2020 Elevating the FM Profession (EFM) Scholarship Winners Announced
ProFMI was pleased to announce Steven Early, Marissa Baetz & Larry Little as 2020 winners
September 9, 2020 — Now more than ever, facility managers have shown they are indispensable.
Organizations worldwide are relying on FMs to keep our buildings and our communities safe, efficient
and operational in the midst of a global pandemic. To help support FMs, and to elevate the profession as
a whole, the Professional Facility Management Institute (ProFMI) is proud to announce the 2020
winners of the Elevating the FM Profession (EFM) Scholarship Program.
The scholarship program offers 3 fully funded scholarships for the ProFM Credential Program each year:
the Veterans Award, the Students Award, and the Professionals Award. This year, ProFMI was proud to
award the Veterans Award to Larry Little, the Students Award to Marisa Betz and the Professionals
Award to Steven Early.
Student Award winner Marisa Betz recently graduated from Temple University with a degree in Facilities
Planning and Management. She said she learned many disciplines within FM during her time at Temple,
but said she looks forward to building on her strong foundation by diving deeper into these topics as she
studies to earn her ProFM credential.
"When I heard that I was a ProFM Scholarship winner, I was ecstatic! I was so excited to hear that I
would be able to expand my knowledge as I enter into my FM career," Betz said. "I feel extremely
grateful that I have been awarded an opportunity like this at my young age."
Larry Little, the 2020 Veterans Award winner, served in the United States Navy and is currently a
Facilities Engineering Supervisor at the Cleveland Clinic Martin Health. Little said he looks forward to
enhancing his existing FM knowledge and showcasing his dedication to taking on more responsibility in
his organization.
"I believe that ProFM will impact my career by making me more confident and show management that I
am serious about my career and taking on more responsibility," Little said. "In the future it will help me
to be more marketable and hopefully it will help me to advance my career at my present location."
The 2020 Professional Award winner is Steven Early, a Manager of Facilities & Operations at the National
Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. Early said he looks forward to improving his own skills to not
only advance his own career, but the facility management profession as a whole.
"Education empowers movement in all things, both lateral and vertical," Early said. "The ProFM
credential represents a new avenue for growth in support of my personal mission to generate revenue,
employ next practices informed by current research and resources, and increase the standing of the
facility management profession. The better I am, the more I have to offer, the better I can mentor
others as well as learn."
Scholarship applications for 2021 are now open and will be accepted through June 1, 2021. To learn
more or to apply, visit profmi.org/scholarships. To be considered, applicants must complete the
scholarship application, and submit a short essay explaining why elevating their FM knowledge and skills
is important, and how they foresee the credential impacting their career over the next five years.
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About Professional Facility Management Institute (ProFMI)
The Professional Facility Management Institute is the founding body behind the ProFM credential, and
serves to gather experts that form the ProFMI commission, as well as administer the ProFM credential.
ProFM defines today's global FM standards and provides facility professionals with the knowledge and
skills they need to succeed in roles that have evolved far beyond traditional FM responsibilities. The
credential's body of knowledge is the most current and relevant available with 19 functional knowledge
areas and five cross-functional competencies that address a wide range of topics that FMs must know to
evolve with the industry. To learn more, please visit: www.profmi.org.
