Anne Marie Kosi-Kupe is a 2023 nominee for the Women of Color Educational Leadership –College-Level Promotion of Education Award. Ashley Johnson-Long is a a 2023 nominee for Professional Achievement in Industry Award.

Kosi-Kupe is a professor at University of Detroit Mercy with expertise in various fields including anatomy-physiology, microbiology, immunology-mycology-parasitology, nutrition, cell biology, and pathophysiology.

She has authored several publications and conducted several STEM-related research projects as PI (Principal Investigator. Kosi-Kupe has received two U.S. Patents (in 2019 and 2020) for her work on improving overall health.

She has dedicated hours of her time to teaching. Her clinical experience make her an outstanding research leader, including the Comparative Efficacy of Mun root extracts on fibroid cells in partnership with Bindley Bioscience Center/Purdue University.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Kosi-Kupe is committed to giving back to the community and has initiated four outreach projects to engage high school students of color from underserved communities, encouraging them to pursue STEM education at the college level.

She has invited local high school students to campus for presentations in the Detroit Mercy cadaver lab, encouraging them to share their experiences with monitoring their nutrition. One student leader said the opportunity allowed high school students to learn about nutrition and college, inspiring them to attend university.

Johnson-Long is the plant engineering manager at Corning, Inc. and co-founder of Corning Valley's first Toastmasters club. She has led the team in implementing solutions such as best-in-class dies for light-duty substrates and served on the leadership team for the Corning Black Growth Council.

She started her tenure at Corning, Inc. in 2012 as a process controls engineer in the corporate engineering division, providing engineering support to the entire company. She established the manufacturing technology and engineering (MT&E) data analytics initiative to support Corning's advanced analytics efforts, including environmental technologies.

Johnson-Long's advanced analytics team helped Corning Environmental Technologies (CET) win the 2017 Manufacturing Engineering Excellence Choice Award from the Engineering Council, delivering approximately $10 million in savings for the division.

She led the team in implementing solutions such as best-in-class dies for light-duty substrates, die-casting improvements, and a novel die extrusion design. As plant engineering manager, she responsible for leading the engineering organization and setting strategic direction for Corning's die manufacturing and technology locations.

She co-leads the technical die business team for the division, which oversees global die performance, integrated die technology roadmap, low-cost manufacturing, and global intellectual asset protection.

Johnson-Long is also a co-founder of Corning Valley's first Toastmasters club, Speak-Up CNY, where she served as vice president of education for two years.

Additionally, she served on the leadership team for the Corning Black Growth Council, focusing on building members with a technical background and partnering with HR to recruit diverse talent. Ashley has also served as a guest speaker for eighth-grade students from surrounding school districts during a full-day career exploration.