As ISM 2018 kicked off in Nashville, TN, last weekend, Thomas and the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) hosted an award ceremony and luncheon for the 2017 winners of the 30 Under 30 Rising Supply Chain Stars program. Now in its fourth year, the partnership between Thomas and ISM recognizes outstanding young professionals in supply chain management.
Chosen from hundreds of nominees, the thirty individuals selected demonstrate superior supply chain understanding, management skills, negotiation techniques, and industry awareness every day in their roles.
Working for companies around the globe, this year’s class of 30 Under 30 winners was a diverse representation of industry professionals. 40% of winners were female (a 3% increase from last year) and 60% were male, with a median age of 28 years old. Their roles span across the fields of aerospace & defense, healthcare, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, oil & gas, and beyond.
2018 Award Ceremony
Preceded by a luncheon for the winners to meet and share their industry experiences with one another, Sunday’s award ceremony was hosted by executives from both Thomas and ISM.
Shawn Fitzgerald, vice president of marketing at Thomas, and Deborah Stanton, executive managing director at CAPS Research and ISM board member, began the ceremony by thanking the winners for their contributions to the industry and encouraging them to give back by mentoring junior members of their team in the same way their nominators mentored them in the early years of their own careers. Winners were then recognized individually and received their awards from Fitzgerald and Stanton in front of the group.
Millennials Taking Supply Management by Storm
Six of the winners later joined Tony Uphoff, president and CEO of Thomas, onstage at “Young, Energized, and Taking Supply Management by Storm,” a TED-talk style panel session during the first day of ISM 2018.
During the panel, Mitchell Agee from The Boeing Company, Charlotte de Brabandt from Johnson & Johnson, Trenton Lara from Pacific Gas & Electric, Tanner Ryan from Shell Trading Company, Sharndeep Singh from Johnson Controls, and Lauren Sylvester from the US Postal Service spoke about the biggest influencing factors in their careers, their secrets to streamlining process and workflows, and how they see the millennial generation affecting the future of supply chain management.
Their perspectives closely aligned with current industry trends; millennials represent 40% of Thomas’ user base and are its fastest growing audience segment.
Looking Ahead to the Class of 2018
More information on the 2017 winners and details for the nomination process for next year’s class is available on the 30 Under 30 website. Nominations open this September.