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Alumni News | 05/26/2021
By: Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation

May 2021 Accolades

Chia-Jung Tsay (2000), associate professor at the University London College School of Management, was named one of the “World’s Best 40 under 40 MBA Professors” by Poets&Quants. She is also a world class pianist!
Samuel Vilchez Santiago (2015) was selected as an Eisenhower Global Scholar, a national fellowship that covers all costs to pursue an MPP at Oxford University in the U.K.

As written here, Samuel co-founded the Familias Presentes Movement, a nonprofit that advocates for better educational opportunities for Latino students across Florida. As the youngest member ever appointed to the Orange County (Fla.) Charter Review Commission, he championed proposals to expand access to clean water, protect conservation lands and strengthen environmental regulations. He wants to use his studies at Oxford to develop an interdisciplinary approach to policy advocacy, and “continue growing as a public servant.”

Sue Suh (1992) was honored as a ‘New Yorker for New York’ by Citizens Committee for New York City. New York is Sue’s hometown and has allowed Sue to make her dreams come true. Watch this video to hear her story.

As a way to process and navigate this difficult year, Smitha Das (2009) came together with two friends to discuss how to find meaningful connection in an uncertain world. This led them to launch a podcast called Seen & Heard, where they explore how to build quality connection and community and share helpful frameworks, tools, and practices along the way.

In addition to the podcast, she is also creating space for reconnection by hosting a wellness experience called Reconnect, a 4-week experience to help people connect with themselves, others, and the world. Designed to spark joy, authenticity, and connection, the series will feature programming around three M’s: movement, mind, and meet.

Jolene Loetscher (1997), her husband Nate, and their team at Mud Mile Communications won another Telly Award for Reveal, a video created for the 2020 Coca-Cola Scholars Banquet that featured the incredible moments 5 high school seniors – Peyton Klein in Pittsburgh, Thenuri Poththewela in NYC, Fez Zafar in Des Moines, Amy Lamas in Tampa, and Lucas San Miguel in Atlanta – each learned they were Coca-Cola Scholars from their local Coca-Cola bottlers. This video also received an international W3 in October 2020. The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens.

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