Women MAKE Awards Reviewer Guide

Check your inbox for an email from The Manufacturing Institute with the subject line “2025 Women MAKE Awards – Applications for Review.” If you have not received an email, please check your spam and junk folder as well. If you cannot find this email, contact [email protected].

You may start the review process and save your progress to complete at a later time.

Use the text box to enter your score for each essay on a scale from 1 – 25. Please keep in mind the “nominee type” (Emerging Leader or Honoree) when reviewing these essays. If you are matched with an application from your company, you must recuse yourself from reviewing this application by selecting the “Abstain from Judging” box at the top of the page.

Use the textbox to briefly explain any significant score deductions about this nominee, and any additi9onal commentary on your review. Each nomination will be scored on a 100-point scale with each essay being worth 25 points each and is reviewed by 3 different judges. The final score is calculated from the average of 3 reviewers’ score. once you have completed your review, you may submit OR save for later.

Criterion #1:  What noteworthy contribution and/or technical accomplishment has this nominee achieved and how was it critical or key to their company overall?  

Score 1: Does the essay describe the nominee’s impact and the company’s resulting favorable outcome? Based on the essay, consider how the nominee has contributed to the company’s success, and any residual impacts.  

Please rate on a scale of 1 -25 the nominee’s impact on company accomplishments. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Criterion #2:   Share a noteworthy contribution your nominee has achieved in her community, and why it is so impactful. 

Score 2: Has the nominee had a significant impact in her community? Does the essay include specific examples of how the nominee has demonstrated a meaningful impact on her community? 

Please rate on a scale of 1 -25 the nominee’s impact on the community. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Criterion #3: Share examples of how your nominee has been a leader by mentoring others and/or engaging the next generation of female talent. 

Score 3: To what extent has the nominee mentored others and/or been a champion for the industry through advocacy? 

Please rate on a scale of 1 – 25 the nominee’s impact through mentorship and/or engaging the next generation. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Criterion #4: Explain why your nominee should be chosen as a 2024 Women MAKE Awards Honoree or Emerging Leader.

Score 4: Does the essay effectively articulate the characteristics of an outstanding role model for science, technology, engineering and production careers?

Please rate on a scale of 1-25 to what extent the nominee makes a good role model for science, technology, engineering and production careers.

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Please share a noteworthy contribution and/or technical accomplishment your nominee has achieved at her company and why it is so impactful.  

SAMANTHA

SAMANTHA joined COMPANY A in April, 2017 in the capacity of Director of Global Quality. She leads a global team of quality managers and professionals. Prior to COMPANY A, SAMANTHA worked for COMPANY B for 12 years in O&G in completions with specific expertise in downhole critical safety equipment. She has significant experience in service quality and incident investigation & recovery as well as cradle to grave life cycle management having led global technical & non-technical teams in: New product development, field service support teams, best practices, design guidelines, low cost design, manufacture & supply chain development. Natasha brings these skills to COMPANY A and is developing service focus through inclusive cross-function leadership at the front line in major incidents and product quality. SAMANTHA has demonstrated exceptional thought and people leadership at COMPANY A. SAMANTHA is a leader in her field and sought out by our customer and colleagues. She is influencing and transforming the way our organization thinks about and react to customer major incidents and developing cross functional support networks across the company. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 12 – 15 

Explanation: SAMANTHA’s skills that make her a valuable asset to the company are listed, but the essay does not provide supporting evidence or actual examples of these skills in specific applications. Although SAMANTHA’s role at the company was outlined very well, no impact statement was presented.  

CIARA

CIARA began her career in manufacturing at COMPANY more than 17 years ago. During that time, she has held various roles with increasing responsibility and impact including engineering, quality, plant manager, site manager, and now she is currently the operations director for five sites. CIARA is a continuous improvement leader with a strong acumen and passion for people development, making her a critical asset to multiple projects across the region. One example of a noteworthy contribution made by CIARA was the integration of a new technology that was acquired into COMPANY. Within only 12 months, CIARA completed the integration, kicked off a large capital investment for plant improvements and delivered quality product to the market. Recently, two plants CIARA works with were facing capacity challenges, so she began leading a cross-functional team for the business to address opportunities throughout the value stream from order management to product qualification, tolling options and improvement in overall asset effectiveness. Through these efforts, CIARA has been able to close the capacity gap and drive efficiency, while continuing to maintain good safety performance. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 17-20 

Explanation: The essay includes examples of her contributions to the company including integration of a new technology in a 12-month period, however, full credit was not given due to lack of supporting evidence of significant impact on the company, beyond her responsibilities in the job role. 

