Asian Sisters Participating in Reaching Excellence Announces Grand Prize Winner of 1st Annual Outstanding Woman of the Year Award
Celebrating Women We ASPIRE To Be
BOSTON—(U.S. ASIAN WIRE)— Asian Sisters Participating In Reaching Excellence (ASPIRE) is proud to announce Mihiri Tillakaratne as the grand prize winner of the 1st Annual ASPIRE Outstanding Woman of the Year Award. ASPIRE’s Outstanding Woman of the Year award celebrates female high school or college students of Asian American descent that are proven was formally awarded at the 2008 ASPIRE Asian American Women in Leadership (AAWIL) Conference on April 26, 2008 at Emerson Hall at Harvard University. This year’s keynote speakers included SuChin Pak, Correspondent, MTV News and Kyung Yoon, Vice Chairman, Heidrick & Struggles.
Tillakaratne is the founder and executive director of Empower a Village, a nonprofit organization that works to uplift the lives of villagers in rural Sri Lanka with breast cancer awareness workshops, mobile eye clinics and English and computer literacy programs. During her summers, she visits Sri Lankan villages with volunteer American and urban Sri Lankan students to implement these programs. In 2006, Tillakaratne was awarded with a scholarship from L’Oreal Paris as a part of Teen People’s feature 20 Teens Who Will Change the World 2006. Based in Los Angeles, Tillakaratne is currently attending Harvard University obtaining a degree in History with a focus on International Relations. "ASPIRE provides a wonderful support system for young Asian American women,” said Tillakaratne. “It is an organization that understands how to foster the potential of future leaders who will make positive changes in the world. I am honored to be included with a group of nine remarkable Asian American women whose leadership and commitment to their communities are truly inspiring."
As the Grand Prize Winner, Tillakaratne received an all-expense paid trip to Boston to attend the AAWIL Conference where she received the award from ASPIRE’s high-profile keynote speaker, the opportunity of a lifetime to spend a day with an Asian American female mentor of her choice from ASPIRE’s network, and a featured profile in Audrey Magazine, with the chance to tell her story to Asian American women everywhere.
“We are thrilled to have Mihiri Tillakaratne as the winner of our first ASPIRE Outstanding Women of the Year award,” said Grace Niwa, Chair, ASPIRE. “We had a wonderful response from Asian American young women across the nation and we realized a real need to continue to encourage, mentor and celebrate the young women in our community that are doing wonderful work in the community like Mihiri. She is a true example of this award and what it means to pay it forward.”
Finalists of the 1st Annual ASPIRE Outstanding Women of the Year Award included:
First Runner Up:
Neha Singhal, 20, Gaithersburg, MD
Asian American Teen Empowerment
Second Runner Up:
Linda Chu, 21, Monterey Park, CA
Los Angeles Community Activist
Honorable Mention:
Stephanie Drenka, 22, Southlake, TX
"Comfort Women" Awareness
Honorable Mention:
Jessie Pan, 17, New York, NY
New York City Chinatown Youth Activist
Photos of the winner available upon request
About AAWIL
The AAWIL Conference aims to set forth strategic dialogue on the importance of leadership for Asian American girls and women. Specifically, the conference is designed to explore various aspects of leadership (particularly as it relates to Asian American women), evaluate the effectiveness of different leadership skills and styles, energize and equip attendees to seek out future leadership opportunities, and create cross-generational networks among attendees that will extend discussions and relationships beyond the scope of the conference. The conference will raise awareness about ASPIRE’s mission and its value to Asian American girls and women. For more information, please go to http://www.girlsaspire.org/conference.
About ASPIRE
Founded in 2001, ASPIRE was established to empower Asian American high school and college girls with career development and leadership skills through shared experiences and mentoring. ASPIRE aims to mentor and serve Boston-area young Asian women who seek to better navigate the lifetime of opportunities and career choices ahead, make the most of their academic and extracurricular college experiences, and learn from their Asian American sisters’ accomplishments and insights. For more information, go to www.girlsaspire.org.
Contact:
Julie Sellew
Niwa Public Relations
(646) 644-5799
julie@niwapr.com
