Hello, and thank you to Chairman Behnam, David, Laura, Patti, the awards committee, and the Logistics & Operations team for making today’s awards so special for the agency.  I echo my fellow Commissioners on congratulating all of the winners and nominees.  I celebrate and honor the 83 exceptional CFTC employees and their well-deserved recognition across both individual and team awards.  It was my privilege to participate in person last year in the CFTC’s New York Office to present the Chairman’s Awards and personally thank each honoree.  What is particularly meaningful to me about the Chairman’s Awards is that they celebrate excellence, one of my core values throughout my life.  Although we should celebrate excellence every day, I’m so glad we are making the time to take this day to recognize the accomplishments of our staff.  More than anything else, we achieve our mission by our people.

I want to start out by congratulating this year’s award recipients.  Your dedication to the Commission and public service through your hard work and excellence across award categories including exceptional service, distinguished service, excellence in management, and staff excellence, is truly leading by example for all of us.  I also want to highlight the accomplishments of our regional offices in New York, Chicago, and Kansas City.  Today shows us that we are one agency with talented staff in both our Washington, D.C. headquarters and regional offices, sharing diverse perspectives and experiences from all across the United States.  I’m proud to be the first Commissioner in the CFTC’s 50-year history to think outside the box and make changes like having staff from regional offices serve in my Commissioner’s office, a role that had traditionally only been filled by staff in headquarters.  I hope that we continue to have opportunities like this available to all CFTC staff, no matter where they are located.

This year, the inaugural Karen Brown Power of Positivity Award honors the legacy of a former colleague who was not only terrific to work with, but also was an inspiration to those around her.  Fostering an uplifting and encouraging work environment motivates us all to excel at what we do.  So, I want to thank Chairman Behnam for introducing this new award.  What a wonderful way to recognize how a positive outlook makes the CFTC a great place to work.

In closing, I again want to congratulate all this year’s award recipients.  I am grateful for your dedication and service to the Commission.  Thank you, and enjoy the celebrations.