Jordan Lee Receives Public Service Award for the Government’s Response to COVID-19

October 20, 2021

It was no surprise to GSA’s Greater Southwest Region that the Dallas/Fort Worth Federal Executive Board selected Jordan Lee as a 2021 Public Service Award recipient for his contributions to the government’s response to COVID-19.  Mr. Lee’s meticulous approach and attention to detail, coupled with superb analytical reasoning, allowed him and his team to successfully respond to over 2,700 incidents affecting more than 90,000 federal employees in the five state region.  In fact, his team managed more COVID-19 activity than any other GSA region.  

In March 2020, the pandemic had reached the southern part of the country affecting the Greater Southwest Region.  The virus threatened to disrupt the mission of more than 130 federal agencies and the lives of more than 90,000 federal employees.  As the government’s landlord, GSA was responsible for quickly establishing guidelines for reporting, tracking and responding to incidents within federally owned or managed facilities.   

Due to all the new and changing information coming in daily, the region quickly established a Project Management Office (PMO) responsible for all COVID-19 coordination.  Mr. Lee was chosen to lead the effort.  While providing purpose, motivation and direction to the team, Mr. Lee was also on the front lines with our customers serving as the face of GSA to more than 130 government agencies.

The PMO meticulously documented their activities, captured lessons learned and continually improved processes while developing creative solutions to the various situations that arose daily.  From some customer agencies insisting on modifications to air filtration systems to others requesting potentially dangerous stockpiles of sanitizer, the PMO responded to each inquiry with care and consideration.  When problems and issues arose, agencies knew that Jordan and his team would offer creative solutions and fix the problem. 

GSA’s primary goal is the safety of federal employees and the general public.  The regional PMO continues to respond to all incidents and provides guidance for prevention as we move forward. The work of the team has been monumental for the federal community.  

Jordan serves as the Regional Client Executive and Client Planning Manager for GSA’s Portfolio Management and Customer Engagement Division in the Public Buildings Service (PBS).  The regional PBS manages more than 35 million square feet in more than 1,500 owned and leased buildings.