Defence Team members awarded prestigious Government of Canada Chief Financial Officer Merit Award

March 18, 2021 - Defence Stories

No fewer than 21 Defence Team members were awarded with a 2020 CFO Merit Award, during a virtual ceremony held on January 25. The Awards were presented to five individuals and members of three teams as part of the annual National Defence Comptrollers’ Conference and Training & Development Forum. The virtual event was attended by approx. 150 people from the DND Financial Community. Attendees included the award winners, their supervisors and a few family members.

About the Award

The CFO Merit Award recognizes individuals and teams, both civilian and military, in the Defence financial community who have made exceptional contributions to the financial support and management of the department and CAF operations.

Congratulations to all!

Read more about this year’s recipients below.

MWO Raphaël Auger

Citation

MWO Raphael Auger is awarded for his hard work in the creation and management of several financial analysis and planning tools, which has resulted in the visible increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of public financial management. MWO Auger was responsible for tools such as: the Resource Planning Tool (RPT), which helps to evaluate the most real possible costs generated by an activity, an exercise, or a task; the internal graphic analysis tools and the Dashboard, which is designed to facilitate analysis and decision-making; the OPS, MM/PM and graphical analysis modules, which was adapted for the NQ6 CILFC course; the L111 synthesis tool, designed to help improve the OPS module and the tracking of employee files at the ADM(Fin) level; the Webinar platform and the Finance Wiki page, which facilitates real-time communication with users at all levels.

Shout-out

Congratulations MWO! For a hard work the award must be commensurate with it, even if the best award is in the inner satisfaction of the duty accomplished. Your outstanding efforts, along with your knowledge and skills, have allowed the 2^nd Cdn Div to become the vanguard in the development and implementation of high-performance and reliable data analysis tools. It is going to be very interesting to watch where you will take us next!

Jayanthy Benedict 

Citation

Jayanthy Benedict is awarded for elevating the financial service level of the Command to extraordinary heights. Since arriving at Canadian Forces Intelligence Command in 2016, Mrs. Benedict has led her financial team with diligence and professionalism, resulting in the Command exceeding the required expenditure within 99.5%. Her relentless dedication, leadership and tireless work ethic had brought great credit upon herself and CFINTCOM.

Shout-out

Congratulations Jay on being awarded the CFO Merit Award for your exceptional contribution to the management of CFINTCOM/CDI finances, and for your personal support to each and every member of our team. Since your arrival in 2016 you have provided outstanding fiscal management and an unwavering commitment to excellence. 2020 has been a year unlike any other and your professionalism is a shining example for everyone. On behalf of the entire CFINTCOM/CDI team, thank you for continuing to steer our finances. RAdm Bishop & CWO Belanger.

Joshua Brown

Citation

Joshua Brown is awarded for having demonstrated outstanding achievement through improvements to the CIF model, continuous work with central agencies to develop clear guidelines and procedures, and for his ability to develop extensive relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Joshua is also commended for his willingness to go above and beyond to contribute to the success of ADM(Fin), the Department as a whole, and to CAF operations through his involvement with the Capital Investment Fund.

Shout-out

Congratulations Josh! Your knowledge and relationship building within DND and externally has helped build on our role as a trusted partner to the CAF and to central agencies. It has been invaluable in helping the Department transition from SSE to CIF Refresh. Thank you for all of the support and insight that you share with your team, colleagues and leadership on a daily basis.

Lucille Burch

Citation

Lucille Burch is awarded for her relentless dedication to supporting 1 Canadian Air Division's operational mission, through strategic resource planning as one of the foundational activities towards sound financial management and governance of resources. Lucille has championed efforts to align 1 CAD's resource activities with the Departmental Results Framework and has been the driving force behind the data analysis and substantiation required to source additional resources for longstanding unfunded activities. As a staff of one, she is responsible for 13 L3's with over $500M in baseline activities and continues to go above and beyond by training and mentoring all 1 CAD business planners. Her efforts to quantify and formalize the funding required for 1 CAD's Force Generation Exercises has resulted in a vital feedback loop for all in-year financial management staff but also as a tool utilized by senior 1 CAD leadership to enact deliberate decisions on priorities and funding support. Lucille possesses an incredible ability to utilize a wide departmental lens when faced with planning and recommending resourcing activities and is recognized for her dedication to supporting and enabling 1 CAD's financial community.

