萨米一家展示了公务员在许多方面改善我们的生活，并展示了有效的政府在我们的民主中发挥的关键作用.

In 2013, Rabens won the Sammies’ Emerging Leaders Medal这是一项为35岁以下的联邦雇员保留的认可.

获奖之后，他还前往白宫与奥巴马总统会面，这帮助他从一名30岁的公共外交官员晋升为国务院全球青年问题特别顾问，再到国家安全委员会(National Security Council)主任.

在此过程中，拉本斯帮助建立了美国.S. 政府的全球青年参与组合——一套强有力的计划和政策，以加强与世界各地下一代领导人的关系并进一步赋予他们权力，同时也与美国同行建立桥梁.

These efforts included programs such as:

• The Young African Leaders Initiative.
• The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative.
• The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative.
• The 跨大西洋青年创新领袖倡议.
• The Global Entrepreneurship Summits.
• The 新兴青年领袖奖及交流计划.
• And more.

Collectively the programs have reached thousands of young people across the globe and spanned three different administrations—the Obama, Trump and Biden presidencies.

More recently, Rabens has helped the U.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. interests within the G7, 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.

Today, 拉本斯承认，赢得美国服务奖章是提升全球青年议程和推进他的公务员生涯的有力跳板.

“The Sammies served as a powerful vehicle to shine a spotlight on public diplomacy and 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 and empower larger numbers of young global leaders through our programs and efforts,” he said.

“People had described the Service to America Medals as the ‘Oscars’ for the federal government. And it lived up to the hype as a truly unique opportunity for civil servants—and 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, departments and bureaus.”

9/11 as a call to service

拉本斯在911事件后不久就开始投身电子竞技押注平台. The attacks occurred during his first week as a Harvard University undergraduate and sparked his interest in American foreign policy and global issues.

He pursued coursework in foreign affairs, 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, and earning a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Harvard and a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, respectively.

拉本斯进入国务院时是 Presidential Management Fellow 2008年在负责公共外交和公共事务的副国务卿办公室工作.

然后，他开始了长达十多年的承诺，通过建立旨在激发积极公民意识的青年项目，赋予国内外年轻人权力, encourage political activism and create global networks of young leaders across the globe—including here in the United States.

Rabens completed stints as a public diplomacy officer and 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, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and 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, where he led and oversaw U.S. 中东和北非的青年规划和政策.

The Sammies awarded Rabens its 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 Active Citizens Summit, a 10-day convening of more than 50 young leaders from the Middle East and 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.

“积极公民峰会重申了我的坚定信念，即来自世界各地的人们，特别是年轻人，比我们愿意承认的要相似得多,” he said.

“After the first couple of days of guarded and tense discussions where delegates from feuding places were cautious to engage with one another, young leaders broke down political walls, connected as people, found common interests, 共同志向，共同事业, bonds and relationships for the future.”

The Service to America Medals as a platform for elevating issues: Global youth and 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 and Public Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, 提名他电竞下注靠谱平台.  

“People had described the Service to America Medals as the ‘Oscars’ for the federal government. And it lived up to the hype as a truly unique opportunity for civil servants—and 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, departments and bureaus.” 

由于他的提名，拉本斯的作品在 The Washington Post, in federal news outlets and on the local news in Washington, D.他说，这些宣传“讲述了世界各地青年领袖的故事”，并强调了全球青年参与工作的影响和前景.   

At the event, Rabens recalled the opportunity to have meaningful conversations with other government leaders—including his award presenter, 前负责管理和资源事务的副国务卿希瑟·希金伯顿(Heather higginbottom)为建立牢固的关系奠定了基础，这种关系有助于将青年参与提升为机构的一个关键优先事项. 

“The Service to America Medals gala opened up new doors to further engage State Department leadership on public diplomacy and global youth issues,” he said.  

Later in the year, 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。.” 

The 2013 Sammies occurred at a unique time amid a 16-day government shutdown—when roughly 800,000 government employees, including four of that year’s honorees，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 and valued in a nonpartisan setting.  

鉴于萨米斯是在政府停摆期间举行的, 我强烈地感到，我的获奖感言还必须包括几句电竞下注靠谱平台电子竞技押注平台和政府雇员影响的更大信念的话——那些在民主党和共和党政府中工作的人的故事，以进一步推动美国的发展.S. 尽管这个国家的政治两极分化，但利益仍然过高.”  

Broader impact and larger voice

Rabens’ Sammies acceptance speech at the Mellon Auditorium was a formative experience that opened his eyes to the possibility of expanding his voice and broadening his impact.

“那次演讲给了我信心，让我进一步克服了对公开演讲的恐惧，并在机会出现时找到了更好地利用自己声音的方法,” he said.

在2013年获得萨米斯奖后的几个月里, 拉本斯被提升为国务院全球青年问题特别顾问，这是国务院全球青年问题部门的主要代表，该职位使他能够帮助监督该机构的青年参与组合. He held this position until 2018.

这是迄今为止拉本斯担任的最公开的职位，并让他为国务院领导层——一直到国务卿——提供有意义的接触方式方面的建议, 授权并与世界各地的年轻人合作.

On to the White House

承担这些新职责为拉本斯的下一个职业生涯做了准备——在白宫国家安全委员会工作两年，担任全球参与和多边外交主任.

During his time at NSC, 拉本斯曾担任七国集团(G7)的白宫首席幕僚, the G20, 亚太经济合作组织, or APEC, portfolios.

He is also responsible for coordinating the interagency process to ensure alignment on White House priorities ahead of the G7, G20, and APEC Leaders’ Summits, 包括与国际同行就可交付成果进行谈判, communiques and joint statements.

拉本斯指出，他之前参加联合国多边青年参与活动的经验，以及过去在7年级和20年级青年峰会上的工作，为他担任国家安全委员会的职务提供了帮助.

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 and energizing challenge of working with partners, 在紧迫的全球挑战(包括结束COVID-19大流行)上找到重叠的利益和共同的领域, 促进可持续和包容性经济增长, confronting the climate crisis, 以肯定所有人的尊严的方式解决更广泛的不平等问题.

拉本斯认为，他获得的“为美国服务”奖章是他迄今为止在政府工作中的一个亮点，他相信这个项目可以帮助激励和推动其他年轻领导人走上类似的道路.

“萨米夫妇很好地提醒了在政府工作的年轻人，或者在政府中谋求职业的年轻人，我们所有人都可以在我们的社区和国家中发挥作用. Through public service, 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,” he said.

“萨米夫妇很好地提醒了在政府工作的年轻人，或者在政府中谋求职业的年轻人，我们所有人都可以在我们的社区和国家中发挥作用.”