REBECCA

REBECCA is the Human Factors technical expert within our Product Development organization, providing design guidance and conducting testing to deliver ergonomic, usability and user experience performance throughout the motorcycle portfolio. REBECCA’s work ensures that COMPANY’s motorcycles comfortably fit a variety of riders by achieving the best rider seating position, view, and comfort as well as providing a seamless user experience with the gauges, controls, and infotainment systems. 

REBECCA has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Texas School of Engineering, a master’s in Aeronautical Science from New River Aeronautical University, and a master’s and Ph.D. in Human Factors Psychology from Austin State University. She has deep experience in the manufacturing industry, beginning 24 years ago as an engineer in tool design and quality assurance. Later, she joined Aircraft COMPANY B as a design engineer where she specialized in Human Factors Engineering and gained expertise in medical devices at COMPANY C Healthcare as a Design Controls Manager. She came to COMPANY in 2015 as a Staff Systems Engineer. 

Recently, REBECCA conducted extensive testing of the all new COMPANY app. This app brings connectivity to our riders by integrating ride planning, events, dealer information, and interactive group riding challenges to deliver a premium customer experience that is intuitive and easy to use across multiple platforms. During development, REBECCA led the company in applying the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration driver distraction guidelines, delivering rider safety when using the navigation feature by ensuring user tasks are quickly accomplished with minimal visual and cognitive demand. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: The candidate portrays a high level of experience and impact in the manufacturing industry. Her contributions to the company and industry wide impact are significant through her contributions on developing the app. 

Please share a noteworthy contribution your nominee has achieved in her community, and why it is so impactful.

SAMANTHA

For the last two years SAMANTHA has been heavily involved in Community Outreach programs through COMPANY. She has been on the board of directors for the United Way here in CITY for the past two years as well. During that time the United Way has expanded its outreach program by including an Annual Day of Caring where local businesses join together on one day to serve the community non-profit organizations through hours of service to support needs they have. This past event in 2019 had 23 volunteers from her plant giving 92 hours, plus there were dozens of other local volunteer companies supporting 21 local organizations. 

The plant has a dedicated Community Outreach Team that organizes and participates in many community events and also donate monetarily in support of causes. Some of these include school supply drives for Impact Project, Quarterly Blood Drives for the local blood bank, a veterans event held every fall for all of the company service men & women, and many more planned for later this year. SAMANTHA has made the COMPANY facility synonymous with caring for the local community. 

She has also encouraged local youth sports teams to use company facilities for practicing & developing their teams – our property has a softball / baseball field that 3 teams were able to utilize to hone their skills on here locally. Again, this goes to show that commitment to the community in any capacity she is able to provide. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 17 – 20 

Explanation: While SAMANTHA is active in community service by serving on the Board of Directors for United Way, her direct contributions are not communicated in the essay entry. The scoring range reflects the impact of the existing community activities organized by the company. 

CIARA

CIARA and her family are members of NON-PROFIT, a private non-profit men’s’ club. Every year there are multiple benefit events that help support programs they run for their members’ and families such as a scholarship fund, children’s Christmas party, and charities like American Cancer Society among others. By being in this club it has provided CIARA with an opportunity to participate within her community and organization. CIARA speaks about the organization with passion and is highly devoted in participating for the community outreach events they hold. It provides her with an opportunity to connect with others within the organization where they help support each other in more ways than one. This is impactful as she is part of a community allowing her to participate in outreach that touches the lives of many individuals and various families. Additionally, she is easy to work with and is always open to help other individuals which is impactful and a great quality to have. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 12 – 15 

Explanation: This essay does not provide specific evidence of CIARA’s contributions to the non-profit. The scoring range reflects the impact of the existing community programs CIARA supports.

