IFA Educational Foundation Recognizes Students Making a Positive Difference

This year’s scholarship recipients are high achievers and goal oriented.

Franchising World February 2012

By: Mariam L. Brewer

Whether you call them “Generation Y”, “Echo Boomers” or “Millennials,” this year’s scholarship awardees are sure to make their mark in the world.

According to Brue Tulgan of RainmakerThinking, the following characteristics are attributed to Generation Y:

High expectations of self: They aim to work faster and better than other workers.
High expectations of employers: They want fair and direct managers who are highly engaged in their professional development.
Ongoing learning: They seek out creative challenges and view colleagues as vast resources from whom to gain knowledge.
Immediate responsibility: They want to make an important impact on Day 1.
Goal-oriented: They want small goals with tight deadlines so they can build up ownership of tasks.

Choice Hotels International Minorities in Hospitality Scholars Award—$1,500

Kim Hoa Thi Nguyen, a student at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, is the 2011 recipient of the Choice Hotels International Minorities in Hospitality Scholars Program Award. Her father was a politician in his providence in South Vietnam and her mother was a teacher raising children during the Vietnam War. When Saigon fell, her father became a P.O.W. for six years. In the mid 1980s, Nguyen’s brothers were sent on a boat to the United States and enrolled in the foster care system in search of educational opportunities. Six years later, Nguyen, at the age of 11 months, along with the rest of her family, immigrated to the United States. Nguyen plans to honor the life-long struggle that her parents endured with eight children to be educated. With a major in hospitality management and an entrepreneurship minor, it is likely that Nguyen will not only meet her desired goal, but will surpass it with distinction.

DLA Piper Diversity Law Scholarship Award—$4,000

Roxana Mehrfar, a juris doctor candidate at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, is the 2011 DLA Piper Diversity Law Scholarship recipient. Mehrfar says that before she entered law school, she only knew that she wanted to become a litigator and had never considered franchise law. Mehrfar now understands that incorporating franchise law into her practice would allow her to work to overcome intellectual obstacles, and work closely with the legal principles she has come to think about and research on a deeper level, both inside and outside the classroom. Mehrfar hopes that her aspirations within the franchise law practice will allow her to build a foundation of fierce advocacy and integrity.

Marriott Minority Entrepreneurs Scholarship Award—$3,000

Growing up in Kansas, Juliana Shaw always knew she would go to a college far away. As the valedictorian of her class, she was offered numerous scholarships and selected the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps-Marine Corps Option Scholarship. The full-ride scholarship catered to her dream of being a J.A.G. officer in the U.S. Marine Corp. Two weeks before leaving for Howard University in Washington, D.C., Shaw was diagnosed with asthma, automatically disqualifying her for the scholarship. With two weeks until freshman orientation, she had two options: sink or swim. She chose the latter and has learned that living your dream neither is easy nor cheap, but it is worth every ounce of hard work and every penny invested. Shaw has excelled academically while also being a member of the Howard University Showtime Band. A business major with a concentration in management, Shaw plans to attend law school where she will join one of her role models, her sister. Shaw has already demonstrated that she will obtain her goals as sinking is not an option.

PepsiCo Foundation Minority Entrepreneurs Scholarship Awards—$2,000

Harryette Kim is enrolled in Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca, N.Y., and is taking advantage of the SHA/ Culinary Institute of America Collaborative Degree Program which provides students the opportunity to attain two degrees within the four years they attend Cornell. Kim’s parents instilled in her the American Dream, the premise that you aim high, work hard and with freedom comes prosperity and success. With the leadership and organizational skills she learned as the human resources director for the 86th Annual Hotel Ezra Cornell, an annual student-run hospitality conference, in addition to the collaborative degree program, Kim will no doubt excel in her desired career path.

Anselmo “Sammy” Macias was born into a family of migrant workers. His parents had minimal education, but worked hard to provide a stable lifestyle for their family. They believed hard work, not higher education, was a priority. Macias believed in both and is pursuing a double degree in business administration and elementary education at American Indian College of the Assemblies of God in Phoenix. Macias volunteers with an organization that conducts outreach to the Latino community in Phoenix. He is currently the executive student body treasurer/secretary. Using his business management knowledge, Macias seeks to open a coffeehouse. The business will provide jobs, promote diversity and generate revenue to support a non-profit that will serve the needs of the underprivileged. Macias may well be on his way to establishing a social franchise venture.

A senior at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Tiffany Weems, will receive her bachelor’s degree in managerial sciences with a minor in hospitality. Active on campus, Weems is the campus chapter president of the Economic Empowerment Initiative. Believing that it is important to stay involved on your college campus and to leave a mark, she attends leadership classes and seminars to help her balance and become a better leader. Weems’ goals are to own her own business in the hospitality field via hotel ownership, becoming a restaurateur and become involved with major league sport teams. Take note, they are all franchises. ”This scholarship will allow me to share my passion with the world,” Weems said.

These scholarship recipients are all high achievers and goal oriented. They are representing “Generation Y” in a most positive manner.

The foundation sincerely thanks its donors: Choice Hotels International, DLA Piper, Marriott International and PepsiCo Foundation for their continued support.

Miriam L. Brewer is director of education and diversity for the International Franchise Association. She can be reached at 202-662-0784 or mbrewer@franchise.org.