{
    "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1",
    "content" : "news",
    "type" : "single",
    "title" : "GSA Announces First-Ever Challenge.gov Mentorship Program |Digital.gov",
    "description": "GSA Announces First-Ever Challenge.gov Mentorship Program",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/22/gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"GSA Announces First-Ever Challenge.gov Mentorship Program","summary" : "It may seem like issuing an open challenge to the American public is a novel form of federal procurement, but it has quickly become an effective way of generating fresh solutions to enduring problems. In every community, there are those who use their knowledge and experience to guide their neighbors down new paths. The federal","date" : "2015-10-22T11:00:54-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"eric-beidel" : "Eric Beidel"},"topics" : {
        
            "challenges-and-prize-competitions" : "Challenges and prize competitions"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2015-10-22-gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2015/10/2015-10-22-gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/10/2015-10-22-gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2015/10/2015-10-22-gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program.md","slug" : "gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/22/gsa-announces-first-ever-challenge-gov-mentorship-program/","content" :"\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/10/600-x-400-Mentor-On-Blackboard-frankwolffnl-iStock-Thinkstock-476483392.jpg\"\n    alt=\"The words Improve, Success, Training, Motivate, Work, and Inspire intersect the word Mentor on a blackboard.\"/\u003e\u003cp\u003efrankwolffnl/iStock/Thinkstock\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt may seem like issuing an open challenge to the American public is a novel form of federal procurement, but it has quickly become an effective way of generating fresh solutions to enduring problems.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn every community, there are those who use their knowledge and experience to guide their neighbors down new paths. The federal challenge and prize community is no different, and we have several pioneers to thank for first testing the waters and later advocating the use of prize competitions.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGSA honored many of these trailblazers \u003ca href=\"/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2015/10/13/challenge-gov-honors-federal-agencies-staff-for-raising-the-bar-on-public-sector-prize-competitions/\"\u003erecently\u003c/a\u003e with help from the White House and other partners. We came together to celebrate the five-year anniversary of \u003ca href=\"https://www.challenge.gov/list/\"\u003eChallenge.gov\u003c/a\u003e, which has seen more than 80 federal agencies announce close to 500 challenges.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo continue this momentum, we used our anniversary event to announce a new \u003ca href=\"https://www.challenge.gov/mentors/\"\u003ementorship program\u003c/a\u003e to make some of the best minds available to agencies looking to run a challenge.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA first of its kind, the mentorship program brings together 20 experts in public sector challenges. They will act as an extension of the Challenge.gov team, providing strategy, support and advice to agencies every step of the way, from competition design to execution.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese individuals have pushed the boundaries on innovative acquisition. They have been working in the trenches—planning, designing and managing competitions and navigating through legal and policy hurdles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir commitment and hard work has and will continue to energize a strong and growing community committed to excellence in prize design.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChallenge competitions are changing the way we do business, and the people on the list below can help agencies run them more effectively. These experts are dedicated to running far-reaching, high-impact prize competitions. With their help, agencies will be able to deliver a greater return on investment for both the American people and their government.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"meet-the-mentors\"\u003eMeet The Mentors\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2015/10/600-x-340-First-ChallengeGov-Mentorship-Program-2015-mentors.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Challenge.gov mentors\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNoel Bakhtian, Department of Energy\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKati Daffan, Federal Trade Commission\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eScott Davis, Department of Housing and Urban Development\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEric Eberly, NASA\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHeather Evans, National Institute of Standards and Technology\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmi Grace-Tardy, Department of Energy\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJeff Heninger, NASA\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMatthew Hepburn, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePatricia Hsue, Federal Trade Commission\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMaurice Kent, U.S. Agency for International Development\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlison LaBonte, Department of Energy\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJarah Meador, Department of Veterans Affairs\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJose Munoz, National Science Foundation\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChad Nelson, Food and Drug Administration\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlbert Palacios, Department of Education\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSandeep Patel, Department of Health and Human Services\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYuliana Porras-Mendoza, Bureau of Reclamation\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSteve Rader, NASA\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDenice Shaw, Environmental Protection Agency\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAdam Wong, Department of Health and Human Services\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor more information about the program or to connect with a mentor, \u003ca href=\"mailto:challenge@gsa.gov\"\u003eemail the Challenge.gov team\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}