FCA US Hosted Networking Event for More Than 100 Female Entrepreneurs and Leaders
AUBURN HILLS, Mich., September 17, 2018 /3BL Media/ - More than 100 female entrepreneurs and industry leaders attended a new networking event hosted by FCA US LLC, designed to link women business owners with the automaker’s top female leadership.
The “W2W Mixer,” took place on Thursday, September 13th at the FCA US headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan, and featured women representing 85 different businesses ranging from a maker of high-quality lubricants to an award-winning marketing firm. Participants had the opportunity to pitch their businesses and ideas to a number of FCA executives.
“FCA US is committed to empowering women inside our Company and to increasing the impact women-owned businesses have on our supply base," said Barb Pilarski, Head of Human Resources, FCA US LLC. "Opportunities to connect our women leaders with accomplished women business owners fuel the connections and build the momentum that will move the automotive industry forward.”
The event took place in a speed-networking format, giving attendees the opportunity to network with FCA women leaders from:
- Business development
- Dealer operations
- Finance
- Mopar
- Purchasing
Representatives from the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council (WBC), a nonprofit champion for women, minority and small-business owners, were also on-hand.
The Women’s Alliance, one of seven FCA business resource groups working to elevate inclusiveness, created the event as a way to build meaningful connections with our supplier community.
“To be invited by FCA to network and connect with other business owners in the automotive industry is a sign that our industry is pushing toward gender equity,” said Brittany Stovall, co-founder and CEO of Assured Quality Systems. “I applaud FCA for bringing us together to advocate for women-owned businesses.”
The W2W Alliance Mixer was part of FCA’s 19th annual MatchMaker event, which provided more than 250 minority-owned, women-owned and veteran-owned businesses access to FCA US leaders, buyers, tier-one suppliers and leaders from advocacy and certifying organizations.
In 2017, FCA US spent $8.2 billion with approximately 300 minority-, women- and veteran-owned suppliers, representing more than 18 percent of the Company’s total annual purchasing.
Since 1983, the Company has purchased nearly $62 billion from diverse suppliers.
In recent years, FCA US received key leadership awards for its supplier diversity programs, including:
- National Minority Supplier Development Council – Corporation of the Year, Top Tier II Diversity Program Award, Innovation, Impact Award
- Michigan Minority Supplier Development Council – Corporation of the Year Award
- Women’s Business Enterprise National Council – Top Corporation for six consecutive years
- Great Lakes Women’s Business Council – Corporation of the Year
- Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – Top Corporation
- Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce – Corporation of the Year
- WBC – Great Lakes Excellence in Supplier Diversity Award
The Company recently earned meaningful acknowledgement of its diversity leadership when the editors of the respected DiversityInc magazine named FCA US to the magazine's 2018 list of "Noteworthy Companies for Diversity" and to the list of “Top Companies for Veterans.”
About FCA US LLC
FCA US LLC is a North American automaker based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It designs, manufactures, and sells or distributes vehicles under the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, Ram, FIAT and Alfa Romeo brands, as well as the SRT performance designation. The Company also distributes Mopar and Alfa Romeo parts and accessories. FCA US is building upon the historic foundations of Chrysler Corp., established in 1925 by industry visionary Walter P. Chrysler and Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (F.I.A.T.), founded in Italy in 1899 by pioneering entrepreneurs, including Giovanni Agnelli. FCA US is a member of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) family of companies. (NYSE: FCAU/ MTA: FCA).
FCA is an international automotive group listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “FCAU” and on the Mercato Telematico Azionario under the symbol “FCA.”
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