CHICAGO, Aug. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Fueling the future
by ensuring that students get their best opportunity to succeed,
Toyota is partnering with Rainbow PUSH Excel to provide
$75,000 scholarships to 10 deserving
engineering and business college students through the Jesse L.
Jackson, Sr. Fellows Scholarships. As an encouragement for all
students to put their best foot forward and take their education
seriously, the scholarship recipients received their awards at the
Annual Rainbow PUSH Back-To-School Rally in Chicago.
"The scholarship recipients were selected from hundreds of
applicants," said Simon Nagata,
chief administrative officer, Toyota North America. "Toyota is
proud to recognize and invest in the outstanding academic
achievements of these 10 scholars. The commitment to community
service and personal excellence of these future leaders is truly
inspiring, and we are excited to be a part of their journey."
With STEM (science, technology, engineering and math)
professional jobs going unfilled, Toyota is preparing to fill the
pipeline with qualified candidates. The scholarships were awarded
to college students who are majoring in either STEM or business
academics. Students had to also demonstrate participation in
community service, be in financial need, and were required to
obtain sophomore status as of August 1,
2015. The $25,000 scholarship
is renewable each year for a maximum three-year period. In order to
receive the award each year, the students must maintain a minimum
cumulative GPA of 3.0 throughout the school year. In addition to
the scholarships, Toyota is offering these students the opportunity
to work at one of their facilities across North America to gain valuable real-world
experience, as well as be paired with mentors from Toyota
management to help guide them through the next three years of
college.
The selection process was both rigorous and comprehensive. A
group of 20 student semi-finalists went through a structured
selection process which involved written essays, letters of
recommendations and rounds of onsite interviews involving several
members of Rainbow PUSH Excel, as well as Toyota's executive and
management teams in Northern
Kentucky. The group was narrowed down to 10 students who
were awarded the scholarships. These extraordinary students'
studies range from chemical to mechanical engineering to business
finance and marketing; while hometowns stretch from Cameroon, Central
Africa to Chicago, IL. The
10 student scholarship recipients are:
Marielle Cameron from
Chicago, Illinois, is a business
marketing major at Florida A&M
University (FAMU). She has always desired to attend FAMU
since the sixth grade; she currently has a 3.8 GPA.
Jasmine Cooper was born
and raised in Raleigh, North
Carolina and attends the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington as an industrial engineering
student with a 3.6 GPA. Jasmine is pursuing the industrial
engineering path because it is business-focused, and she is
passionate about the study of ergonomics and all its encompassing
human factors.
Grace Fomani is a student at Tuskegee University, where she studies chemical
engineering. Originally from Cameroon, Central
Africa, Grace later moved to Fort
Worth, Texas. Although not discounting medical school in the
future, she feels called to be an engineer because she likes to
create things.
Elias Lee, born in
Chattanooga, Tennessee and raised
in Montgomery, Alabama, was
home-schooled from the 5th through 10th grades. Entering high
school at the age of 14, he was at the top of his 11th grade class.
Always building things since he was a child led him to study
mechanical engineering at Auburn University in
Montgomery.
Jared Mitchell is from
Norristown, Pennsylvania, and is a
student at Morehouse College in
Atlanta studying Applied Physics
and Engineering. He has a current 3.97 GPA. Jared also conducted
independent research at Princeton
University. He has a natural love for science and wants to
focus on sustainable infrastructure or renewable energy upon
graduation.
Kerrington Munson, a
native of Orlando, Florida, is
currently a business finance major at Morehouse College and wants to pursue a career in
the field of wealth and asset management upon graduation. He is
involved with many organizations and received a Youth Humanitarian
honor by the Mayor of Orlando and
a Presidential Ambassador honor for Morehouse
College.
Dalya Sanders, born and
raised in Beaumont, Texas, attends
Prairie View A&M University in
Texas. She is a business student
and is involved in several organizations. She has plans to expand
her business knowledge by venturing into nonprofit community
development upon graduation.
Mekhi Seraile, born and
raised in Atlanta, attends
Xavier University of Louisiana and is
pursuing Mechanical Engineering. He attributes his passion for
airplanes to his grandmother who often took him to see airplanes
take off and land during his youth. He is looking forward to
studying aerospace mechanical engineering.
Raven Smith from
Virginia Beach, VA attends
Virginia Commonwealth University in
Richmond, Virginia, where she
studies chemical engineering and has a 4.0 GPA. She was double
promoted during her primary schooling and graduated high school at
age 16. Raven is involved in numerous organizations such as
National Society of Collegiate Scholars and accredits her father
for sparking her interest in science.
Tina Watson, born and
raised in Chicago, is now a 3.81
GPA student at Fisk University in
Nashville, TN studying business
administration management. She is a non-traditional student who
overcame a challenging heath diagnosis which caused her to rethink
her educational background. After graduation, she plans to work at
a major corporation doing work in the area of higher education.
"We are extremely proud of these students and are passionate
about lifting any burden or obstacle that may prevent these
distinguished students from reaching their highest potential," said
Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., founder and president of Rainbow PUSH
Coalition. "Students who prove themselves capable and eager deserve
every opportunity within reach to become all they set out to be in
life. We thank Toyota for their generous support and for sharing in
our vision to improve the academic lives of these students."
As part of the selection process students took an in-depth tour
of Toyota's largest vehicle manufacturing facility in North America, Toyota Motor Manufacturing
Kentucky, Inc. in Georgetown, KY;
were guided through the various disciplines of running a local
Toyota dealership; and through management and employee discussions
learned about the local and global history of Toyota. They were
also treated to a local minor league baseball game.
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM), the world's
top automaker and creator of the Prius, is committed to building
vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota, Lexus
and Scion brands. Over the past 50 years, we've built more
than 25 million cars and trucks in North
America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in
the U.S.) and directly employ more than 40,000 people (more than
32,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships
(1,500 in the U.S.) sold more than 2.6 million cars and trucks
(more than 2.37 million in the U.S.) in 2014 – and about 80
percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 20 years are
still on the road today. For more information about Toyota,
visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
About Rainbow PUSH Excel
PUSH for
Excellence, Inc. (PUSH Excel) is a tax-exempt organization founded
in 1975 by Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and a number of
nationally recognized educators to inspire students to strive for
excellence in education in spite of personal, family, and
community challenges that they might experience. The mission
of PUSH Excel is to promote education excellence by engaging the
stakeholders in education to work collaboratively to create
opportunities, transform the lives of students and improve
communities by: Advocating for educational policies that
guarantee equal funding for all students without regard to race
or economic standing; Engaging parents, students, and
teachers in pursuing high quality education and striving for
educational excellence at every level; Forging partnerships with
community based and public sector stakeholders in
education.
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150829/262108
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-invests-in-future-engineers-and-business-leaders-by-providing-first-ever-75000-jesse-l-jackson-sr-fellows-scholarship-summer-co-op-internship-program-and-mentorship-pairing-300134973.html
SOURCE Toyota