SABIC hosted it’s second FOSSI Summer Summit at their Burkville (BKV), Alabama, facility in early June, with seven of SABIC’s FOSSI scholars in attendance: Nina Johnson, Destiny Brand, Melea Earley, Jailin Turner, Brandis Nathan, Charlton Crawford, and Jerry Sands. Over three days, scholars focused on professional and personal development and learned about SABIC, safety, the environment, and sustainability.
More on SABIC’s FOSSI Summer Summit
All greatly expanded their professional networks and connected with SABIC employees through meetings with leaders on- and off-site; a tour of the BKV Finishing Plant; and engaging with the Young SABIC Professionals (YSP) members, SHE Women’s Network members, co-ops, and engineers that are part of the SABIC Engineers Early Development (SEED) program. The scholars also participated in job shadowing, mock interviews, a visit to the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, and an Etiquette Dinner with co-ops and SEED members.
FOSSI scholars reflect on the program
Nina Johnson, Destiny Brand, and Melea Earley noted that the summit helped them make connections with what they observed during their SABIC summer internships.
Nina commented, “The Summer Summit helped reinforce my opinion about the culture of the company… BKV staff take pride in being able to help shape young engineers and they prioritize safety. It also helped change my opinion about the careers SABIC has to offer. Being new to a manufacturing environment, I wasn’t aware that SABIC has careers in every avenue: IT, cybersecurity, academia, and finance.”
SABIC employees share their thoughts
The summit was also a learning experience for the 49 SABIC employees involved in the events. Tanner Brinyark, a SABIC engineer who mentors a FOSSI student, shared, “The FOSSI summit was a great opportunity to build relationships and learn from one another. This was also a great opportunity to showcase what SABIC and the Burkville area have to offer. As a SABIC employee, it makes me proud to be able to talk with the students and educate them about the company and potential careers that they could one day have within SABIC.”
SABIC currently is sponsoring 15 FOSSI students and is looking forward to adding five more to the group in fall 2024, with the goal of providing not just scholarship money, but additional support and development including, academic coaching, work opportunities, mentorship from SABIC employees, opportunities to engage with its sites, and care packages.
We invite companies not currently supporting FOSSI to build their pipeline of outstanding and diverse talent by supporting a FOSSI scholar. Learn more.