Alcoa Executive Serves as Mentor in Young Leaders Program for College STEM Students

Mary
Zappone, President of Alcoa
Oil and Gas, was one of the leading female executives from FORTUNE
500 companies who served as mentors this year to a promising group of
young college women participating in the intensive, National Math and
Science 'Young Leaders Program.? The program is designed to provide role
models for students majoring in STEM subjects (science, technology,
engineering, and math), and is a collaboration among FORTUNE
magazine, the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) and Exxon
Mobil Corporation. The goal of the program is to encourage the college
women to continue their studies and pursue careers in STEM fields,
helping address the gender gap issue in these critical fields.

Twenty-two senior executives and students participated in the 2010
leadership program. Zappone was matched with Georgia Lagoudas, a
Bioengineering major at Rice University. Throughout the year, Zappone
and the other mentors provided ongoing leadership coaching to their
students through regular calls, webinars and company site visits to
demonstrate the tangible application of math and science in their
professions.

The program addresses the critical need for more young women to
specialize in math and science: Women currently constitute 46 percent of
the U.S. workforce but hold just 26 percent of U.S. jobs in science,
technology and engineering, and fewer than 10 percent of American
engineers are women.

In the last three years, Alcoa
Foundation has invested $21.5M to support education and workforce
readiness across the communities where Alcoa (NYSE:AA) operates, with a
particular focus on STEM education and mentoring for young girls.

'There are tremendous opportunities for women to take on leadership
roles in technological and engineering fields,? said Zappone. 'Helping
young women become excited about math and science and the numerous ways
they can use that education is important to ensure the next generation
of leaders includes diverse viewpoints.?

The semester-long Young Leaders Program culminated in a capstone event
in New York City in June, where 16 of the 22 students in the program
experienced two days of meetings with leaders in science, technology and
engineering. Speakers for the symposium included Louise Rosen, director
of the Office of Academic and Research Programs at Columbia University;
Dr. Beth Lange, chief scientific officer, Mary Kay, Inc; Dr. Samara
Rubinstein, manager of the Sackler Lab for Genetics and Genomics at the
American Museum of Natural History; and Margaret Mattix, vice president
of Global Marketing for ExxonMobil Chemical Company.

Zappone was part of an elite group of executive participants for the
2010 leadership program, which also included representatives from eBay,
Emerson, DuPont, Marvell, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical, AXA Equitable, ACS
Healthcare, Archer Daniels Midland, Intel, Black Rock Advisors, Accel,
Time Inc., Electronic Arts, Prescription Solutions, WalMart Information
Systems, and Affiliated Computer Services.

The students, who were selected by academic officials at their
universities, represented a broad spectrum of higher education
institutions, including the University of California-Davis, Washington
University, University of Pennsylvania, UC-Berkeley, University of
Houston, University of Michigan, Columbia University, University of
Cincinnati, Stanford University, University of Illinois, University of
Oregon, Ohio State University, Rice University, Carnegie Mellon
University, Xavier University, University of Chicago, Iowa State
University, CalTech University, and the University of Arkansas.

For more information about NMSI and the Young Leaders Program, email amohmed@nationalmathandscience.org
or visit www.nationalmathandscience.org.

About Alcoa

Alcoa is the world′s leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated
aluminum and alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum
industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the
aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial
transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the
past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are flat-rolled
products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa ® wheels,
fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building
systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such as
titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral
part of Alcoa′s operating practices and the product design and
engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow
Jones Sustainability Index for eight consecutive years and approximately
75 percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in
active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 59,000 people in 31
countries across the world. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com.

Alcoa

Mike Belwood, 812-604-0530