Amy, in her senior year, will graduate from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, May, 2012 with a business administration degree in general management. Her career aspiration is to work in the automotive business because of the reputation for excellence, global presence and commitment to make a difference. She interned at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and it confirmed for her, the creative culture and content of work were a fit for her passion to directly impact and help customers, problem solve, and commitment to a make a difference both inside and outside of the office. Amy extends her educational and work ethics to include the social improvements for the people in her community. Her proudest accomplishment was helping low-income and minority students at the university attain their educational goals by actively working within the school system to successfully enact policy changes. As an accomplished pianist, she organized and hosted a Relay for Life Benefit Concert and raised $41,000 for the American Cancer Society. She also traveled to Shanghai, China to host and perform as a pianist in their International Grand Theater to benefit an orphanage in China. On a scholarship, Amy studied abroad at University of Oxford, Oxford, England, is the current president of Carnegie Mellon Business Association, attended Today’s National Entrepreneur Boot camp at Stanford University, tutors undergraduates in math , is fluent in Mandarin, and was crowned Miss Pennsylvania America Teen in 2009. As best written by her long-time music instructor, “I have watched Amy mature into an independent, creative, and selfless individual ready in every way to overcome obstacles in her path. AWAF also sees leadership potential for Amy and looks forward to helping her automotive aspirations turn into a career.

Upon completing her sophomore year at Pima College in Arizona, Nicole will transfer to Karl Eller College of Management, University of Arizona and major in marketing and advertising. Her career goal is to design marketing materials, campaigns, eMarketing and internet ads for the auto industry and develop innovative ways to reach audiences and impact vehicle sales, products, and merchandizing. Nicole’s passion for cars blossomed when she purchased a used 2004 Mustang and started her hands-on customizing. She modified the chrome bumper inserts, added a cowl hood stripe, a Mach 1 Delete grille and Chin spoiler, chase taillights, and gloss back deck lid detail. Then she bought from Craig’s List a set of 17x8 chrome Mustang Bullitt rims and replaced her old tires with a new set of performance tires. To kick up the performance and horsepower, she installed a fender wall cold air intake and converted the stock pipe and bolted on a Flowmaster GT Catback to get a great tone and did more enhancements to improve her horsepower from 193 bhp to 245 bhp. She’s documented a year’s worth of retrofitting, learning’s and the mishaps all the way to the finish line. Nicole is active in the Collegiate DECA, an international association of students and teachers of marketing, management and entrepreneurship, and volunteers with fund raisers and as a judge at the high school level for DECA competitions. Nicole resides in Tucson, Arizona.

Scholarship Courtesy of Johnson Controls Inc. Samantha is a freshman at the University of Northwestern Ohio pursuing degrees in Performance Motorsports and Automotive Management. As a young lady she was inspired by women drag racers like Shirley Muldowney, Melanie Troxel, Hillary Will and rebuilt dragsters with her dad. Samantha’s goals include designing and building high quality engines, be a proprietor of her own business and to inspire other women to develop an interest for an automotive industry career. In high school, Samantha was a student member of the Career Technical Advisory Committee which gave her the opportunity to learn from the automotive leaders in her community. She was a member of National Honor Society, student council, the cross country and track teams, and competed in various junior drag racing events. Her community involvement includes volunteering at the local hospital and various charity organizations. Samantha’s home is in Hinckley, Ohio.

Barbara is a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University and nearing her completion of a Master of Science degree in Quality Management. She has worked in quality functions for a major Tier 1 automotive supplier since the early 1990s. She wanted to pursue a higher education to learn the latest principles in Quality Management and to gain fresh skills to promote customer satisfaction through improved product, process quality and leadership. She recently extended her classroom experience to work with a non-profit private school by setting up a cost of quality system applying the COQ principles. She also served over eight years as a scout leader for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts of America. Barbara resides in Fenton, MI with her husband and four children.