WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Three Toyota
employees were honored last night in a virtual award ceremony with
Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and
Production) Ahead Awards from The Manufacturing Institute.
The STEP Ahead Awards were created to honor female leaders in
science, technology, engineering and production career fields for
their excellence and outstanding leadership. This year, 130 women
were recognized, from the factory floor to executive leadership,
including three winners from Toyota.
- Karen Cooper, Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Kentucky
- Lauren Powell, Production
Engineering and Manufacturing Center
- Ericka Mendez, Toyota Motor
Manufacturing de Baja
California
"Toyota is very proud of the outstanding achievements of our
2020 STEP Ahead Award winners," said Chris
Reynolds, chief administrative officer, Manufacturing and
Corporate Resources, Toyota Motor North America. "Our
employees' commitment to excellence and dedication to our customers
help inspire younger generations of women considering careers in
the future of manufacturing and mobility."
Women totaled 47 percent of the U.S. labor force in 2016, but
only 29 percent of the manufacturing workforce – constituting one
of manufacturing's largest pools of untapped talent.
"Women are significantly underrepresented in manufacturing, and
the industry is in the midst of a workforce crisis," said
Carolyn Lee, executive director of
The Manufacturing Institute. "Closing the gender gap in the
industry will go a long way toward closing the skills gap,
empowering more women to join manufacturing's ranks and lifting the
industry as a whole."
The STEP Ahead Awards are part of the larger STEP Ahead
Initiative, launched to examine and promote the role of women in
the manufacturing industry through recognition, research and
leadership and close the gender gap in the industry.
Eighteen Toyota employees have previously received this
prestigious award.
About Toyota:
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in
the U.S. and North America for
more than 60 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable,
next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus
brands. During that time, Toyota has created a tremendous
value chain as our teams have contributed to world-class design,
engineering, and assembly of more than 40 million cars and trucks
in North America, where we have 14
manufacturing plants, 15 including our joint venture in
Alabama (10 in the U.S.), and
directly employ more than 47,000 people (over 36,000 in the
U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in
the U.S.) sold nearly 2.8 million cars and trucks (nearly 2.4
million in the U.S.) in 2019.
Through the Start Your Impossible campaign, Toyota highlights
the way it partners with community, civic, academic and
governmental organizations to address our society's most pressing
mobility challenges. We believe that when people are free to move,
anything is possible. For more information about Toyota,
visit www.toyotanewsroom.com.
Press Contact:
Rick
Hesterberg
502-868-2135
rick.hesterberg@toyota.com
Justin Posey
502-868-2848
justin.posey@toyota.com
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/step-into-modern-manufacturing-women-leaders-awarded-for-career-excellence-301137964.html
SOURCE Toyota Motor North America