DALLAS, May 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Texas Instruments (TI) Incorporated announced today the winners of its fifth annual TI Founders Community Service Awards (CSA), recognizing ten individuals and five teams of volunteers for their outstanding community service efforts.
For each award, TI will make a U.S. $1,000 donation on the winners' behalf to the approved nonprofit agency where they volunteered. This year's total $15,000 contribution will benefit communities near TI sites in the U.S., Asia and Europe.
"I'm very proud of the meaningful contributions made by all of this year's winners and nominees," said Trisha Cunningham, TI's chief citizenship officer. "All of our volunteers deserve praise and thanks for the exceptional work that they are doing to improve the communities around the world where TI operates."
Nominations were judged on several criteria, including the impact the volunteer work had on the community and the leadership the individual or team exhibited. An independent panel of judges, consisting of education and community leaders from the various states and countries in which TI has a major presence, named the following individuals and teams as 2014 winners:
Austin, Texas
Ashish Ahuja
Ashish is a dedicated volunteer who serves a variety of nonprofit organizations. He has taken on many volunteer roles over the last four years, supporting Toastmasters International, BEST Robotics, Inc., Dallas/Ft. Worth Technology & Education Council and the FIRST LEGO League Robotics.
Dallas, TX
Mary Helmick
As a board member and key volunteer for North Texas BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) and Dallas BEST Robotics, Mary has enabled the organization to reach a larger number of students each year. As a result, hundreds of students have been exposed to engineering through the program, with many of them having completed engineering degrees and now working as professional engineers.Kim Smith
An unwavering advocate and mentor for girls and women, Kim is personally invested in encouraging young women to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in college and career. She has mentored more than 100 girls and women through Big Brothers and Sisters, Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas, Women's Crisis Shelter and at TI over the last two decades."Motor Heads" Team: TI High Volume Analog & Logic products
After realizing TI's Motor Drivers business unit had a lot of cool toys, like Vex robots, LEGOs and motor kits, employees jumped into action. They teamed with United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the Dallas Independent School District to support "The Art of Student Success" program for sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at Stockard Middle School in south Dallas.
Sherman, TX
Shumsur Rahman
Shumsur is a long-time community volunteer. Over the past 10 years, he has devoted a great deal of his free time working as a volunteer with the Islamic Association of Collin County (IACC). As an IACC board member, he was instrumental in the board's decision to open the IACC food pantry and weekly dental clinic.Greg Thomas
Greg gives low-income families the ability to own a home. As a Habitat for Humanity volunteer, he has helped build 21 homes over the last 13 years. These homes have benefitted more than 150 people. As a crew chief, Greg teaches homeowners and volunteers how to maintain a home and build new homes for other Habitat families.
Stafford, TX
Suzette Kelly
Suzette is a passionate supporter of children in crisis situations. Since 2011, she has served as a guardian ad litem for Child Advocates, Inc., where she is assigned by a judge to represent the best interests of a child or sibling group in foster care. Each case runs about one-and-a-half years, and Suzette is working on her third case.
Tucson, AZ
Tucson STEM Committee
To support Tucson, Ariz. as a community and develop a new core of engineers originating from the area, the Tucson STEM Committee has been heightening awareness around the importance of STEM education. Over the past year, committee members have facilitated nine major efforts to ignite student interest and success. These efforts involved more than 50 TI volunteers with a focus on outreach to underrepresented students in South Tucson.
Sunnyvale, CA
Bay Area Sales Team
With time in mind, TI's Bay Area Sales team makes volunteering easy and accessible for TI employees in the Sunnyvale Sales and Silicon Valley Analog offices. The team offers employees the opportunity to spend a couple of hours volunteering at a local nonprofit on a monthly basis and then attend a social event immediately afterward.
St. Petersburg, FL
Mark Russell
Helping orphaned children in the U.S. and around the world became a mission for Mark after volunteering at a malnutrition center outside of Antigua, Guatemala in 2008. To raise funds and bring awareness to the needs of orphaned children in Florida, Guatemala, Africa and the Dominican Republic, Mark founded FreeRide836 kitesurfing events. His first event raised more than $70,000 to build a home for an orphanage in Tanzania, Africa.
Shanghai, China
Weil Cheng
Before taking his 18-year-old daughter on a bike tour from Tibet to Yunnan, Weil decided to make the experience more meaningful. He embedded his passion for serving the community into the journey and raised funds that are allowing 16 students from poor families in China complete their high school education.Laura Shuey
While attending the One Young World conference in 2012, Laura was inspired by the testimonials of other young leaders. After the conference, she developed a volunteer plan to involve TI employees at the Sunnyvale Sales Office in their local community. She launched the volunteer program in 2013 and, as a result, 106 volunteers completed 300 volunteer hours last year alone.
Ra'anana, Israel
Ram Amrani
As a lead volunteer for TI Israel's involvement in Ra'anana with the Shiur Acher program, Ram is expanding opportunities for disadvantaged children in the Israeli public school system. Ram and his team of 30 volunteers provide enrichment classes to eighth grade students at Ort Yad Leibowitz in Netanya.
Baguio, Philippines
TI Philippines Community Service Representative Council
The members of TI Philippines' (TIPI) Community Service Representative Council are committed to improving the lives of people who live in Baguio and nearby communities. As the main organization responsible for organizing and promoting TIPI's community-related activities, the CSR team supports area education, safety, environment, health and nutrition programs.
Bangalore, India
TI Dhwani Team
For the past 10 years, TI India volunteers have supported an annual, two-day music festival called Dhwani. Dhwani is organized by the Bangalore Kidney Foundation to raise funds for their "one free dialysis a day" program that supports needy patients suffering from chronic kidney disease. The team dedicated a total of 232 hours to reduce event management expenses, which is expected to benefit 640 economically-challenged patients.
The TI Founders Community Service Awards are named in honor of TI founders J. Erik Jonsson, Eugene McDermott, Cecil Green and Pat Haggerty, who set the standard for TI employees to be involved in their communities. Created for TI's 80th anniversary in collaboration with the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, these annual awards recognize TI employees who are nominated by their peers as outstanding volunteers, making contributions to the communities where TI operates.
Read more about these volunteers and other TI citizenship programs at www.ti.com/citizenship.
About Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is a global semiconductor design and manufacturing company that develops analog ICs and embedded processors. By employing the world's brightest minds, TI creates innovations that shape the future of technology. TI is helping more than 100,000 customers transform the future, today. Learn more at www.ti.com.
SOURCE Texas Instruments Incorporated