Nadia Borissova Receives Andrew Young School 2024 Staff Excellence Award

ATLANTA — Nadia Borissova (M.S. ’07), associate director of the Georgia International Law Enforcement Exchange (GILEE) at Georgia State University, has received the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies (AYSPS) 2024 Staff Excellence Award.

The award recognizes exemplary performance, beneficial contributions to the work environment and consistency in workplace efficiency, creativity and innovation. This year, the college honored Borissova and Claudia Etnel, the administrative specialist - managerial in the Department of Economics.

Borissova first worked for the GILEE program as a graduate research assistant while pursuing her degree. Upon graduation, she was hired as its program coordinator and in 2019 was promoted to her current position. She continues to make a significant impact for AYSPS and GILEE through her innovative approaches to expanding senior law enforcement leadership development across the city and state, and nationally and internationally.

Internally, Borissova initiated the redesign of an application used by the GILEE selection board to choose candidates for its executive leadership training, reducing the time required to evaluate applicants and improving the overall quality of program participants. In another example, she designed and oversaw GILEE’s 30^th anniversary celebration, which raised record funding support for the organization while bringing significant attention to AYSPS and the university by prominent dignitaries.

Externally, Borissova has developed a strong network and an excellent reputation among the policing community. Her voice is often sought for leadership presentations because of the impact she has made across law enforcement. For example, the director of the Atlanta Police Leadership Institute selected her to sit on a female leadership panel at the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank with other women leaders in law enforcement, even though she is not a sworn officer. She has served as a panelist for international officers and senior leadership from the Atlanta Police Department, and she was invited to participate in Coca-Cola’s Community Outreach Fair. This year she participated in the prestigious National Security Seminar of the United States Army War College.

Ambassador Andrew Young has remarked upon her efforts as an innovative young leader who has helped grow GILEE into a world-known center of excellence for law enforcement development. Impressed with her abilities to bring out the best in each person who attends a GILEE program, Young recently commended her for her efforts and expertise.

“Nadia is well known throughout the college for a willingness to help and share knowledge,” said GILEE Director Brent Cummings. “She is extremely empathetic to those who work with her, and they seek her advice. Nadia is a proud graduate of GSU and shares her passion for the university with others as she spreads the good work that happens across the AYSPS. She displays extraordinary service to the school and everyone she meets.”