Category 5: Government Agencies Serving Other Government Agencies
ONLINE RETIREMENT APPLICATION TEAM
Office of Personnel Management
National Finance Center
Interior Business Center
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
General Services Administration
United States Postal Service
Office of Personnel Management
Kimya Lee
Deputy Associate Director, Enterprise Enablement
Ben Gorog
Program Manager
Andrew Riddell
Program Manager
Sharnetta Hicks
Management & Program Analyst
Brad Confer
Management & Program Analyst
Amy DeVore
Instructional Design Specialist
JoAnna Spicer
Human Resources Specialist
Patricia Sapol
Human Resources Specialist
Jonathan Kogut
Benefits Specialist
Menarda Hayes
Human Resources Specialist
Kimberly Palacios
Human Resources Specialist
Brandon Mowry
Management & Program Analyst
Brandy Caldwell
Management & Program Analyst
National Finance Center
Angelique Dyer
Director
Mark Ricks
Chief, Retirement Processing and Military Deposit Reconciliation Sections
Interior Business Center
Christine Zertuche
Acting Deputy Associate Director
Human Resources Directorate
Duke Dupre
Benefits Processing Branch Chief
Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Mary Marsh
Director Civilian Pay Functional Area
Timothy Sherrill
Division Chief DCPS Requirements and Analysis
General Services Administration
John Geraghty
Director Payroll
External Services Division (BEC)
Brad Kliethermes
Branch Chief Payroll Operations & Customer Service Branch (BGCA)
United States Postal Service
Karla Kirby
Executive Manager Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB)
Jennifer Painter
Retirement Counselor
The Online Retirement Application (ORA) team is being honored for transforming the federal retirement process from a fragmented, paper-based system into a secure, fully digital experience. Working across OPM, NFC, IBC, DFAS, GSA, USPS, and dozens of federal agencies, the team overcame complex policy, technology, and data-sharing barriers to rapidly deliver a government-wide solution under aggressive timelines.
ORA goes beyond simply digitizing forms. The platform uses Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)/EHRI data to pre-populate service histories, reducing manual entry, errors, and rework. It also incorporates Login.gov security, real-time application tracking, automated notifications, and guided workflows, giving federal employees a more transparent and intuitive retirement experience. To support rapid adoption, the team established centralized Zendesk assistance and trained more than 3,500 personnel across 42 agencies.
With more than 130,000 applications in process, ORA is reducing paper-driven delays, improving application accuracy, and allowing HR and payroll employees to focus on higher-value work. Federal employees now have 24/7 access to their applications and greater visibility into their retirement status during an important life transition. By standardizing processes across government and creating a scalable, interoperable digital foundation, the ORA team has established a model for how cross-agency collaboration and user-centered technology can modernize federal service delivery.