This is my second Oracle ACE Program blog today, the first is about Community Sharing v Community Leading, and this one is about a few people who have recently been awarded ACE Director.
In May I wrote a blog about the Self Appraisal process and about how I feel when asked to nominate or endorse nominations.
When I wrote that blog, I talked about a number of scenarios that I had real experience of. I am always honoured when asked to help, mentor or nominate someone, I think it is a really important part of being an ACE Director.
I do say 'no' more often than I say 'yes', but I always make sure I give detailed reasons as to why I can't endorse someone immediately. I am always happy to help mentor someone who is not yet ready and to help with crafting a nomination, ensuring it brings out their strengths that align with what Oracle are doing.
In the past few months there have been a number of new Oracle ACE Directors and I am really proud to have played a tiny part in four of their journeys :
Deiby Gomez - His blog in spanish twitter: @hdeiby
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeS7631FQBTjfNDM1MmwiLg0yrTFRerXBtpJqR5JltuOp477rHR9mJv2TOgc9iXHLKZxdWd1-AEyyHdOkKFi0Df5h9DIR0zsBB4siMEveInScuxhxBQP5mbs1U_NyNf_nomGq5RSYYAFPf/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-07-20+at+15.01.07.png)
He sets his sights on something and goes for it. I met Deiby last year on the Latin America tour and he was so busy making sure it was a success, whilst also presenting and creating Spanish content for OTN. His original nomination for ACE Director was turned down, although he was granted ACE. Deiby saw that as failure and I and many others worked hard to ensure he didn't think of it with disappointment, but as an exciting step on his journey. This year his ACE was upgraded to ACE Director and well deserved.
Sarah Zumbrum - Saying thank you twitter: @epm_queen
Sarah is an inspiration, from the day I first met her I knew she would be an ACE of the future, Everything she takes on, from the ODTUG leadership program to running an ironman, is taken on with 100% commitment and you just know she will succeed. I was really proud to be a tiny part of this success, and wrote a whole blog post on it last month.
Martin Widlake - I've been made an oracle ace director Twitter: @mwidlake
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8NuZyJaFf-O-TTNyvEsyUMbWUJcbvlpWWPPl_2p8qXSb1wpZ9zrU5XKs8rqYnTGCMC4Zuj1ffD2cxa3DQgk9znbF80HLfNQlRusBYqWqHk_nXorwpkJi36dSlYci_orrfiwqh2YecxGow/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-07-20+at+14.50.02.png)
Sai Ram - Sai hasn't had time to blog yet twitter: @sai_penumuru
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7M0ms9Aqds5BeSzF7ac9yvFNS3RevLXT4R7PvbjWxjBwbNTADNka3Wut7LHE7bD9eBT08qhejbOR2WZpoGwt-_t3c2dTJYubZGyGZ8aXKu6naEfQEdI6eNi72jojIUvmB5Wk3llXNVyJk/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-07-20+at+15.04.26.png)
I am not an expert in the same disciplines as these people, someone else judges their ability, and at ACE Director that is someone senior in the relevant Product Management team, but I have had the pleasure in seeing them all speak and how they engage their audiences and share their obvious knowledge.
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Sai Ram, Yathra 2014 |
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Martin Widlake RMOUG 2012 |
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Sarah Zumbrum, KScope 2015 |
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Deiby Gomez, Collaborate 2015 |
Now it is their turn to encourage and mentor the next members of the ACE program.