Amazon Web Services’ Teresa Carlson Named 2012 ‘Woman of the Year’ by Local Scout Council and Learning for Life

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 2, 2012) — National Capital Area Council (NCAC), Boy Scouts of America (BSA) honored Teresa Carlson, vice president of worldwide public sector at Amazon Web Services, with the 2012 Learning for Life ‘Woman of the Year’ Award during the Council’s 8th Annual ‘Woman of the Year’ event held at The Tower Club in Vienna, VA. Carlson was recognized for her dedication to and support of local character education, life skills and career awareness programs for youth.

A highly respected leader in the information technology field, Carlson has earned a number of industry awards and was recently named to Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” in addition to being honored as a "2011 Tech Titan" for contributing prominently to the growth of the Washington, D.C., tech market. Before joining Amazon, she was vice president of federal government business at Microsoft Corporation. Her commitment to local community issues and her passion for her public sector customers is well known, which has lead to numerous philanthropic and leadership roles, many with a special emphasis on the military.

“Teresa’s support for programs and opportunities that provide character development, leadership and career training for local youth is inspiring,” said NCAC Scout Executive Les Baron. “We are pleased to honor her and celebrate her dedication to the next generation of business and community leaders.”

Learning for Life has classroom- and worksite-based programs that utilize an action-learning process to provide teaching techniques such as role-playing, small-group discussions, reflective and moral dilemma exercises, online interactive lessons and hands-on activities to enable students to practice and reinforce core curriculum topics and skills while learning critical character development and life skills. Lessons are designed to reinforce academic, social, ethical and character development skills in various areas, such as critical and creative thinking, conflict resolution, decision making, interpersonal relationships, practical life skills, self-esteem, writing and language arts, citizenship and personal fitness.

“Today’s event was an expression of generosity from all the women and men who, like Teresa, continue to not just care about the education and integrity of young people, but who get involved and make an impact on their lives,” said Northern Virginia Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA). “I applaud the good work and positive effect of Scouting and Learning for Life in our local communities.”

Jeannemarie Davis, assistant to the Governor for intergovernmental affairs for the Commonwealth of Virginia and NCAC’s 2011 ‘Woman of the Year’ recipient, served as honorary chairwoman. Don Upson, a partner at UpsonVito, a local company that offers professional development for senior executives in the business of government, served as master of ceremonies. Proceeds from the event will support the outreach programs of NCAC, one of BSA’s flagship councils, with more than 56,400 youth and more than 21,100 registered adult volunteers involved across the greater Washington metropolitan region.

About Learning for Life
Learning for Life is a 501(c)(3) incorporated in Washington, D.C., in 1991 as co-educational program to help young people become responsible citizens. The program has five areas of emphasis (character development, career development, leadership training, citizenship training and life-skills training) that are facilitated through a classroom-based component with integrated academic and character-focused lesson plans for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, including a specific initiative for special needs youth, and an interactive, worksite-based program for youth between 14 and 20 years old, is broken into 12 career fields, which purposely align to the 16 U.S. Department of Education Career Clusters. For more information, please visit www.LearningForLife.org.

About National Capital Area Council
National Capital Area Council (NCAC) was organized in 1911 and today stands as one of the oldest and largest councils in America. The council territory includes the District of Columbia; Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland; and in Virginia the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Prince William, Loudoun, Fauquier, Spotsylvania, Caroline, King George, Stafford and Culpeper as well as the independent cities of Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax, Manassas, Manassas Park and Fredericksburg. For more information, please visit www.BoyScouts-NCAC.org.

For more information, please contact
Jeff Agnew: 202.828.9100 / jagnew@blakey-agnew.com
Aaron Chusid: 301.529.4091 / Aaron.Chusid@Scouting.org