AWESOME is now bringing exceptional, career-enhancing programming to the entire AWESOME Scholar community through AWESOME Scholar CONNECT! Built from a foundation of supply chain expertise and a commitment to advancing women in leadership, the new program will provide actionable, career-level content and engagement opportunities to these future supply chain leaders.
“As the critical importance of supply chain is recognized globally, so is the need to identify, mentor, and support future leaders in this space,” said Ann Drake, Founder and Chairman of AWESOME. “Since 2013, AWESOME has identified and supported future women supply chain leaders at the collegiate level. AWESOME Scholar CONNECT! raises this commitment to a new level. We are increasing our investment in these women through programming, community, and more.”
In addition, AWESOME has launched the AWESOME Scholar Spotlight, website profile series to highlight these exceptional professionals. The bi-weekly posts take readers beyond-the-bio to learn more about individual AWESOME Scholars.
This month AWESOME Scholars will convene (virtually) to kick-off of the inaugural AWESOME Scholar Forum, a three-part series focused on leadership and high performance. Originally planned as an in-person event in conjunction with the 2020 AWESOME Symposium for senior women in supply chain, when AWESOME switched to virtual programming, so did the AWESOME Scholar Forum. Scholars also will receive invitations to attend general AWESOME virtual events and connect for moderated (virtual) gatherings.
AWESOME Scholars and MIT AWE Fellows met virtually for the first time to launch the Scholar CONNECT! program on August 6, 2020.
The AWESOME Excellence in Education program was launched in 2013 to offer university women the opportunity to connect with senior leaders in supply chain through attendance at the annual AWESOME Symposium and Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals EDGE conference. The Scholars community is currently comprised of 40 women studying or advancing their supply chain careers. Beginning in 2021, the program will be expanded to award scholarships (experiential and $5,000 tuition scholarship) to 20 women each year.
In 2019, through collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Transportation and Logistics, the AWESOME/MIT Achieving Women’s Excellence through Education Fellowship was introduced, providing a competitive, funded fellowship to an early-career professional seeking a master’s degree in Supply Chain Management at MIT.
“Introduction to supply chain as a career path most often occurs at the collegiate or graduate level,” explained Nancy Nix, PhD, Executive Director Emeritus of AWESOME. “These scholarly programs are creating a portal through which AWESOME can identify and connect with these future leaders and provide access to resources of the broader AWESOME community.”
The AWESOME Scholar community is now comprised of 40 women, with geographies reaching as far as Kenya, Mongolia, and Pakistan. AWESOME Scholars and Fellows are associated with industry-leading companies including The Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, General Mills, Unilever, Kohler, Lockheed Martin, Johns Manville, Honeywell International, S.C. Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Dell, Moko Home + Living, and Red Bull.
Ann Drake summarizes the program this way: “It is our hope that the relationships established through AWESOME Scholar CONNECT! today will result in a community of AWESOME women at the highest levels of supply chain leadership in the years to come.”