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FY 2021 CEAR Awardees

Important Dates

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The recipients listed below were presented with the CEAR awards for their FY 2021 reports at AGA's Virtual CEAR  Award Ceremony held June 2, 2022 at the Marriott Marquis. Recipients are listed along with the number of times they have earned the award with the link to their report.

CEAR Special Best-in-Class Awards

The 14 recipients listed below were presented with special awards at AGA's Virtual CEAR Award Ceremony following the presentation of the CEAR awards. Recipients were not told beforehand if they would receive a special award.

Please click on the agency's name to reference their report. 

  • Inspiring Photographs with Captions
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration

    This is the third time we have recognized an agency in this category and the second time this agency has received an award in this area.  This agency effectively uses photos and captions to capture and retain the reader’s interest, demonstrate the importance of the agency’s mission, and to conceptualize some of the more technical information in the report.

  • Visual presentation of information including graphic display
    Department of Veterans Affairs

    This is the second time we have recognized an agency in this category.  This agency used effective visual presentations, including photographs, spotlights, and graphical displays, throughout its report to convey its mission and operations and to provide the reader with information in a concise and easy to understand format.

  • A Report that Tells a Story
    United States Agency for International Development

    This is the third time that we have recognized an agency in this category. The report tells a compelling story highlighting the agency’s mission with current events, by providing a clear narrative, moving images and stories, as well as understandable technical information - all in a visually appealing document.

  • Agency Head's Message and CFO Message
    United States Patent and Trademark Office

    This is our seventh time to recognize an agency head message and the fifth time to recognize a message from a chief financial officer. This is also the second time this agency has been recognized in each of these areas. Both messages are informative, candid, and forthright in addressing major challenges and accomplishments.

  • Presentation of the Agency's Organizational Structure*
    Department of Defense

    This is the first time that we have recognized an agency in this category. This agency provides a well-organized narrative and graphics to describe this large and complicated organization.

  • Informative Appendices to Help the Reader*
    Securities and Exchange Commission

    This is the first time we are recognizing an agency in this category. The appendices of this agency’s report include several informative sections that go beyond a robust list of acronyms and abbreviations, including a glossary of selected technical terms to assist the reader in understanding the agency’s operations, a list of divisions and offices with locations and email addresses, as well as the biographies and pictures of the agency’s commissioners.

  • Responsiveness to Prior Year's CEAR Recommendations
    Architect of the Capitol

    This is the third time we are recognizing an agency in this category. This agency’s response to our prior recommendations was refreshingly conversational, indicating for each recommendation how the point was addressed; and if not addressed, the clear reasons why. This provided assurance to the review team that each recommendation was given due consideration.

  • Process for Ensuring Data Quality
    Federal Housing Finance Agency

    This is the fourth time we have recognized an agency in this category. This agency does an excellent job of explaining the process it uses to validate performance measures, including providing a form to collect relevant information, as well as examples of its proper completion, that could be used as a model for other agencies.

  • Informative presentation of What the Agency Does?
    Department of the Interior

    This is the sixth time we have recognized an agency in this category. This agency provides an excellent summary of the agency’s rich history, vision, mission, guiding principles, and priorities. In many ways it provides a history lesson for all Americans.

  • Presentation of Forward-looking Information
    National Credit Union Administration

    This is the eleventh time we have recognized an agency in this category, and the second time this agency has been recognized in this area. This agency’s looking forward report subsection is very insightful, highlights key areas of concern and the related remedial plans, addresses relevant matters, and links concerns to key strategic goals and objectives.

  • Cost and Performance Data Integration*
    Federal Aviation Administration

    This is the first time we are recognizing an agency in this category. This agency provided concise, integrated cost and strategic goal reporting, including excellent financial management insights and financial efficiency information.

  • Informative Payment Integrity Disclosures*
    Department of Homeland Security

    This is another “first-time” award. This agency provided an informative summary of its improper payment reporting required by the Payment Integrity Information Act, including clear presentation of improper payment test results for its significant components and disaster relief efforts.

  • Inspector General's Summary of The Most Serious Management and Performance Challenges
    Department of Health and Human Services

    This is the ninth time we are recognizing an agency in this category and the second time this agency has received an award in this area. This agency provided a comprehensive and well-written report of the OIG’s Top Management and Performance Challenges that included detailed explanations and extensive footnoting to related supporting evidence.

  • Discussion that Highlights the Agency's Value*
    Federal Trade Commission

    This is the first time we have recognized an agency in this category. This report does an excellent job of speaking directly to the public and clearly demonstrating the agency’s value and how it serves the nation. The report’s content is also direct, compelling, and easy to read.

*First time the CEAR program has recognized any agency in this category

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