WATCH: Florida Tech’s Bisk College of Business weVENTURE Visits Winners of 2020 ‘Women Who Rock Awards’

By  //  July 3, 2020

WATCH: weVENTURE, the women’s business center in Florida Tech’s Bisk College of Business, has announced the winners of its 2020 Women Who Rock Awards in a way reflective of the current times: in a video featuring weVENTURE staff delivering the awards to the surprised recipients.


BREVARD COUNTY, MELBOURNE • FLORIDA – weVENTURE, the women’s business center in Florida Tech’s Bisk College of Business, has announced the winners of its 2020 Women Who Rock Awards in a way reflective of the current times: in a video featuring weVENTURE staff delivering the awards to the surprised recipients.

The Women Who Rock ceremony, held annually in honor of Women’s History Month, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The video may be viewed here.

Here are the 2020 winners:

■ Female Small Business Owners of the Year: Jeanetta Johnson, Little Folk Child Care Center; and Michelle Waldorf, Busy Bears Preschool Academy. Johnson and Waldorf not only have their own thriving businesses, but they also support other women in their professional endeavors by providing a service that allows others the opportunity to succeed.

■ Excellence in Mentorship: Erin Mitchell, an industrial engineer at Collins Aerospace, is a mentor to hundreds of K-12 students as part of the robotics programs FIRST Robotics and FIRST Lego Leagues.

■ Women in the Workplace Champion: Collins Aerospace; award presented to Lisa Steffen, Melbourne site manager. Collins Aerospace was nominated by the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast because about 45 percent of its local manufacturing workforce is female – well above the industry average of 29 percent –and the company has numerous women in leadership positions within the corporation.

■ Dr. Mary Helen McCay STEM Award: Caeley Looney, editor-in-chief and president, Reinvented Magazine, and mission analyst at L3Harris. The inaugural recipient of this new award strongly represents what the award and its namesake signify: a woman who is not just leading in her field, but encouraging other women to succeed in STEM fields.

■ Zonta Yellow Rose for Excellence in Community Service: Cindy Mitchell, program director of Salvation Army Domestic Violence Shelter. Mitchell has been a voice of comfort and support for battered women and children since 1997.

“We are honored to recognize such hard-working, deserving women and local businesses who prioritize diversity in their leadership ranks,” weVENTURE Executive Director Kathryn Rudloff said.

“We celebrate the gains women have made in society and commend those who help lift up the next generation of women leaders.”

A total of 22 women and companies were nominated by their peers and the general public for the 2020 Women Who Rock awards. A selection committee then chose the 2020 award winners.

weVENTURE staff surprised the winners by visiting their homes or place of business to deliver the awards in person.

CLICK HERE to learn more about weVENTURE or see all the women nominated in 2020.

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