Since the invention of cars, nearly all areas of the auto industry are male-dominated. Generally, the auto industry is one of those industries where women are highly under-represented. Here, we’ll explore five inspiring African American women in the auto industry.
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Linda Cash
Linda Cash is among the most influential African American women in the auto industry. She has had over 30 years of distinguished career as a senior executive with vast global manufacturing and operations experience in the automotive industry.
In 1984, Cash joined Ford Motor Co. as an industrial engineer. Over the course of her career, she has held roles of increasing responsibility in leadership positions in the company.
In 2017, Linda Cash was promoted to vice president of Quality and New Model Launch at Ford Motor Co. In addition to the vice presidency, she also served as a member of Ford’s Black Lives Matter Taskforce and Executive Sponsor of the Ford African Ancestry Network.
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Lisa Lunsford
(Power Perspective: Lisa Lunsford by @DetroitRegionalChamber YouTube Channel)
The Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of GS3 Global, Lisa Lunsford, is another powerful black American woman in the automotive industry. Lisa has more than 30 years of experience in the automobile industry.
She started her career at Ford Motor Company as a development and research engineer. After 30 years of working with Ford Motor Company, Lisa established iThinc, a custom software development company. Then, in 2010, she created GS3 Global in 2010. In 2018, Lisa was promoted to the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Board of Directors.
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Patrice Banks
(Patrice Banks TedxTalk)
Patrice Banks is an engineer turned auto technician. In 2017, she founded the Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center, a Pennsylvania-based auto repair center. At Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center, they build tools to deliver knowledge to women to start their own automotive experiences.
The engineer started writing a car care book for women, delivering a TEDx talk, and teaching car care workshops in the Philadelphia area before launching the Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center in 2017.
The Girls Auto Clinic Repair Center is a full-service auto repair workshop. It has a nail salon where women can do their nails while waiting for their cars to be fixed. Her Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide is available on Amazon. It’s a do-it-herself guide that teaches women how to take care of their cars.
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Melissa Harville-Lebron
(Melissa Harville-Lebron is an interview. Video Credit: @SWAYSUNIVERSE1 YouTube Channel)
NASCAR is a highly male-dominated industry. But black American women like Melissa Harville-Lebron are changing the narrative. Melissa is the first African American woman to own a NASCAR team.
As a single mom with three kids, Melissa began her career with Sony Music as an intern. Then, in 2005, she launched her own black-owned record label while also working for New York City’s Department of Correction office. After about 10 years of active service, Melissa Harville-Lebron suffered an asthma attack that forced her to retire earlier than she would have wanted to.
Despite the setback, she decided to seek new opportunities, leading to the launch of W.M. Stone Enterprises Inc. in 2014. According to Melissa Harville-Lebron, her journey into the auto racing industry was an unexpected one.
It all started when she went with her sons to a NASCAR experience event at Charlotte Super Speedway. Her aim in going there was to discourage her sons from chasing such dangerous career paths, but the outing spurred her sons’ interests and led to her investing a lot of money to build her own team.
Dr. Jennifer Satterfield-Siegel
An Indianapolis resident and native, Dr. Jennifer Scatterfold-Siegel is an influential pediatric dentist in her hometown. With her involvement in the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program since 2009, she has made a national impact. Dr. Jennifer Scatterfield-Siegel and Max Siegel, her husband co-co-own and manage Rev Racing.
Men highly dominated the auto industry. Despite this, we’ve women who have made a global impact in the industry. The five African American women in the auto industry covered here are among the influential figures in the automotive industry.
This means that we can be whatever we want, regardless of the challenges. Here are a couple of inspirational books on Amazon you can read to fuel your passion.
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