Special event during BMW Championship week featured BMW Global Executive Ilka Horstmeier
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. — The Western Golf Association’s (WGA) Evans Scholars Foundation (ESF) and BMW hosted a fireside chat featuring BMW Executive Ilka Horstmeier on Friday, Aug. 23, at the University of Colorado Evans Scholarship House in Boulder, Colorado.
During the event, which was one of several Evans Scholars initiatives during the 2024 BMW Championship, a group of current Evans Scholars and Alumni heard from Horstmeier in a fireside chat moderated by golf media personality Alexandra O’Laughlin.
Since 2007, the BMW Championship has raised more than $50 million in support of the Evans Scholars Foundation, helping over 3,300 students to attend college and follow their dreams.
During the BMW Championship, Ilka Horstmeier, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, People and Places, visited the University of Colorado Evans Scholarship House.
“I was very pleased to meet some of the Evans Scholars and talk with them about their goals and ambitions,” said Ilka Horstmeier. “The values of the ESF – excellence, respect, leadership, and community – align with those of the BMW Group, and we are proud to support this great initiative with the BMW Championship. Education is the key to a self-determined future for young people and an important pillar for the cohesion of our society.”
The morning began with a tour of the Scholarship House led by Colorado Chapter President Tali Ortega. In addition to the fireside chat, which covered leadership, career exploration and BMW’s support of the ESF, Horstmeier also participated in a Q&A and spent time meeting with Scholars. Leaders from the WGA/ESF, including Chairman Steve Colnitis and President and CEO John Kaczkowski, as well as from BMW, were in attendance.
Currently, 55 Evans Scholars attend the University of Colorado, and there are 548 Evans Alumni who have graduated from the chapter since it was established in 1967.
Horstmeier has been a member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, responsible for Human Resources, and Labour Relations Director since 2019. Her focus areas include operational excellence, sustainability and social impact. She began her tenure with the BMW Group in 1995 as a trainee and section manager in Human Resources and Organisational Development. She went on to hold various management functions in production and became Senior Vice President for Production and Planning Engines and E-Powertrain in 2013, and in 2018, she became head of the BMW Group Plant in Dingolfing.