“The globalized nature of the auto industry requires a diverse workforce that welcomes everyone, which is why we are proud to support Accelerate Auto’s vision with Georgian College’s help to champion students with inclusive values as future leaders,” said Maria Soklis, President, Cox Automotive Canada & Brazil. “Diversity and inclusiveness are not only pillars at Cox Automotive Canada, but shape our business success by attracting and keeping the best talent. We are committed to promoting equal opportunity in the automotive sector.”
Cox Automotive has built a bit of momentum in supporting positive change in the automotive industry, with employee resource groups like the Black Employee Network (BEN) and Women With Drive (WWD). The company says that efforts like these have helped it gain recognition as one of Greater Toronto’s top employers.
Ivan Menezes, CEO, Diageo
Since becoming the CEO of Diageo (DGE.L) in 2013, Ivan has been passionate about driving inclusion and diversity at the company.
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In 2020 he launched a new 10-year sustainability action plan titled ‘Society 2030: Spirit of Progress’.
The plan laid out goals including increasing the representation of ethnic minorities in leadership positions to 45% by 2030, as well as increasing the percentage of Diageo suppliers from female and minority-owned businesses year-on-year.
2020 also saw the roll-out of a new learning intervention ‘Confronting Racial Bias Learning’, and the opening of Diageo’s fourth global ‘INC’ week; an employee-led, grassroots movement encouraging employees around the world to celebrate diversity.
Ida Habtemichael understands she’s a statistical rarity.
Black, female mechanical engineers make up less than 2 percent of the engineering workforce. A role model for those seeking STEM careers, she couldn’t be prouder of her 14 successful years rising through the senior ranks of Micron Technology. Yet Habtemichael admits she downplays the exact title of her college degree.
“I don’t really identify that I have a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering technology, because there’s a stigma,” she said. “So, I don’t specify the technology portion of my major. It’s almost like a secret.”
She is an equipment engineer, developing robotic monitoring systems. She founded a Black Employee Network 12 years ago that she is still involved in and heads a women’s leadership group.
Johnson said that, like his student, he himself didn’t fully understand the differences in opportunity for the two disciplines when he switched from engineering to engineering technology in his first year at North Carolina A&T State in 1983.
Johnson had never heard of engineering technology before arriving at college until he was paired with a roommate who was an ET major. While Johnson was taking theoretical classes, his roommate was in the lab.
“Though I did well in theoretical courses, I just had a passion for hands-on work since I grew up on a farm,” Johnson said.
Johnson knew early on that he wanted to teach, so the PE exam was never in his plans. However, he said he does find it interesting that he can head an engineering department and teach engineering in Tennessee but can’t sit for the license.
Jennifer Okoeguale, left, and Emiliano Void are founding members of Accelerate Auto.
A new organization aims to become a force for racial equity by boosting the representation of Black employees throughout every segment of Canada’s auto sector.
The not-for-profit initiative,
called Accelerate Auto, comprises Black employees from all corners of automotive, said Emiliano Void, the group’s chair and one of 13 founding members.
“It gives the industry as a whole a vehicle to get on board with us to help champion the change,” said Void, also national operations manager at Cox Automotive Canada. “Not from the perspective of somebody who has not lived this experience or this hardship, not from somebody that’s outside of the Black community, but [from] within the most comprehensive representation of the Black perspective and experience in the automotive space.”