Spherion Owners Award Inaugural Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership Scholarship

ATLANTA – The Spherion Owner Community announced today the winners of the inaugural Excellence in Leadership Scholarship. The scholarship, which is in honor of former Spherion President Sandy Mazur, highlights the contributions made during her distinguished 18-year career at Spherion.

The annual scholarship honors two graduating high school students who best represent the qualities of excellence, leadership and passion that Sandy put forth daily during her tenure at Spherion. Her willingness to “go the extra mile” for others has inspired the network of owners to donate funds in her name, in order to celebrate graduates aspiring to further their education with college, technical or skilled training.

“I’ve had the privilege of leading Spherion for many years, and have seen firsthand how compassionate and dedicated our owners are each and every day. I’m truly grateful that they would unite to contribute to the higher education of high school graduates with this scholarship in my name,” said Mazur. “It’s an incredible feeling to be able to support the next generation. I’ve always been a big proponent of ‘paying it forward’ and to be a part of this annual scholarship is an amazing honor.”

The Spherion Owner Community, led by owners Michael Chalmers and Beth DeLaney, coordinated with nonprofit The Richland County Foundation – which disburses grants for charitable organizations – to review over 220 applicants and choose the ten finalists. From there, Chalmers, Delaney, Mazur and two other representatives from the Spherion Owner Community, David Miller and Teri Nichols, chose the winners. With the names and locations removed, the group of five reviewed the applicants and, solely based on their merits, selected Jaden Johnson and Ellie Furnish as the scholarship recipients.

“Ellie and Jaden represent the best of the qualities that Sandy possesses,” said DeLaney, owner of Spherion Mid-Ohio. “We’ve been inspired by Sandy’s legacy and are delighted to be able to recognize the achievements of Ellie and Jaden as they move towards furthering their skills with higher education.”

Making time to tutor his basketball teammates and volunteer at various community events and food pantries, Johnson earned an award for volunteering over 250 hours per year for the past two years. Johnson also created a permanent “Blessing Box” at a nearby church that allows the community to put non-perishable food and toiletry items for those with food insecurity to pick up at any time for free. A recent graduate from Urbana High School, Johnson is planning to attend Northern Illinois University to pursue a career in Mechatronics Engineering.

A successful leader in her community, Furnish was captain of the varsity soccer team, nominated to be a Peer Tutor and joined the National Honor Society where she helped organize multiple fundraisers and lead multiple retreats as a member of the 4.12 Leadership Training Program. Furnish recently graduated from Greencastle-Antrim High School and is planning to attend Geneva College to pursue a career in Middle-level education with a concentration in Mathematics.

With almost 75 years of experience, Spherion provides communities with local ownership and national resources. Spherion has a recognized history of innovating in the industry by developing an on-site workforce management solution, using technology as a medium for recruiting, utilizing interactive, voice-response technology to pre-screen job candidates, introducing remote workforce support and establishing the staffing industry’s only fully integrated, web-based operating system.

About Spherion

Founded in 1946, Spherion is a leader in the recruiting and staffing industry with 70+ years of experience connecting job seekers to employers that prove a mutually successful match. A pioneer in the staffing industry, Spherion is a workforce leader with extensive experience and a history of success in helping companies find talent solutions they need to thrive while helping individuals find employment opportunities that enable them to live better lives.

Each staffing office is individually owned and operated, with each owner ingrained and invested in their respective communities and local economies. Today, the brand services the workforce needs of more than 4,000 businesses nationwide and operates more than 200 offices across the country.

About the Richland County Foundation

The Richland County Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization, was established in 1945 as a way for individuals to pool and invest their gifts for the long-term good of Richland County and its residents.

The Foundation helps people in Richland County give back to their community by investing their gifts for charity wisely so that grants can be made to improve the quality of life for all the county’s citizens. Working together with donors, the Foundation meets important needs today and plans for a strong future.

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