Previous Scholarship Winners
2023 - 2024 Scholarship Winners
SHARON D. BANKS MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR UNDERGRADUATES
Sha’lise Oliver is a senior civil engineering student at North Carolina A&T State University hailing from Omaha, Nebraska. With a 3.81 GPA, she is a dedicated honors student actively engaged on campus. She currently serves as the student chapter president of the American Society of Civil Engineers and "Miss" for the Institute of Transportation Engineers, where she focuses on student programming and community service initiatives. Beyond academics, Sha’lise finds joy in dancing, arts and crafts, and has recently embraced the vibrant plant community
MOLITORIS LEADERSHIP SCHOLARSHIP FOR UNDERGRADUATES
TaMaya Green is a senior Civil Engineering student at North Carolina A&T State University with an interest in transportation. She is from Maryland and has secured a position as a Roadway Engineer I at HNTB upon graduation in May 2024. TaMaya currently serves as the President of the North Carolina A&T State University chapter of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), where she has successfully worked to bring the organization back to life on campus. She will graduate summa cum laude and is a member of 8 campus organizations. TaMaya is preparing to take the F.E. Exam in the next few months and also plans to pursue her P.E. license. She graciously looks forward to graduation and beginning a successful career. Outside of academics, TaMaya enjoys spending time with family and friends, solving puzzles, and playing piano.
HELENE M. OVERLY MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR GRADUATES
Jen Farris is a third-year dual master’s student at UNC Chapel Hill studying transportation in the Department of City & Regional Planning and health behavior at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is passionate about enhancing mobility options and accessibility for people of all ages while reducing health inequities through design of the built environment. She currently works as a Graduate Research Assistant at the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center where she supports NC Vision Zero initiatives across the state by providing technical assistance to community-based coalitions and evaluating program effectiveness through qualitative interviews and data analysis. Throughout her time at UNC, she has held several applied research roles focused on improving safety for pedestrians and bicyclists and a transportation planning internship with Toole Design Group’s Raleigh office. Prior to graduate school, she worked at a Community Improvement District in downtown Atlanta, GA where she managed Transportation Demand Management programs, policy initiatives, and capital projects. After graduating later this year, she hopes to work in a role that enables her to foster collaboration between the transportation planning and public health fields, leveraging her diverse skillset and passion for creating healthier, more accessible communities.
LEADERSHIP LEGACY SCHOLARSHIP FOR GRADUATES
Amy Grace Watkins is a graduate student in the Master of City and Regional Planning program at UNC-Chapel Hill specializing in transportation. Her passion for planning began in her undergraduate years at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she earned a B.A. in geography and English with a minor in urban and regional planning. As a graduate student, Amy Grace served as the vice president for the UNC-CH ITE Student Chapter and maintained her connections with the geography department as the TA for their Spatial Data Science course. Over the summer, Amy Grace interned with NCDOT’s Integrated Mobility Division, where she worked on various projects in line with her vision for a more multimodal future for North Carolina. After graduation, Amy Grace is excited to take her passion for multimodal planning and transportation innovation to join the Raleigh team of Kittelson & Associates, Inc.