Outstanding Americans by Choice
The Outstanding Americans by Choice initiative recognizes the outstanding achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens. Through civic participation, professional achievement, and responsible citizenship, recipients of this honor have demonstrated their commitment to this country and to the common civic values that unite us as Americans.
USCIS will recognize naturalized citizens who have made significant contributions to both their community and their adopted country on a case-by-case basis.
For more information about the initiative, please see this fact sheet (PDF, 149.91 KB).
Note: The following biographies have been provided by the ABC recipients.
2012
Mr. Michael Moritz, Partner, Sequoia Capital joined the company in 1986 and has served on the boards of Flextronics, Google, PayPal and Yahoo. He is currently a Director of 24/7 Customer, GameFly, Green Dot, Kayak, Klarna, LinkedIn, Stripe, and Sugar Inc.
Mr. Shervin Pishevar is a visionary technology entrepreneur, angel investor, published researcher, start-up advisor and incubation expert, and start-up visa activist. Mr. Pishevar has raised over $50 million in venture funding for his start-up ventures and invested in over 40 start-up companies.
Mr. Vivek Wadhwa is Vice President of Academics and Innovation at Singularity University; Fellow, Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance, Stanford University; Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at the Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University; and distinguished visiting scholar, Halle Institute of Global Learning, Emory University.
Ms. Anni Chung serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer at Self Help for the Elderly. This 45-year old non-profit organization provides services to over 35,000 seniors, mostly immigrants, each year in San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.
2011
Since 1996, Alma Franulovic Plancich has served as the Executive Director of the Ethnic Heritage Council (EHC). Established in 1980 as a non-profit organization, the EHC works to preserve and document ethnic heritage and advance cross-cultural understanding in local communities.
Madeleine K. Albright is Chair of Albright Stonebridge Group, a global strategy firm, and Chair of Albright Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm focused on emerging markets. In 1997, she was named the first female Secretary of State and became, at that time, the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government.
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Arturo E. Howard has been selected for this honor for persistent and selfless dedication to the U.S. Coast Guard and to his community throughout his exemplary career. He was born in Colombia in 1967 and always dreamed of living a more adventurous life. CWO Howard joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1995 and has held numerous leadership positions.
Mr. Joseph A. Banco, Jr., is an Associate Chief with the Office of Chief at the U.S. Border Patrol within U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Washington, DC. Throughout his 31-year government career, Mr. Banco has consistently demonstrated that he is a distinguished public servant and has held several leadership positions.
Omar Cruz is the lead for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Cyber Threat Program, which focuses on monitoring, safeguarding, and protecting FEMA’s Enterprise Network against cyber attacks. He was born in the Dominican Republic and arrived in the United States in 1992 at the age of 12, settling in Passaic, NJ.
In 1982, Ms. Betty Nguyen Phillips joined the U.S. Secret Service becoming the first Vietnamese-American hired by the Secret Service. During her 29 years with the agency she has held several mission-critical positions, including being the first Criminal Research Specialist and Investigative System Specialist in the Secret Service.