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Building Partnerships for a Better Government Federal Executive Board of Minnesota Office of the Executive Director 1 Federal Drive, Suite 2250 St. Paul, MN 55111 (612) 7137200 Facsimile (612) 7137203 www.minnesota.feb.gov Thursday, October 17, 2013 From: Joseph G. Schmitt, Executive Director, US Dept. of Interior, Inner Office of the Secretary Subject: Letter of Recommendation for Nicholas Theiss It is with great pleasure I have been afforded the opportunity to write this letter on behalf of Nik Theiss. I have had good fortune to know and observe Nik’s performance and character since taking a position on my executive staff with the Federal Executive Board of Minnesota (FEB) in January of 2013. Nik is one of the most innovative, creative, and selfmotivated executive we have here at the FEB which serves as the central nervous system for the Federal government communications and liaison in Minnesota. We have all seen academically gifted students and employees, but we rarely have the opportunity to observe gifted students who leverage a multitude of talents to reach their true potential; Nik does this in every aspect of his life and he has earned my admiration and respect. Nik’s work ethic and level of commitment to his established goals are evident in everything he does. His unmatched success comes in part from intellectual ability but just as much from his passion and selfless attitude. As a retired Marine Officer, Corporate Sr. Executive and now a Federal Appointee, I have worked with brilliant people who lacked success in their lives for a number of reasons. What I believe makes Nik so successful in his current communications role and life in general, is his ability to strategically think through what is important to him, he sets a plan of action and milestones in place, expertly communicates his intent, and finally he has the discipline to follow through to see his goals to completion. Nik’s academic prowess is evidenced by him being selected as the Outstanding Student of the College of Arts and Sciences and he graduated with honors, Magna Cum Laude from Metropolitan State University. He is also the public relations officer of the Student Senate at Metropolitan State University which comes with a strict compliment of prerequisites to include GPA, attendance, professor recommendations, and stellar student service. While this is impressive, it pales in comparison to “how” Nik accomplishes his goals. Blessed with innate intelligence and a superior ability to draw upon common sense, he is a force multiplier within his school community and equally as impressive here with the Federal Executive Board. He is looked up to by his peers, sought by his fellow workers and he is respected by our Board of Directors and me personally. Nik is a creative and engaging role model, and a source of inspiration for all who know and work with him. Demonstrating strong values and a desire to help others, he proactively sought to serve as a studenttostudent mentor, he supports his community in need, and he delivers excellence beyond expectations with our 77,000 Federal employees and retirees we serve and live in Minnesota. Nik is also a decisive decision maker who draws upon his knowledge of working with diverse populations to make timely and thoughtful decisions. Leveraging his expertise in corporate communications and media, Nik was handselected by me and my deputy to lead our 2013 Civil Servant of the Year Award (CSYA) Celebration for the State of Minnesota. This event took place only 4 short months after Nik’s arrival and the annual CSYA is nothing short of a herculean task. Nik expertly worked and delegated tasks associated with public relations, Federal communications, branding and marketing, audio visual, seating, and event logistics. This formal

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Building Partnerships for a Better Government

           Federal  Executive  Board  of  Minnesota                    Office  of  the  Executive  Director                    1  Federal  Drive,  Suite  2250  

St.  Paul,  MN  55111                        (612)  713-­‐7200     Facsimile  (612)  713-­‐7203   www.minnesota.feb.gov  

                                                                           Thursday,  October  17,  2013    From:              Joseph  G.  Schmitt,  Executive  Director,  US  Dept.  of  Interior,  Inner  Office  of  the  Secretary  Subject:      Letter  of  Recommendation  for  Nicholas  Theiss      

It  is  with  great  pleasure  I  have  been  afforded  the  opportunity  to  write  this  letter  on  behalf  of  Nik  Theiss.    I  have  had  good  fortune  to  know  and  observe  Nik’s  performance  and  character  since  taking  a  position  on  my  executive  staff  with  the  Federal  Executive  Board  of  Minnesota  (FEB)  in  January  of  2013.    Nik  is  one  of  the  most  innovative,  creative,  and  self-­‐motivated  executive  we  have  here  at  the  FEB  which  serves  as  the  central  nervous  system  for  the  Federal  government  communications  and  liaison  in  Minnesota.    We  have  all  seen  academically  gifted  students  and  employees,  but  we  rarely  have  the  opportunity  to  observe  gifted  students  who  leverage  a  multitude  of  talents  to  reach  their  true  potential;  Nik  does  this  in  every  aspect  of  his  life  and  he  has  earned  my  admiration  and  respect.      

 Nik’s  work  ethic  and  level  of  commitment  to  his  established  goals  are  evident  in  everything  he  does.    His  

unmatched  success  comes  in  part  from  intellectual  ability  but  just  as  much  from  his  passion  and  selfless  attitude.    As  a  retired  Marine  Officer,  Corporate  Sr.  Executive  and  now  a  Federal  Appointee,  I  have  worked  with  brilliant  people  who  lacked  success  in  their  lives  for  a  number  of  reasons.    What  I  believe  makes  Nik  so  successful  in  his  current  communications  role  and  life  in  general,  is  his  ability  to  strategically  think  through  what  is  important  to  him,  he  sets  a  plan  of  action  and  milestones  in  place,  expertly  communicates  his  intent,  and  finally  he  has  the  discipline  to  follow  through  to  see  his  goals  to  completion.      

