CONNIE AWARD SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Operations Manager, Long Beach Container Terminal

Growing up around the Port of Los Angeles, Sandra Maksim, Operations Manager, Long Beach Container Terminal, always knew she would work in the transportation and logistics industry. As a high school student in the International Trade Educations Program (ITEP), now known as EXP, Sandra had already been identified as a student with great leadership skills and potential to really make her mark on the supply chain.

In fact, in 2011, Sandra was nominated by a then-ITEP board member, Amy Grat, to receive a CII scholarship based not only on her good grades and strong essay, but also on the fact that Ms. Grat saw something special in her.

Now the CEO of EXP as well as a 2017 Connie recipient, Amy Grat says: “Funding a scholarship is a declaration of hope and an investment in the future.  It not only fuels the college dreams of a student, it also lets them know that there is a caring community that is backing their success.  Rising maritime professionals like Sandra Maksim are the inspirational return on this investment.  Our future is bright with leaders like Sandra at the helm.” 

For Sandra, receiving the scholarships served two very important roles. One, the financial award was important to help with tuition and fees associated with attending California State University Maritime Academy.  The monetary support from the community helped lift some of the financial burden, which provided great relief. Secondly, it reinforced that she had made the right decision with her education and career path. She was proud to be recognized for her efforts by mentors and industry leaders. The feeling that all her hard work had paid off motivated her to work even harder to pursue her goals.

“I kept every letter of recognition, every certificate and every plaque I ever received. I still feel proud of myself for these accomplishments when I see them. They remind me of the importance of pushing yourself, setting high standards and having a solid work ethic. This is something I want to teach my kids,” said Sandra, who is a mother to a nearly two-year-old daughter and a two-month-old son.

While it isn’t always easy, Sandra has learned to juggle motherhood and her full-time job with Long Beach Container Terminal.  She feels she can be fully committed to her family as well as her job and her team, whom she considers a second family.  She was especially proud to be part of her LBCT team during COVID because it shined a bright light on how important the supply chain and the movement of cargo is to the economy. 

“Everyone knew they had to step up and find the strength to tackle challenge after challenge together. I’m so proud of my team – we were pushed and stretched, but we did not break. To me, those stressful days are exhausting, but the reward is great,” said Sandra. “We had to learn a lot very quickly, but our team is now stronger than ever.’

Sandra is no stranger to learning a lot very quickly while building her career in transportation. She started at LBCT in 2015 as one of only three women and very few Hispanics and at 21, she became a yard superintendent.  For this job, Sandra had to quickly learn how to stand her ground, have confidence in her education and her skillset and speak her mind. She believes this was a great way to start building a strong foundation for a long career in this business. She learned to think on her feet and develop life-long skills, such as talking to people of all ages and staying calm in challenging situations.

After a year and a half, she moved to her current role as vessel operations manager, which calls upon all the lessons she had learned in her previous role. In this position Sandra is involved with managing the ships coming in and out of the port, which is a job she really enjoys especially because the Long Beach Container terminal is the only fully automated terminal in the United States.

“I love that I am working at LBCT for many reasons, but one definitely is that we are considered the terminal of the future and we are immersed in the direction the industry is going. I can’t believe people invented this technology,” said Sandra.  “It’s especially fun to watch how fast the terminal is growing. I was hired before the terminal opened and I feel like I am growing and evolving along with it.”

One area that is evolving at the terminal is the increase in female employees since Sandra started in 2015, which she is happy to see. “I am proud that the terminal sees the value of a diverse workplace. There is a lot of opportunity for growth here for women as well as men—as long as you don’t want a boring job.”

Sandra’s job is certainly not boring, which suits her fine. Her favorite part of working in the industry—other than working with her team-- is that no two days are ever the same. You need to be on your toes and ready to make big decisions quickly and with confidence because things are always in motion at the terminal.

There is no doubt in Sandra’s mind that she is in the right business and she is grateful for her mentor Captain Jim Morgan for guiding her to Cal Maritime, to Amy Grat and EXP for showing her the opportunities that exist in transportation, logistics and supply chain and to CII for giving her the scholarship that let her know the industry saw something special in her and encouraged her to pursue her dreams and make her mark.