Excellence in Mentorship Award: Elaine Larsen
Most people know Elaine Larsen as the jet dragster driver for Florida Tech and president of Larsen Motorsports. Many young women and girls know her as a mentor. Larsen has taken young women and students under her wing at Larsen Motorsports to teach skills and the virtues of facing obstacles head on. In a male dominated field, she has a commitment to girl power — with a predominantly female driver team and many women on her crew. Larsen expanded her commitment to inspiring young women to follow their dreams by launching “Blaze,” a comic book series about a young female jet dragster. The books teach women about achieving goals and inspire excitement about STEM education.
Her nominator, Kat Redner, stated, “I’ve learned so much from Elaine. She has taught me how to do speaking engagements, edit videos and photos, design our website and market a professional race team as a national brand. I’ve done hands-on work through interning countless hours with the Larsen Motorsports team while also being a full-time student at Florida Tech. Elaine has not only mentored me in the business world, but she has also taught me how to drive a jet dragster.”
“I work with such an amazing group of strong, fiery females everyday who are going to be game changers in their industry. Thanks so much for this opportunity; we will try to always be worthy of the title Women Who Rock!”
