Sandra's Journey in Maritime Excellence

Sandra at Oceans of Opportunity in 2011.

Containerization and Intermodal Institute (CII) recently profiled an EXP alum Sandra Maksim ’11 on their website. As a high school student at Phineas Banning High School, Sandra learned about the international trades, logistics, and maritime industries through EXP (then ITEP—International Trade Education Programs Inc.) programs.  

In 2011, EXP CEO Amy Grat nominated Sandra with a CII scholarship that helped alleviate the financial burden of attending California State University Maritime Academy (Cal Maritime). According to the article, “[The scholarship] reinforced that she had made the right decision with her education and career path. She was proud to be recognized by mentors and industry leaders for her efforts. The feeling that all of her hard work had paid off motivated her to work even harder to pursue her goals.”

Sandra continued her maritime industry career path with her summer jobs and college internships. By 2015, she joined the Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT), and in just a year and a half, she went from being a Yard Supervisor to her current position as a Vessel Operations Manager.

“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,” said Sandra in the article.  “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.”  

Sandra, all of us at EXP are so proud of you and just as excited to watch you grow and evolve!