REBECCA

A recent project REBECCA participated in was to be part of a team of volunteers that designed and built a bicycle for a 4 year old special needs child named CORY. CORY was born without fore-arms or legs but was determined to ride a bike with his family. A team of COMPANY volunteers came together to build him a special bicycle. Rebecca assisted in Project CORY by provided design input on the ergonomic position of the seat and upper rotating controls to ensure his joints would not be stressed and the bike can accommodate him as he grows. This project brought independence and freedom to a special child who otherwise would not have been able to ride a bike. REBECCA is also a board member on the Ridin’ to a Cure non-profit charity organization, where she works to fundraise and award grants for breast cancer research in Wisconsin. 

REBECCA exemplifies leadership in the community through multiple channels. She attended the National Society of Black Engineers annual convention this year to recruit for COMPANY and identify promising talent in the field of engineering. She also conducted a Human Factors Workshop to teach new engineers about the field through a hands-on activity. She is an advocate for Human Factors Engineering and for many years has given lectures to engineering students at Austin University and University of Texas. In her teaching, she educates students on the discipline of Human Factors to generate interest for careers within the field. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: REBECCA’s impact through her volunteer efforts is clearly communicated in the essay and her contributions made a significant impact on CORY’s life. In addition, she actively teaches and leads activities with local schools and organizations to generate interest in careers within the manufacturing field. 

Please share how your nominee has been a leader by mentoring others and/or engaging the next generation of female talent.

SAMANTHA

SAMANTHA has provided leadership to many organizations and initiatives and mentored several students and employees throughout her career. She has participated in several mentoring and developmental programs – the following list includes a few of the organizations and initiatives including: 

1. Institute of Mechanical Engineers: She served as Texas Region Committee Member for the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and was a mentoring coordinator.
2. Mentoring of University Engineering Students through MentorNet: She has mentored students through MentorNet. The E-Mentoring Network is a network for diverse students in Engineering and Science majors. Through this mentoring experience she has developed Engineers for the future of the organization.
3. Technical Training Design and Development: She has designed and delivered various development technical and non-technical learning courses including product certification training, global team work and communications. Her focus has been specifically in the southeast region.

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 19 – 22 

Explanation: Samantha’s list of contributions to her community are many and includes specific examples of her mentorship efforts through MentorNet but could have elaborated more on her role and impact as a mentoring coordinator for full credit. 

CIARA

Before becoming involved in FIRST Robotics Program, CIARA did not understand the severity of the lack of young women in STEM roles. Being one of the only female-led FIRST teams, CIARA could no longer ignore issues that affected herself and other women. She realized that not every woman has the resources to stand out and be different. Not everyone has support to help them along the way. CIARA decided that for the young women she encountered in the FIRST program, she needed to be that person. Her leadership, intelligence and passion for the program helped guide her team to success and showcased the power of women leading other women in the field of STEM. 

Beyond FIRST Robotics, CIARA is also involved in Society of Women’s Engineering, Girl Scouts and has taught softball. She participates in COMPANY’s Makerspace, encouraging women of every age that gender doesn’t matter when following their dreams. She hopes to inspire women to believe in themselves, to pursue careers that may not have seemed attainable previously and to teach women what they can accomplish without stereotypes. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 18 – 21 

Explanation: Through the FIRST Robotics Program, CIARA works with younger girls in a field that is usually male to support and encourage them. In addition, her participation in Makerspace encourages women of all ages that gender does not matter when following their dreams. While CIARA portrays the qualities of a good role model, the essay could include more specific evidence of her direct involvement to showcase significant impact on the community.

REBECCA

Each year, REBECCA attends the Society of Women’s Engineering Career Fair as a representative of the company. She is active with our recruiting efforts to bring talented women engineers to be a part of COMPANY. Like her efforts at the National Society of Black Engineers, she conducted Human Factors Workshops during the Society of Women’s Engineering event to increase interest in engineering careers. 

REBECCA makes mentoring and outreach to young engineers a priority. She wants to make sure women’s voices are heard and they have opportunities to develop as leaders. To make sure women are a valued part of Company, Rebecca is active in reaching out to them through mentoring and recruiting. Currently, she is mentoring two women. She has outlined a detailed program of learning through study and hand-on testing to enable them to develop their engineering skills in Human Factors and to advance their career through personal growth. They have become advocates within the company for incorporating Human Factors into designs and are also active in recruiting new employees for the company. 

