Senior Advisor for Operations Mat Maucieri presenting the Project Manager of the Year Award to Suzanne Fiori.
Phoenix, AZ. – Today, the Bureau of Reclamation recognized Suzanne Fiori as Reclamation’s 2026 Project Manager of the Year at Reclamation’s 2026 Project Management Workshop.
This is the seventh year that Reclamation has conferred this recognition on a project manager, timed once more to align with International Project Management Day.
Fiori provides project management expertise and support throughout Reclamation’s California Great Basin Region. Her support for the B.F. Sisk Safety of Dams Modification Project, Joint-Project, and Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project were some of her stand-out accomplishments recognized by the judges.
“Suzanne Fiori exhibits the professional excellence that Reclamation relies on to do extraordinary things,” said Senior Advisor of Operations Mat Maucieri. “Sound project management is vital for bringing complex projects to fruition, and her mastery of project management enables Reclamation to serve our customers with world-class infrastructure solutions.”
Fiori has more than 30 years of federal experience. She served in the U.S. Navy for 22 years and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for 4 years before coming to Reclamation in 2022. She is currently assigned politically sensitive, large, and technically-complex projects supporting water management in the West. She is known by colleagues as a knowledgeable mentor, strong leader, and for working collaboratively with Reclamation employees throughout the organization and external stakeholders to ensure project success.
Reclamation also recognized four other nominees for the PM of the Year Award, each of whom were honored as Regional Project Managers of the Year.
The Project Manager of the Year from Columbia-Pacific Northwest Region, Ben Miller, manages a diverse portfolio that includes the Cle Elum Fish Passage Project and the high-visibility Yakima-Tieton Irrigation District Canal Project. In addition to applying strong project management fundamentals, Miller mentors junior project managers, and promotes project management practices across Reclamation.
Stanley Cummings, the Missouri Basin/Arkansas, Rio Grande and Texas Gulf Regional Project Manager of the Year, was vital as Project Manager for an overhaul of Unit 2 of the Mt. Elbert Pumped Storage Hydroplant in Lake County, Colorado. Following equipment failure, Cummings went above and beyond coordinating contractor activities and maintaining safety, while also finding a way to include additional maintenance upgrades into the timeline and budget.
Skyler Winter is the Regional Manager of the Year for the National Programs Directorates. Winter created opportunities for transparency, redeveloping the Project Management Plan and ensured the integrated core team of Reclamation, Interior vendors, and leadership regularly worked together. She also led a modernization effort with a multi-year enterprise technology initiative serving more than 1,100 current users.
The Regional Project Manager of the Year from Upper Colorado Basin, Albie Day was nominated for work on a highly complex and politically sensitive Indian Water Rights Settlement project. Day realigned priorities, resolved difficult issues, and maintained progress on critical water infrastructure -- all while strengthening partnerships with tribal, state, local, and federal partners and protecting the project's long-term operational value.
