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Fairfax County CSB honors staff and partners at 15th Spirit of Excellence Awards
Summary
Fairfax County’s Community Services Board honored staff, volunteers and partners at its 15th Spirit of Excellence ceremony, recognizing 113 nominations and roughly 385 individuals across categories including innovation, equity and stewardship.
Fairfax County’s Community Services Board (CSB) recognized staff, volunteers and community partners at its 15th annual Spirit of Excellence ceremony, honoring individual and team work across nine categories and highlighting the county agency’s role in behavioral health service delivery.
"It's my honor to be here with you all this morning," said Barbara Wadley Young, acting CSB executive director, who opened the ceremony by thanking staff, nominators and family members. Organizers said the awards drew 113 nominations and acknowledged about 385 individuals across teams and categories.
Winners included Martin Clark (Caring Hearts), Javon Baker (Customer Service), Michelle Han (Good Samaritan), Makito Tanaka (Leadership) and Riley Doherty (Stewardship). Team winners included the Green Spring Extension Master Gardeners (Caring Hearts), Rapid Engagement and Assessment Transition team — known as TREAT (Customer Service), Pathfinders for Care (Good Samaritan) and the Records Administration team (Leadership). Non-CSB partners were also recognized: Brian Shaw of Old Dominion Transportation Group received the Partnership award, and the Be Well team won the partnership team prize.
Presenters described examples illustrating service impact: Michelle Han was credited with coordinating jail-based, shelter and clinical partners to secure an inpatient restoration and subsequent residential supports for a person with complex needs; Pathfinders for Care worked with regional partners to place an older adult who had been hospitalized for months. The ceremony also highlighted equity-focused work: the Invitation to Change (ITC) team launched a Spanish-language, culturally responsive caregiver program and used virtual delivery to lower participation barriers.
Award citations emphasized both individual acts and system-level improvements. The Records Administration team was lauded for processing large volumes of requests and document uploads while maintaining compliance; other winners were recognized for improving client engagement, access to care, and operational efficiency.
Closing remarks from CSB leaders framed the ceremony as a reminder of the daily, often difficult work staff do in behavioral health, substance use and developmental disability services and thanked volunteers and cross-departmental collaborators. Attendees were invited to take photos and continue celebrations in the atrium following the ceremony.
The CSB said nominees and winners will be recognized internally and photos will be taken in the atrium after the program. No policy decisions or formal votes were taken at the event.
