‘100 Leading Women’ Recognizes Six Toyota Leaders
Six Toyota executives have been recognized in Automotive News’ list of the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry. Published every five years, the list aims to honor female leadership while highlighting the unique challenges they face in the industry.
Industry Leader: How Toyota stacks up vs the competition
The six honored Toyota executives are the following:
- Leah Curry, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana
- Susan Elkington, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky
- Karen Ideno, group vice president of Toyota Financial Services and group vice president of sales, product, and marketing for Mazda Financial Services
- Sandra Phillips Rogers, general counsel, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary of Toyota Motor North America
- Kristen Tabar, group vice president of vehicle development and engineering at Toyota Motor North American Research & Development
- Julia Wada, group vice president of strategy, innovation, and transformation for Toyota Financial Services
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Honorees from a total of 72 companies were featured in 100 Leading Women, and we’re not surprised to see Toyota women with higher-than-average representation. In September, three Toyota employees received Women in Manufacturing awards from the Manufacturing Institute, which honors female leaders in STEP career fields. Even earlier, Toyota Motor North America was the only automaker featured in DiversityInc’s top 10 companies for diversity.
According to Automotive News, 19 of the women on its list are CEOs and 11 are presidents. The youngest woman is 31 while the oldest is 75, and fully two-thirds are extroverts. Fifty of the women say they experienced gender discrimination in the auto industry, while 18 say they were not given the same opportunities as their male counterparts. Only three have never been married and just 12 do not have children, while 87 say their company provided enough flexibility for work-life balance.
“We are proud of these leaders,” said Ted Ogawa, president and CEO, TMNA. “Their commitment to our teams, their dedication to driving innovation within our organization, and championing diversity, inclusion and growth for women is critical to our company’s mission of delivering mobility for all, and strengthening the overall automotive industry.”
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.