SkillsUSA’s National President is a Cambridge Bear: Ambuja Sharma on Her Position

Rising senior Ambuja Sharma was in her red SkillsUSA uniform as she sat in her friend’s basement where family, friends and fellow Cambridge “Skills” leaders surrounded her. They were watching a livestream where the club’s national officers were announced. Clutching confetti poppers and pom-poms, everybody had their eyes glued to the television screen.

Seconds later, there was screaming, confetti and “massive hugs”: Ambuja was named a national officer.

“It felt surreal,” Ambuja said of that day in June. “It’s been something that I’ve been working towards for eight years now.”

A few weeks, later she was notified she got the president position.

SkillsUSA is an organization in which students can learn skills useful in the workforce, specifically in trade jobs.

Sharma had been eyeing the spot since she was a fifth grader because of her brother, Aumber Sharma. He is eight years older than her and graduated from the school in 2015. He was also a Georgia state officer for SkillsUSA.

“Cambridge had just opened up, so we were setting the foundation to build a powerhouse of a chapter,” he said.

Now, the school’s chapter has over 300 members and is one of the largest in Georgia. Students passing through the bottom of the school can see the plethora of awards they have won.

Aumber said over text message that when his sister told him she wanted to run for the organization’s national office, he thought “it’s about time.”

Timothy Hart, SkillsUSA’s chapter advisor, agreed.

“You can see things in certain students, and Ambuja always had that special charm about her,” he said.

In her sophomore year, Ambuja was a leader in training (LIT) for the school’s chapter, and in her junior year, she became a vice president for the state.

As an LIT, she helped the official leaders plan and lead meetings, and as a vice president, she spoke at conferences and helped manage Georgia SkillsUSA’s Instagram, amongst other activities.

“I’m so proud of Ambuja because I’ve seen the hard work she’s put into this, to get to the spot where she’s at,” said Hart.

Now, she represents members nationwide in addition to being “an advocate for trade work,” which “is another big responsibility that [she’s] so excited to have.”

“That’s just the icing on the cake, that national president spot,” Hart said.

She had to be voted in by select delegates — SkillsUSA members from states across the country — like in congress. She applied online, and delegates knew her through her social media campaign and a “Meet the Candidates” Zoom meeting.

Some goals for her presidency include “diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as advocacy,” which goes well with SkillsUSA’s theme for this year: “United as One.”

“As someone who is a minority at Cambridge, I know how important it is to feel included in conversations,” she said, referring to her Indian heritage.

She said she had to “earn her way to the table.” Aumber said he sees how deserving she is for the position.

“The world of work is always changing. Ambuja sees where it is heading and is unafraid of the undertaking to lead such a monumental organization into the future,” he said. “It’s just the start of how she’s going to impact this country and the world.”