We received an application for a scholarship to attend a conference with the Women’s Industry Network (WIN) in the mail.  The application asked for the collision repair instructors to select and encourage their best female student to apply.  I only have one second-year female student so I asked Jenni if she would be interested in attending the 2009 WIN conference, which is March 22 – 24 in Dallas, Texas. Jenni agreed that a scholarship to attend the conference would be interesting.  Therefore, Jenni wrote a small essay expressing why she would like to attend the conference, I completed the instructor portion of the application and we mailed it in.

Friday, I received an e-mail that Jenni won the scholarship.  I don’t have all the details about the scholarship yet, but I do have some information about WIN that I can share with you.  WIN is an organization for women in the collision repair industry.   Their mission statement is: “The Women’s Industry Network (WIN) is a not-for-profit association dedicated to encouraging, developing and cultivating opportunities to attract women to collision repair while recognizing excellence, promoting leadership, and fostering a network among the women who are shaping the industry.”

The 2009 conference keynote speaker is Marjorie Brody. You can see a short YouTube about Marjorie below.  Other speakers include John Edelen, CEO and President of I-CAR, and Stacy Bartnik, Assistant Vice President & Director of Field Services CARSTAR Franchise Systems, Inc.

Kudos to Jennifer Engelbrecht.  I feel confident that Jenni is among the top collision repair students in the nation.   She shows up on time everyday with a positive attitude and ready to tackle all challenges each day produces.  Therefore, she will be a great asset to the WIN organization.

Below is the short video of the key speaker.