The Service to America Medals are presented annually by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service to honor excellence among America's federal workforce. Awards are presented to those whose work addresses and serves the needs of the nation. The 2007 winners will be announced in September.
Myroslava Gongadze was granted political asylum in the United States in 2001 after leaving her native Ukraine with her two children. She began working for the Voice of America in 2004. Her husband, Georgy Gongadze, was a renowned investigative journalist in Ukraine who was killed in 2000, allegedly by government agents, after uncovering corruption in the administration of a former Ukrainian president. Ms. Gongadze has been a prominent advocate of freedom of the press.
Gongadze is nominated in the Call to Service category. "My work gives me a unique opportunity to serve both countries, the United States and Ukraine. I can help both countries to build a bridge of communication and understanding," said Gongadze when referring to her broadcasting work at VOA.
VOA broadcasts over three hours of Ukrainian television each week. Gongadze co-anchors Chas-Time, a nightly television news and information program focusing on international news, American life, and U.S.-Ukrainian relations. VOA has a weekly audience of 11.7% of Ukrainians, which is about 4.7 million people.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people. Programs are produced in 45 languages.
For more information, call the Office of Public Affairs at (202) 203-4959, or e-mail publicaffairs@voa.gov.