REBECCA’s enthusiasm for engineering shows how a career in the field can be impactful and fulfilling at a time when many female students are losing interested in the sciences. Her work will have a lasting impact on the young women she has taught and mentored. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: The entry conveys a high level of engagement to mentor and recruit female talent specifically, including her methods of engagement, and clearly communicates her mentoring impact on the company.

Explain why your nominee should be chosen as a 2024 Women MAKE Awards Honoree.

SAMANTHA

Please consider SAMANTHA as a 2024 Women MAKE Awards Honoree. Since joining COMPANY five years ago, SAMANTHA’s commitment, enthusiasm and confidence has made a significant impact on our company’s success. She has become a valuable partner and reliable resource to our customers and suppliers as well as to her fellow employees and COMPANY management. SAMANTHA deserves recognition by her peers and would flourish among other high-achieving women in manufacturing. She loves to share ideas and bring new approaches to her job and the company, embracing continual improvement philosophies that make manufacturers successful in today’s competitive environment. COMPANY has enjoyed 12% average sales growth during the past six out of eight years. Much of our success is due to the diligence and hard work of SAMANTHA, who keeps her eye on the prize and treats COMPANY like her own company. She is a model employee for successful manufacturers and should be recognized as such! 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 12 – 15 

Explanation: While the essay reflects highly of SAMANTHA, it lacks sufficient specific evidence to support significant impact as a role model for science, technology, engineering and production careers.

CIARA

CIARA has clearly demonstrated her passion for not only growing and developing her business at the plant in CITY, but also doing the same thing with her team. She has exemplified the qualities of leadership by embracing inclusion and diversity, supporting a strong culture of engagement at all levels, and by establishing a strong process driven environment to help standardize & sustain future growth. 

Utilizing her experience in Quality, Operations, and Engineering, she has provided a wide range of support for multiple functions in the plant. Challenging each of her direct reports for more, she has pushed each one of them to develop into the future leaders of the company. Her mentoring of female leaders is inspirational to other women who are emerging in the manufacturing field and who may need guidance on their journey. 

CIARA commands a great deal of respect from the plant and across the electrical sector for her performance, community involvement, and dedication to building a strong foundation for future leaders. Even in a cyclical business that relies heavily on external factors like commodity pricing to be profitable, she works with the team to create a plan that will overcome the obstacles and meet / exceed all expectations. I think CIARA’s unyielding commitment to her team, her community, and the company’s success makes her a 2024 Women MAKE Awards Honoree. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 20 – 23 

Explanation: The essay portrays characteristics of a good role model but could have included more supporting evidence of her leadership impact.

REBECCA

REBECCA should be chosen as an honoree because she is a role model, leading by example to guide and inspire those around her. She strives for high performance in herself, in her coworkers, and in the motorcycles we build to deliver a world class experience. Her passion for our customers shows in how she does her work with the utmost integrity, always pushing for the best product for our riders. She invests in those around her and is always looking for opportunities to teach others or assist them in their personal development. She is proactive to engage our leadership with her work, making sure they understand the principles of Human Factors Engineering when making critical decisions. REBECCA is a life-long learner, strategically leading innovation and research to advance her capabilities and to better understand the impact of human biology, physiology and psychology in engineering design. REBECCA cares about those around her, engaging with students, women at COMPANY and those in the community. Rebecca’s leadership makes an impact, because she is genuine, enthusiastic, and honest. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: Her commitment to excellence professionally and within her community is clearly communicated. The essay also provides multiple supporting examples of the characteristics and qualities that make for a good role model for science, technology, engineering and production careers.

Please share a noteworthy contribution and/or technical accomplishment your nominee has achieved at her company and why it is so impactful.

FELICIA

FELICIA is a Project Engineer working for COMPANY focusing on a unique and challenging product line of Evacuation Slides. These slides are used to save lives in case of emergency on aircrafts. The product line requires a comprehensive skill set of engineering, project management, manufacturing, testing, and reporting in order to design, qualify, manufacture, and support field issues. 

