AWESOME Announces 2020 Recipients of AWE MIT Fellowship

February 07, 20202 minute read

One full-tuition and two half-tuition fellowships have been awarded to women who have been admitted to the Supply Chain Master’s program from MIT for the 2020-21 academic year. This is the second year AWESOME and the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics have partnered on the Advancing Women through Education (AWE) Fellowship.

Namuun Purevdorj, who is Vice President of Global Shapers Minneapolis, a World Economic Forum organization, received a full-tuition fellowship and two other candidates were awarded half tuition. They are Priyanka Jarugumilli, Associate Manager, Product Supply – Baby Care, Proctor & Gamble; and Jennie May, F135 Alternate Source Manager, Pratt & Whitney.

Left to right in photo: Gabriela Lamas Oporto (2019); Jennie May (2020); Ann Drake, AWESOME founder; Katie Date (MIT); Namuun Purevdorj (2020); and Elizabeth Raman Grubbs (2020). No in photo: Pryanka Jarugumilli (2020).


The announcement was made in Cambridge, MA, in conjunction with MIT’s annual Research Expo, which showcases thesis and capstone research projects of students in the current MIT Master’s in Supply Chain Management program. Ann Drake, AWESOME founder, officially presented the awards and met with both the 2019 and 2020 AWE Fellowship recipients.

To apply for the fellowship, candidates were required to have a minimum of two years of relevant work experience, strong quantitative skills, and demonstrated leadership potential. AWESOME and the MIT SCM admissions team worked together on the selection of awardees.

According to Katie Date, Manager of Corporate & SCALE Network Outreach for the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, “Many exceptional qualified candidates applied for this fellowship making the decision extremely difficult. In fact, the three finalists were so strong that we decided to award two honorable mentions at half tuition along with the full-tuition award to the winner.”

The 2019 AWE Fellowship awardees are currently attending MIT and also were present at the official announcement of the 2020 recipients. They are Elizabeth Raman Grubbs and Gabriela Lamas Oporto.