IFMA Foundation Announces 2022 Scholarship Recipients and IgniteFM! Student Challenge Winners at IFMA World Workplace Conference and Expo
HOUSTON, TEXAS, USA – The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) Foundation awarded approximately $100,000 in scholarships to 27 students at the IFMA World Workplace Conference and Expo. These scholarships honor the outstanding achievements of students studying the field of facility management and the built environment. You can learn more about each scholarship recipient and their sponsors here. Scholarships are funded by IFMA Chapters and Councils along with organizations and companies supporting the IFMA Foundation. “The support of scholarship sponsors is crucial in helping these talented students further their facility management education and ease their financial burden of college tuition” said Irene Thomas Johnson, IFMA Foundation Chair.
Scholarship recipients can attend career webinars with the IFMA Foundation Global Workforce Initiative (GWI) Advisors including Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), ABM Industries, and Sodexo. “Having access to the best and the brightest students in facility management provides our GWI Advisors with the ability to fill the talent gap in our industry with top-notch students,” said Irene Thomas Johnson. Additionally, student scholarship recipients participate in the Foundation’s IgniteFM! Student Challenge where students are placed in teams with peers from other schools whom they had never met and given three hours to solve an FM problem.
Sponsored by FM:Systems, IgniteFM! student competition participants present their solutions to a judging panel and an audience of facility professionals working long hours before to perfect their presentations. In the audience are GWI Advisors’ talent acquisition teams observing the students and ready to interview and hire these talented future FM leaders. “We at FM:Systems believe fervently in the mission of the IFMA Foundation to support and expand the education in facility management. GWI is critical not just in filling a workforce gap but in elevating facility management to a true profession” said Michael Schley, Founder, and board member at FM:Systems.
The IFMA Foundation scholarship program has awarded more than $1.8 million dollars to more than 650 students since the program started in the early 1990’s. The 2023 IFMA Foundation scholarship applications will be posted on January 5, 2023 on the Scholarships page of the IFMA Foundation website..
2022 IFMA Foundation IgniteFM! Student Challenge Winners are:
Amber Felder, University of North Texas
Brooke Jackson, University of Missouri
Evan Misener, Ferris State University
Jason Tate, University of Arizona
Reginald Warren, University of Alabama at Birmingham
About the IFMA Foundation
Established in 1990 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and separate entity from the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), the IFMA Foundation works for the public good to promote priority research and educational opportunities for the advancement of facility management. The IFMA Foundation is supported by the generosity of the FM community including IFMA members, chapters, councils, corporate sponsors, and private contributors who share the belief that education and research improve the FM profession. To learn more about the IFMA Foundation, visit foundation.ifma.org.
About FM:Systems
FM:Systems provides workplace management technology and solutions that enable facility and real estate teams to identify, plan, and deliver the ideal workplace for every employee. Our leading web-based Integrated Workspace Management System (IWMS) and real-estate analytics software improves management of space, occupancy, renovations, moves, maintenance, property, assets, agile workspaces, employee experience, smart buildings and more. FM:Systems is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, and conducts business throughout the Americas, Africa, Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information about FM:Systems, please visit www.fmsystems.com.
About IFMA
IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for facility management professionals, supporting 24,000 members in more than 100 countries. This diverse membership participates in focused component groups equipped to address their unique situations by region (136 chapters), industry (16 councils) and areas of interest (six communities). Together they manage more than 78 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$526 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies professionals in facility management; conducts research; provides educational programs, content, and resources; and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest series of facility management conferences and expositions. To join and follow IFMA’s social media outlets online, visit the association’s LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Flickr pages. For more information, visit the IFMA press room or www.ifma.org.