FELICIA has recently participated in an outward-facing joint investigation with the Airforce. This investigation has high visibility within the company and even to the media. FELICIA has worked diligently in identifying the root cause of the failures. This includes witnessing onsite testing at the Airforce base as well as further hands-on investigation of the suspect slides. She has been able to find the root cause and is currently developing appropriate corrective actions to ensure the issue will not happen in the future and thus making air transportation safer. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 20 – 23 

Explanation: The candidate portrays a high level of expertise in her field. The impact of her contributions to the company and broader customer base are significant through her work to identify the failures in the product.

TABATHA

TABATHA has joined our organization at a very opportune time. We are currently going through a few changes in our production processing. She brings with her great industry knowledge and has already begun to transform the manner in which material planning is executed. She is doing this by using her prior experience and knowledge and applying it to her current role. She has set aggressive goals for all several KPI’s and in only a few months has made transformative changes that will help the aerospace group to meet the goals. Additionally, she has pinpointed many areas of needed improvement both physical and systematically in our material planning. She has contributed greatly regarding our ERP system while also re-organizing our inventory areas. She has great knowledge in supply-chain and is currently participating in a manufacturing series where she is broadening her understanding in Lean manufacturing as well as standardization in process improvement. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 18 – 21 

Explanation: In only a few months TABATHA has made transformative changes that will help the group to meet their goals. Full credit was not received for lack of specific supporting examples to more clearly convey a significant impact from the areas of improvement TABATHA identified and modified.

VIVIAN

VIVIAN has her degree from UT in Chemical Engineering and started working at COMPANY in 2013 as part of the company’s co-op program – a program that has new college graduates rotate into different positions. 

VIVIAN had been in her new role as operations manager at COMPANY’s Texas facility for only eight months when Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast in August of 2017 and she had to lead operations and recovery. In addition to being a new manager facing a crisis, she needed to support employees and customers dealing with losses due to flooding and power outages. 

As Harvey took its toll on the area, her plant lost power for five days, and they weren’t able to use phone or the internet, so VIVIAN improvised to communicate with customers, management and employees. She also made sure that her team never forgot about and always followed safety protocols so everyone remained safe during the recovery efforts. 

Later that year, VIVIAN was appointed plant manager of the facility. VIVIAN’s team and facility were awarded the CEO Safety Award in 2017 for having outstanding safety performance during and after Hurricane Harvey. While in the eye of a major crisis event, VIVIAN never panicked – she was able adapt to her new role as plant manager, mitigate a crisis event and prevent safety incidents. She stands out as having the characteristics and temperament of a leader. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: The essay describes a specific instance in Vivian’s ability to make a significant impact on the company through her response during Hurricane Harvey and her ability to lead her team through the hurricane crisis. The candidate truly went above and beyond to make a significant impact in a time of crisis.

Please share a noteworthy contribution your nominee has achieved in her community, and why it is so impactful.

FELICIA

In college, FELICIA was the Secretary for the Society of Women Engineers and led engagement and fundraising efforts for the organization. While working at a VIRGINIA site, she partnered with a local outreach group to tutor adults seeking their GED’s in hopes of improving their employment opportunities to gain independence. In her recent relocation to TENNESSEE, she has started the process to become a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and attends orientation in the coming weeks. FELICIA started with our company in MICHIGAN, relocated to VIRGINIA and just landed in TENNESSEE – as sign that she’s accelerating her career quickly by being flexible to go where the opportunity exists but also in building personal credibility to transition through positions quickly. These quick moves have limited the amount of time she’s had to establish herself within each community, however – she’s found a way to contribute at each stop in her career. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 15 – 18 

Explanation: Although FELICIA has had limited time in each community, she was able to contribute in different ways including tutoring adults to improve their employment opportunities, Habitat for Humanity, and other fundraising efforts. She showcases a great interest in giving back to the community, however the essay lacks sufficient supporting evidence to convey significant impact.

TABATHA

TABATHA has engrained herself into all aspects of our company culture. She has participated in several company sponsored events and been a fixture on the manufacturing floor. All of her activities have made it easy for others to approach her and easier for her to affect change with minimal disruption. Her emerging leadership is important because it orientates the team to a common goal. An example in her community and organizational involvement has been participating in wellness activities. These activities include participation in the organization’s downtown 5K, among others. She has been a great example for others in our wellness initiative and her personality allows for a lasting impression. She participated in a companywide step challenge where she contributed greatly to her team and the team was able to earn a second place position. Her actions and willing participation contribute to the developing company wellness culture. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 12 – 15 

Explanation: TABATHA is involved in her organization’s community efforts and is clearly a team player, which has allowed her to orient the team to a common goal. While she is heavily involved in actively improving company culture, the essay fails to convey the impact of her efforts outside of the company.

