Don Schlimme Future Leader Award

Logo - Don Schlimme Future Leader AwardOrganized by the Global Cold Chain Alliance and its Core Partner the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses, the Don Schlimme Future Leader Award recognizes outstanding young professionals in the North American cold storage industry. The award is named in honor of Donald V. Schlimme, Ph.D, who passed away in 2012 and was a longtime member of the WFLO Scientific Advisory Committee (1983-2012) and a WFLO Staff Advisor for many of those years. He was an expert in food science and cold storage and was committed to sharing his extensive knowledge.

 

 

Winners of the Don Schlimme Future Leader Award

Tamara Palefsky, United States Cold Storage                                                                                         2021


Zeshan Hassan, Congebec Inc.

 

 

2020
Michael Fischer, RLS Logistics  2019
Marquel Broussard, New Orleans Cold Storage 2018
Matt Toogood, United States Cold Storage 2017
Colin Longmuir, Henningson Cold Storage Co. 2016
Joey Williams, Nordic Logistics and Warehousing  2015

 

Award Eligibility

The Don Schlimme Future Leader Award recognizes outstanding young professionals who show potential for future career advancement but have not yet risen to top-level leadership positions within their company. To be eligible for the award, applicants must meet the following criteria:

 

  • Be a U.S. or Canadian employee of an IARW warehouse member company.
  • Be 35 years of age, or younger, at the time of the award application deadline. 
  • Possess a minimum of three years of work experience in any sector of the industry, including (but not limited to): operations, administration, human resources, engineering, accounting, sales, customer service, or management.
  • Possess insight into their company's values, policies, and strategic direction. 
  • Demonstrate excellence in their work and show potential to advance further in their career.

How To Apply

This year's competition will happen virtually. Applicants for the award will be evaluated by a panel of industry leaders, and the winner will be announced at a virtual event later this summer. The Don Schlimme Future Leader Award Recipient will be eligible to compete against other GCCA future leaders from around the world in the 2021 Global NextGen competition. That award program will be held during the IARW-WFLO convention from October 7-10, 2021 in Austin, Texas.

Interested young professionals who meet the eligibility criteria should independently complete this application by May 28, 2021.

If you have questions about the Don Schlimme Future Leader Award, please contact Shane Jacques, GCCA’s Director of Training and Talent Development.