AATCC Future Leader Award

AATCC seeks to recognize promising young professionals in the fields of textiles, apparel, and related materials sciences. The AATCC Future Leader Award (AFLA) is intended to acknowledge and celebrate demonstrated leadership as well as engage young professionals in the work of AATCC, bringing their insights and needs to the forefront. The award was established in 2018.

Eligibility

Any individual member of AATCC may submit a nomination, including self-nomination. Nominees must have the following qualifications to be considered for this award:

  • Individual member of AATCC
  • Voting member of an AATCC Interest Groups (nominees may join AATCC to be considered.)
  • 39 years old or younger
  • Leadership skills

Selection Criteria

Up to six recipients may be selected each year. Each is selected by unanimous decision of the CS75 Future Leader Award committee. The following criteria is considered:

  • History of service to AATCC and/or the greater textile and related industries
  • Desire to become more involved with the objectives of AATCC: to increase expertise, encourage research, and establish channels for the interchange of professional knowledge
  • Diversity of experience is valued. Typically, award winners are selected from each of the AATCC interest groups, but there may be years in which not all groups are represented.

AATCC Future Leader Award

The award is presented annually at AATCC’s Textile Discovery Summit. It includes:

  • Plaque
  • Pin
  • Free Textile Discovery Summit registration (for the year in which the award is presented)
  • Invitation to VIP cocktail reception at Summit, including professional photos with AATCC President
  • $1,000 travel reimbursement to attend Summit (form and receipts must be submitted within 1 month of the event)
  • Free individual AATCC membership renewal
  • Free individual AATCC membership to share (recipient must be a new member, 39 or younger)
  • Press release, social media posts, magazine article, etc. announcing award recipients, including photos and bios

Below are past recipients of the AATCC Future Leaders Award:

2026 AFLA Recipients

Nina Cohen (Chemical Applications Interest Group)

Kasandra Wright (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)

Matthew Swartz (Materials Interest Group)

Eberenna Igba (Rising Professionals Interest Group)

2025 AFLA Recipients
Xiuzhu Fei (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Karen Haberland (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Kaitlin Sigmon (Materials Interest Group)
Monét Freeman (Rising Professionals Interest Group)

2024 AFLA Recipients
Brandon Francois (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Isha Nabar (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Joshua Ingram (Materials Interest Group)
Nur-Us-Shafa Mazumder (Rising Professionals Interest Group)

2023 AFLA Recipients
Tova Williams (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Julian Rojas (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Joanne Brasch (Materials Interest Group)
Jessica Brooks (Rising Professionals Interest Group)

2021 AFLA Recipients (selected 2021; presented 2022):
Yihong Li (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Jenna Eason (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Sarah Plautz (Materials Interest Group)
Malinda Scheff (Rising Professionals Interest Group)

2020 AFLA Recipients (selected 2020; presented 2021):
Renuka Dhandapani (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Brian Edwards (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Stacy Chadwell (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Alyssa McNamara (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Chandler Maness (Materials Interest Group)
Brian Shiels (Materials Interest Group)

2019 AFLA Recipients (selected 2019; presented 2020):
Katelyn Lee (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
R. Bryan Ormond (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Ashley Handley (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Heather Johnson (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Tyler Pickett (Materials Interest Group)
Morgan Schanski (Materials Interest Group)

2018 AFLA Recipients (selected 2018; presented 2019):
Apurba Banerjee (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Kiarash Arangdad (Chemical Applications Interest Group)
Meredith L. McQuerry (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Ryan Stanley (Concept 2 Consumer Interest Group)
Krystle Moody Wood (Materials Interest Group)
Heather Shields (Materials Interest Group)

AFLA Nomination

An asterisk (*) indicates a required field.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Nominations due March 31

Criteria
Provide link to nominee's LinkedIn and/or other social media profile.
Candidate must be a Voting Member of a Interest Group. If they are not, ask them to contact the AATCC Membership staff ([email protected]) to update their record.
Describe the candidate's industry involvement and leadership. (Upload additional documentation if applicable.)
Max. file size: 2 GB.
Self-nominations are accepted.

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