DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Mercedes Benz Financial has donated $10,000 to the University of North Texas Professional Leadership Program, or PLP. The money will be used to support the operations, events and programming of PLP.
The donation was marked with a ceremony Jan. 19 at Mercedes Benz Financial's offices in Westlake. This is the second year the company has donated money to PLP.
Renée Hebert is director of UNT's PLP. She said Mercedes Benz Financial benefits by having direct access to top students on campus.
"It allows them to be formally connected to PLP to fulfill their desire to help our next generation of the workforce. Every company wants great employees. Mercedes Benz Financial wants to make sure that our UNT PLP students are getting beyond-the-classroom experiences to develop their professional leadership," Hebert said.
Hebert added donations like this one allow UNT to offer PLP at no cost to students. The money will assist with costs associated with weekly programs, the PLP Executive Mentoring Program, public relations and conference fees for students.
Tim McRay is a leadership coach with Mercedes Benz Financial and is an advisory board member for PLP. He said, "Our donation to the PLP is a strategic investment in our most valuable resource -- the next generation of leaders. We want to attract and develop the best employees, and by supporting an organization like PLP we do that."
In addition to the donation, two top executives of Mercedes Benz Financial are mentors for PLP members and they volunteer as facilitators of weekly PLP programs.
UNT's College of Business Administration founded the Professional Leadership Program in 1994. It is a cooperative effort between UNT's College of Business Administration and corporate sponsors in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The program is open to juniors, seniors and graduate students regardless of academic major. PLP's goal is to help UNT students make the transition "from backpack to briefcase" by providing weekly educational workshops, corporate networking opportunities and executive mentors to students.