 Nik’s  academic  prowess  is  evidenced  by  him  being  selected  as  the  Outstanding  Student  of  the  College  of  

Arts  and  Sciences  and  he  graduated  with  honors,  Magna  Cum  Laude  from  Metropolitan  State  University.  He  is  also  the  public  relations  officer  of  the  Student  Senate  at  Metropolitan  State  University  which  comes  with  a  strict  compliment  of  prerequisites  to  include  GPA,  attendance,  professor  recommendations,  and  stellar  student  service.    While  this  is  impressive,  it  pales  in  comparison  to  “how”  Nik  accomplishes  his  goals.    Blessed  with  innate  intelligence  and  a  superior  ability  to  draw  upon  common  sense,  he  is  a  force  multiplier  within  his  school  community  and  equally  as  impressive  here  with  the  Federal  Executive  Board.    He  is  looked  up  to  by  his  peers,  sought  by  his  fellow  workers  and  he  is  respected  by  our  Board  of  Directors  and  me  personally.    Nik  is  a  creative  and  engaging  role  model,  and  a  source  of  inspiration  for  all  who  know  and  work  with  him.      Demonstrating  strong  values  and  a  desire  to  help  others,  he  proactively  sought  to  serve  as  a  student-­‐to-­‐student  mentor,  he  supports  his  community  in  need,  and  he  delivers  excellence  beyond  expectations  with  our  77,000  Federal  employees  and  retirees  we  serve  and  live  in  Minnesota.        

 Nik  is  also  a  decisive  decision  maker  who  draws  upon  his  knowledge  of  working  with  diverse  populations  

to  make  timely  and  thoughtful  decisions.    Leveraging  his  expertise  in  corporate  communications  and  media,  Nik  was  hand-­‐selected  by  me  and  my  deputy  to  lead  our  2013  Civil  Servant  of  the  Year  Award  (CSYA)  Celebration  for  the  State  of  Minnesota.    This  event  took  place  only  4  short  months  after  Nik’s  arrival  and  the  annual  CSYA  is  nothing  short  of  a  herculean  task.    Nik  expertly  worked  and  delegated  tasks  associated  with  public  relations,  Federal  communications,  branding  and  marketing,  audio  visual,  seating,  and  event  logistics.  This  formal    

 

Building Partnerships for a Better Government

 recognition  event  drew  in  every  senior  Federal  director  in  Minnesota  to  include  Minnesota’s  Secretary  of  State,  Mark  Ritchie.      This  event  which  runs  much  like  the  Oscars  was  the  best  event  attendees  had  ever  participated  in  and  was  executed  under  budget.    This  annual  celebration  was  skillfully  planned  and  wonderfully  executed  by  Nik,  drawing  many  verbal  accolades  by  VIPs  and  our  600  attendees.  

 Nik  freely  donates  his  time  to  children,  people  in  need,  and  he  balances  his  life  by  following  his  passions  

which  bring  just  as  much  joy  as  his  academic  and  professional  success.    Nik’s  passions  include  communications,  writing,  and  photography.    Nik  has  leveraged  his  talents  in  these  areas  to  support  all  of  our  major  events  in  2013  to  include  Government  on  Display  Expo  which  brought  in  over  389,000  visitors  for  our  two  day  event  held  at  the  Mall  of  America.    Our  Federal  events  bring  in  hundreds  of  thousands  of  people  annually  and  Nik’s  ability  to  cast  his  vision,  plan  an  event,  communicate  our  approach  to  a  broad  and  diverse  population,  and  then  execute  the  plan  with  precision  is  one  of  his  hallmark  strengths,  and  a  trait  I  am  personally  thankful  for.      

Nik  is  unflappable;  no  matter  how  fast  the  operational  tempo  or  how  difficult  the  challenge,  he  makes  his  complex  role  appear  easy.    During  our  time  together,  I  had  the  opportunity  to  admire  his  performance  in  a  variety  of  challenging  situations  and  at  times,  under  great  stress.    Each  time,  Nik  consistently  displayed  the  highest  standards  of  professionalism,  leadership,  and  dedication  that  unquestionably  demonstrate  his  ability  to  leverage  his  strengths  serving  on  your  GovDelivery  Team.    Being  the  second  in  command  of  a  large  military  base  at  one  point  in  my  career  put  me  in  a  delicate  position  of  building  relations  with  the  community  while  seamlessly  preparing  for  combat  operations  in  Iraq  –  not  an  easy  balance  considering  the  noise  of  aircraft  overhead,  vehicle  convoys,  and  dropping  of  live  ammunition  on  our  many  ranges.    I  worked  closely  with  great  public  affairs/relations  experts  and  I  can  tell  you  without  question  that  Nik  Theiss  is  the  type  of  person  I  would  seek  out  to  lead  my  public  affairs,  communications,  and  media  teams  in  the  most  challenging  of  circumstances.    Nik  continually  demonstrates  a  pattern  of  excellence  that  is  typified  by  his  intellectual  capability,  maturity,  character,  and  the  courage  to  make  a  tangible  difference  in  the  lives  of  those  he  comes  in  contact  with.          

                   In  summary,  I  consider  myself  fortunate  to  be  part  of  Nik  Theiss’  professional  career.    As  a  youthful  

leader  of  today,  he  epitomizes  the  ideals  of  what  is  best  in  all  Americans.    He  is  an  outstanding  individual  who  truly  cares  about  people  and  he  exemplifies  the  concept  of  service  to  others.    He  has  continually  delivered  excellence  on  his  commitments  with  a  high  level  of  emotional  intelligence  and  he  will  ensure  that  this  position  is  served  to  the  best  of  his  abilities  and  in  a  manner  aligned  with  your  organizational  values.    I  can  share  with  you  in  great  confidence  that  Nik  will  be  one  of  the  best  hiring  decisions  you  will  make  because  he  will  not  rest  until  your  shared  goals  are  accomplished.    Professionals  of  Nik’s  caliber  are  extremely  rare;  please  do  not  pass  up  this  opportunity  to  hire  this  truly  remarkable  person.  

                 

Sincerely,    

Joseph  G.  Schmitt      

Executive  Director