Shapiro, a 99-year-old supply chain logistics leader, awarded Jasmine Gibson and Emily Reesey scholarships sponsored by Shapiro’s Educational Scholarship Committee

The Shapiro Educational Committee announced the first winners of an annual student scholarship program. The scholarship, open to all Shapiro employee’s children, involved a rigorous evaluation process comprised of academic achievement records, letters of recommendation, a personal statement and an essay from each candidate. The winner, Jasmine Gibson, received a $2,500 scholarship and runner up, Emily Reesey, was presented with a $500 prize. Shapiro’s commitment to education extends deep into the community contributing to the University of Baltimore’s Export Import Management course for the Merrick School of Business. The company even launched an internal educational platform, Shapiro University, in 2013 for employees to learn and cross-train in varying career paths.

The winner of Shapiro’s student scholarship, Jasmine Gibson, is a sophomore at the University of Baltimore’s Digital Communications program and daughter of Senior Import Analyst, Sharon Brown. Gibson has been interning with Shapiro since the age of 14 using a work permit. Gibson started her Shapiro career with simple filing, however, through hard work and commitment, gained responsibilities to file Importer Security Filings (ISF), cargo tracking, data entry and working with the Shapiro 360° tracking and reporting tool. Even with a full course load, Gibson works 29 hours per week in the company’s import department assisting with high-level accounts. Gibson hopes to leverage her public relations concentration into a career working with the Baltimore Ravens in a marketing capacity in the future.

“Hands down, Shapiro has the best job environment ever, maximized by the personalities in the Import department” says Gibson. “I have never met such caring individuals. Working with Imports has made me weary of starting my career outside of Shapiro because you will never meet co-workers who will design shoe-styled cupcakes for your birthday celebration. These people really embody the idea of a team.”

Runner-up Emily Reesey, the daughter of Belinda Henson, Global Logistics Supervisor at Shapiro, received a scholarship of $500 from the Educational Scholarship Committee. Reesey is a Biotechnology major at Shippensburg University and is currently assisting in research mapping developmental genes of a local unstudied salamander species. Reesey started with Shapiro in 2011, assisting Shapiro’s Global Logistics Group completing filing, onboarding, billing and special projects.

“My favorite thing about working at Shapiro was being able to help my mom and spend time with her,” says Reesey. “She would joke that I was her personal assistant since I knew her expectations and how she liked her paperwork done. It also just made me happy to give extra help where it was needed.”