VIVIAN

As a college student at UT, VIVIAN worked with and mentored at-risk middle school children on a weekly basis, and that experience showed her what it meant to give back. It sparked her desire to do more for children in need, and in 2015 she began volunteering at nonprofit organization that works hand-in-hand with the state to help support kids who are in the foster care system and become their advocates. 

Becoming a volunteer to this nonprofit takes a lot of commitment to the cause and dedication to the children – 30 hours of training are required to begin working as a volunteer, and 12 more each year are required to continue volunteering. As a volunteer, VIVIAN handles each child’s case with care and meets with the children at least monthly, goes to their school to meet with their teachers and/or daycare providers, she meets with the child’s foster family, and she attends monitored family visitations. She also writes court reports for each case and makes recommendations to the court about what is best for each child based on her work and observations. It is definitely not an easy way to volunteer, but through her work she’s seen kids get adopted or go back to their families, and those success stories keep her going. 

VIVIAN also organizes and participates in volunteering events for her team at COMPANY, most recently with the Texas Adopt-A-Highway program and the South Texas Food Bank. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: VIVIAN’s contributions as a volunteer to advocate for children in the foster care system have created a significant impact in the lives of these children. Her efforts go beyond simplistic volunteer presence and it is clear the time spent with the organization directly affects the life of a child in transition.

Please share how your nominee has been a leader by mentoring others and/or engaging the next generation of female talent.

FELICIA

A very pleasant but intended consequence of her collaborative approach is that not only are the various team members excited to see the success of the chosen project but they also see FELICIA as a strong resource and partner in their work environment. Being the new, junior staff member can be a daunting role but FELICIA takes it in stride and focuses on the people around her and the work to be done. Mentoring operators in how engineering processes work and engaging them to understand the bigger picture of their manufacturing process has reinforced FELICIA’s collaborative approach. 

FELICIA also worked closely with a few tenured engineers and supervisors on projects who initially shared abundant negative feedback on the continuous improvement process, feeling it was confusing and exclusive to recognizing only the higher levels of management. Through her diligence and taking additional effort to explain how each phase worked, FELICIA lead these two individuals through starting and ultimately owning their projects. This partnership focus and willingness to promote individual recognition is another strong attribute of FELICIA’s leadership style. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 12 – 15 

Explanation: The essay lacks supporting evidence of significant impact of the candidate’s mentorship abilities or championing the industry through advocacy. The scoring range reflects the impact of FELICIA’s efforts to work with individuals at her plant through their individual projects.

TABATHA

Our organization is in the midst of several major projects and TABATHA has key roles in each. She is a core team member and SME in a changing ERP system. She is a driving force in the re-organization of inventory areas and she is a valuable addition to a newly segregated aerospace manufacturing team. In all of these roles she encourages others as they join her on the journey. This has allowed her to take her expertise acquired from prior experience as well as her continued pursuit in further degree education. As mentioned, she is participating in the Manufacturing series where she partakes in developing project that impact her work environment. She is not the only one participating in this series as she is working alongside other females and males in further developing procedures using a continuous improvement mentality. She is a prime example of a female trailblazer in a predominately male-centric manufacturing environment. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 19 – 21 

Explanation: TABATHA leads by example as a trailblazer by pursuing her passion and talents, encourages others to join her, and continues to shine in a male dominated workplace and industry. Minor points were deducted for the lack of supporting evidence in her direct impact as a mentor/champion for the industry.

VIVIAN

VIVIAN received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas in Austin in chemical engineering, and since then has had an extraordinary career at COMPANY. It’s because of her abilities, experience and leadership that she has become a ‘go-to’ mentor for many women at the company. 

VIVIAN is one of a few female plant managers at COMPANY, and she’s made sure to take time out from her daily work to mentor other female leaders on a regular basis. She was a mentor to a female co-op participant who ultimately selected a career in operations following the program. 