Shout-out

Congratulations Lucille! From all of us at 1 Canadian Air Division, our sincerest congratulations on this significant award. A huge thank you for your unwavering dedication, exemplary leadership across the 1 CAD enterprise and patient mentorship to our subordinate Wings/L3s. In addition to Business Planning, your strategic thinking lens and creative solutions continue to drive us towards success in many facets of resource management. Bravo Zulu!

Capt Stéphana Demers

Citation

Capt Stéphana Demers is awarded for surpassing in her role as Comptroller by increasing the efficiency of Reserve and AvPOL management. As a result of her hard work, the financial community funded the pressures of the 3 Wing, benefiting operations. This monumental task has been carried out despite the Department's financial constraints. Her contribution to the development of FSA (Financial Services Administration) and the promotion of financial literacy is matched only by her enthusiasm.

Shout-out

Captain Demers, on behalf of the entire 3 Wing Deputy Commander's team, I would like to congratulate you. Your enthusiasm, matched only by your dedication, makes you the ultimate winner of this prestigious award. Wing finances and the comptroller's section have been flourishing during your interim. Your unparalleled leadership, your ability to revolutionize existing processes to make them more efficient, and your vision of "Mission Above Self" are just a few of the reasons for this success. You are a major asset to the organization and deserve to be recognized for your hard work. Thank you!

Governance and Project Management Office Team

Citation

The DFSI Governance and Project Management Office (GPMO) is awarded for developing and establishing the Release Management Strategy and the new Governance (Director & DG levels) for finance systems and data strategy. They significantly contributed in formalizing the systems Release Process which enabled a streamlined intake, analysis, change management, project management, centralized user acceptance testing and communications. The team developed formalized governance processes to ensure system business requirements are approved & prioritized at the senior management levels.

The team effectively led and contributed towards activities for financial process and system transformation through strong engagement and collaboration with the Business Community. This included formalising communications, client engagement, ensuring client requirements are well documented as well as liaising with IM and DIA to ensure Finance requirements are prioritised while contributing to DRBM activities, and other major projects.

Shout-out

I would like to express a hearty congratulations to Monica, Janyee, Tae, and Amir for this award.  Thank You for your dedication and excellence in developing and establishing an ADM(Fin) release management strategy and Governance for financial systems and data strategy. The team has performed an amazing job in establishing and deploying these processes while working collaboratively with colleagues and clients. These processes will ensure that the evolution of financial systems are adequately governed and will provide greater transparency and engagement to ensure that our financial systems meet the needs of the Finance community.  I am grateful to have such an outstanding group of individuals as part of the team. Dan Lichtenstein

Joint Task Force Central Comptroller Branch Team

Citation

The 4 Cdn Div G8 branch is awarded for their demonstration of leadership, innovation, and comptrollership in the CAF. The team continuously strives to take initiative to identify, implement and resolve departmental problems faced by the Defence finance community.

The team stepped forward, addressed challenges, and developed in-house capabilities to provide needed training, assistance and collaboration. The Comptrollership team operation relies markedly on a foresight and forecasting mindset, converting data into information and making decisions through analysis. This practice resulted in 4^th Canadian Division completing fiscal year end within a 0.1% budget.

Shout-out

Congratulations team!

Salary Management & Financial Forecasting Team

Citation

The Salary Management & Financial Forecasting Team is awarded for their contributions to the resolution of audit observations pertaining to the administration of civilian pay and their achievement in strengthening salary management across DND by delivering more effective, efficient tools and processes in a complex, post-Phoenix environment. Through the delivery of system enhancements and guidance for civilian salary planning, forecasting, reconciliation and reporting, they have contributed to the accuracy and integrity of salary expenditure data across DND.

Their leadership and teamwork in both engaging the DND financial community and other government partners and their innovative ideas to enhance the Salary Forecasting Tool will ultimately result in improvements to in-year salary forecasting and salary management across the department.

Shout-out

Congratulations Patricia, Valencia and Audrey on receiving this award! I commend you for your passion and efforts to strengthen civilian salary management at DND through effective and meaningful collaboration with our Defence Team partners. Not only did you engage the financial community and other government departments to gather best practices and resolve audit observations, but you responded with action by delivering results in the form of standardized business processes, system enhancements and procedural guidance. Your dedication and contributions have led to improvements in salary management by providing the tools and guidance needed by the community to effectively plan and report on salary expenditures. Dan Lichtenstein

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