Orlando-based management and consulting company Diane Meiller and Associates, Inc., in partnership with Junior Achievement of Central Florida, recently hosed its 4th annual “Me and My CommUnity” event. The one-day executive mentoring program consisted of 40 young women from various Orange County high schools who were selected by their school administrators to participate in the event, based upon academic and leadership potential.
Students were divided into teams – each led by a local influential female executive –and challenged to provide creative solutions to issues facing Central Florida. Topics included tax revenue, crime, unemployment, education and the aging population.
The “education team,” led by Maureen Brockman, vice president of marketing and communications of the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, was chosen as the winning group by a panel of judges and participants – and received $2,000. The team proposed a peer-to-peer and community volunteer mentorship program to help encourage high school students.
Collectively, the group decided to donate half of the prize money to the Foundation for Orange County Public Schools. Team members included:
– Leticia Andrade, Florida Mall Education Center
– Amy Bonilla, Boone High School
– Allyssa Brown, West Orange High School
– Keishla Casiano, Oak Ridge High School
– Candice Chamblin, Edgewater High School
– Shariqua Nebron, Edgewater High School
– Maya Prewitt, Timber Creek High School
“Our program’s primary objective is to provide mentoring to high-potential future female leaders, enhance their understanding of community issues, and combine this with the challenge of developing a solution and presenting it,” said Diane Meiller, founder and president of Diane Meiller and Associates. “This is a real-world type of exercise that gives the girls an opportunity to work together on a common goal and understand the complexity behind solving many of our community problems. The skills they utilize – such as project planning, developing presentations, working collaboratively and brainstorming – are the same professional abilities that they will need to succeed in any career they pursue.”
Other local executives who participated in the program included:
– Glenda Hood, former Secretary of State of Florida and former Mayor of Orlando
– Thomasina Kennedy, director of human resources, CHEP
– Yolanda Londoño, vice president of global social and responsibility, Tupperware
– Leslie O’Meara Malfitano, director of human resources, Diane Meiller and Associates
– Ann Sonntag, publisher, Orlando Business Journal
