Grand Rapids, Mich. – Aquinas College today announced that Candace Matthews, Amway’s regional president of the Americas, will deliver the college’s commencement speech to the graduating class of 2015 on Saturday, May 9.

“It is our honor to welcome Candace to celebrate our commencement with us this May. We’re excited and fortunate to have someone with such a strong resume of global success speak to our students,” said President Juan R. Olivarez. “Candace has had such an incredibly successful career, and we look forward to her insight and hearing her personal story, which we believe will be compelling, relevant and inspiring to our newest graduating class.”

Matthews, a Pittsburgh area native, earned a scholarship to Carnegie-Mellon University to study engineering, and later graduated from Stanford University with a marketing-focused MBA. She has worked for a string of corporate giants including General Mills, Coca Cola Company and Procter & Gamble. Before joining Amway in 2007, Matthews gained operational experience from her time running a global division at L'Oreal USA. She was promoted from Amway’s chief marketing officer to regional president of the Americas in November.

Her professional background and experience have landed her on the pages of many magazines and journals including Black Enterprise, The Economist, Forbes.com, Glamour and the Wall Street Journal. Matthews received the CEW Achiever Award in 2007, the Stanford Graduate School of Business Alumni Tapestry Award in 2014 and was named Black Enterprise Magazine’s Corporate Executive of the Year in 2009. She was one of Advertising Age’s “Women to Watch” in 2011 and was named one of the “20 Most Influential Women in Direct Selling” by the Direct Selling News in 2012, 2013 and 2014.