VIVIAN is also an active participant in COMPANY’s women’s networking and leadership resource group. Through the resource group, she is able to mentor other women and was selected to be mentored by the COMPANY’S CEO. Through these mentorship circles VIVIAN has flourished and continues giving and receiving guidance while she grows as a leader. 

The Recruiting department has also tapped VIVIAN to help them recruit top engineers at university and SWE career events. Her background as a former chemical engineering major, and the stories of her experience and success in the company have proven to be valuable. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 22 – 25 

Explanation: VIVIAN actively participates as an ambassador in the recruitment efforts to hire new talent into the company. The essay also clearly communicates her growth as both a mentor and mentee.

Explain why your nominee should be chosen as a 2024 Women MAKE Awards Emerging Leader.

FELICIA

FELICIA displays strong leadership skills and as she continues to master her knowledge of our company systems, tools and processes, we believe she will continue to grow as a strong female mentor and high level contributor. She is consistent in her demeanor and open to new ideas. As a true student of our operation in her first few weeks of a new role, she’s able to build strong interpersonal relationships among the key leadership and operational team members at each location. Her first role within our organization directly from college, as an Engineering Trainee, she balanced acclimating to a new phase in her life and establishing herself as a professional within our company – not an easy feat for any recent college graduate. Her accelerated career growth is another sign of the strength in her ability to learn quickly, partner with others and drive success which we believe makes her a true Emerging Leader. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 13 – 16 

Explanation: It is clear FELICIA demonstrates budding potential for leadership opportunities and is transitioning well into the workforce after college, however there is not sufficient evidence provided to showcase she has made significant contributions early in her career.

TABATHA

COMPANY is a traditional manufacturing company in a very competitive environment. The company has decided to implement several aggressive growth strategies aimed at transforming the organization into a world class manufacturing company. TABATHA is at the heart of this effort and has the opportunity to leave a lasting impression in all that she touches. Furthermore, she has shown countless examples of her commitment and motivation to becoming a leader in our organization. TABATHA has taken initiative and headed several major projects, such as setting concrete goals for KPI’s. Her dedication and involvement make it evident that she has the passion and strong desire to positively influence our corporate culture. TABATHA’s team members take notice of how she is on the manufacturing floor, working alongside them with the same ethic and tenacity to perform well. Leadership is not a trait that can be learned in a classroom or by reading a book, but is gained through experience and possession of virtues. TABATHA is a driving force in the future success of COMPANY becoming a global leader in the manufacturing industry. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 19 – 22 

Explanation: The essay portrays her commitment and motivation to becoming a leader in the organization, communicating the positive influence she has contributed to company culture that showcase the characteristics of a good role model for science technology, engineering and production careers.

VIVIAN

VIVIAN is an extraordinary woman, employee, manager, intellect, mentor, volunteer and colleague. Her passions exceed the amount of available waking hours, and her talents extend farther than she knows. 

Without much support or experience as plant manager, VIVIAN was able to support a plant, her employees and customers during one of the worst crises we’ve seen in the Gulf, and see it through recovery. The way she is able to adapt, learn and acclimate quickly is remarkable. And her ability to function with confidence, humility and grace has earned her the respect and admiration of her employees and colleagues around the world. 

At a young age she has positively affected and influenced the lives of so many at work and as a volunteer supporting children at risk of getting lost in the court system. Her goals are selfless and she is truly ready and willing to go and do whatever is asked of her or that she sees needs to be done. 

What I appreciate most about VIVIAN is her willingness to take time for the things that so many people neglect — she spends time cultivating relationships and supporting others in ways that I truly admire. Her roles at COMPANY are just a small taste of what she will bring to the table and to the advancement of women in engineering and manufacturing. 

Rating Guide: 1 = No Impact; 12 = Average Impact; 25 = Significant Impact 

Your Score: ____ OF 25 

Scoring Range: 15 – 18 

Explanation: The essay shows VIVIAN’s commitment to excellence and ability to overcome challenges in a difficult situation. In addition to her excellent work ethic, VIVIAN is dedicated to cultivating relationships and supporting her team, showcasing great qualities of an Emerging Leader. VIVIAN’s actions early in her career showcase her above and beyond efforts to significantly impact the community and company in a positive manner.