GAMA Annual Golf Tournament
April 27, 2023
Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA- just south of the KIA plant in West Point, GA, and north of Columbus, GA
Sponsorships Available
Cutoff Date: Golfer Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis – only 32 foursomes. All registrations must be received no later than Friday, April 16, 2023.
For more information visit gama-georgia.org
Lunch and Learn, January 20, 2023 from Noon to 1 pm CT. Conversation with Keri Floyd Kelly, Director Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Nissan.
Kelly is director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) for Nissan Group of North America. Kelly is responsible for developing diversity and inclusion strategies to integrate into the Nissan business, steering the Executive and Advisory Diversity Councils, and cultivating sustained relationships with civic and community leaders and organizations.
Kelly previously held the position of senior manager, Americas Diversity Office, at Nissan. Her professional background spans across multiple disciplines. She has held positions of increasing responsibility in finance, product strategy, marketing, purchasing, and human resources. In addition to her vast automotive career, she also has prior experience in the defense industry.
Kelly holds a master's in business administration from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor's in business administration, accounting from Tennessee State University. She is a member of Youth About Business National Board of Directors and is chair of the Tennessee State University College of Business Alumni Board. Kelly is located in Nashville, Tennessee.
Free for SAWF members • $10.00 nonmember. Register to receive the Zoom link.
Preparing for Your Next Career Move, Resume and Interview tips.
Whether wanting to move up in your current company or move to another organization, you need to prepare your resume and sharpen your interview skills. In this one-hour lunch and learn you will be giving tips you can implement now to build your resume so it gets noticed and provide suggestions on how to interview well.
Presenter: Jan Ingenrieth is a Business Services Specialist at the Alabama Productivity Center at The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business. She has 20+ years of experience in human resources and 10+ years of experience in the automotive industry. Throughout her career, she has hired thousands of people for various levels of positions.
Free for SAWF members • $10.00 nonmember. Register to receive the Zoom link.
Chat with the SAWF President, August 19, 2022 at 12 PM Central. SAWF president, Amber Hopper will lead a discussion on what people learned at the Annual Conference. Attended the Annual Conference? We want to hear your insights from the conference. Didn't attend the confernece? This chat is a great way to learn about some of the tips that were given by the speakers to help you with your career. We will also be looking for feedback on what you would like to see at next year's conference. Register to receive the Zoom link.
Proud to announce this year's 2022/2023 scholarship recipients..
Brooke Ivy Welch – Lorie Shauntee-Nelson Scholarship Recipient; Mechanical Engineering at West Virginia University; Courtsey of SAWF & Toyota
Alyssa Cadua – Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University; Courtsey of Magna
Katelyn Carr – Mechanical Engineering at University of The University of Alabama at Huntsville; Courtsey of Mazda Toyota Manufacturing
Lydia Gardner – Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University; Courtsey of Magna
Victoria Grimes – General Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology; Courtsey of GAMA and B. Riley Financial
Suruchi Gujarathi – Master's in Automotive Engineering at Clemson University; Courtsey of Aisin
Jade Hanson-Thomas – Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University; Courtsey of GAA/ARD & Honda
Sophia Jeffers – Mechanical Engineering at Milligan University; Courtsey of Chemico
Gautami Girish Keskar – Master's in Automotive Engineering at Clemson University; Courtsey of Toyota
Abigail Koester – Industrial Systems Engineering at University of Florida; Courtsey of BMW
Juliana McIrvin – Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Courtsey of Aisin
Tanavi Patel – Master's in Automotive Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology; Courtsey of GAMA/B. Riley Financial
Mugda Basuthakur – Automotive Engineering, Ph.D. at Clemson University; Courtsey of Honda
Keira Tran – Software Engineering at University of Texas at Austin; Courtsey of Bodman
SAC takes place in Atlanta, GA, October 5 -7, 2022. Senior executives from OEMs accross the southeast will showcase their latest developoments and emerging technologies.
Attendees include OEMs; Tier 1, 2, and 3 suppliers; government agencies; educational institutions; and professional service organizations that have specialized expertise in automotive, and related industrial and aerospace industries.The SAC has an International reputation for attracting top industry executives and thought leaders – including those from various parts of Europe; Asia; Central, South, and North America; and the Nordic countries.
Learn more at southernautoconference.com
Spring Hill Manufacturing partnered with a local nonprofit to educate middle school-aged girls about careers in the automotive industry
Employees from Spring Hill Manufacturing in Tennessee recently participated in a local all-girls STEM education event to give students a first-hand look into careers in automotive manufacturing. The event was hosted by the nonprofit Southern Automotive Women’s Forum (SAWF), who brought their All Girls Auto Know® program to Spring Hill Middle School for their twentieth event in the region.
All Girls Auto Know® is SAWF’s middle school outreach program. The program works with local businesses and schools to host one-day events with up to 300 middle school girls and their teachers/educators to explore the many career options in STEM and automotive – such as roles within manufacturing plants like Spring Hill.
"As a mother of two girls and a Spring Hill employee myself, partnering with GM and other automakers is an amazing opportunity to give these girls a glimpse into all the opportunities the automotive industry has to offer,” said Amber Hopper, plant planner at Spring Hill GPS and president of SAWF.
Approximately 250 girls attended the Spring Hill event, which was funded by a community grant from GM and included a first-hand look into careers within GM Manufacturing.
Students took part in a virtual plant tour of Factory ZERO – future home of the 2022 GMC HUMMER EV pickup and HUMMER EV SUV, Chevy Silverado all-electric pickup, and self-driving Cruise Origin – and attended a panel featuring GM employees from across the company discussing their career path in STEM-related work.
Plant directors from across GM’s U.S. manufacturing sites – including those from Spring Hill – as well as members of the Spring Hill Women in Manufacturing (WIM) ERG assisted the girls throughout the event and lead a hands-on activity where they built small model cars to race.
“We had a cross functional team from many different GM plants to help encourage these young ladies to take a step into manufacturing, and it was an honor to introduce this group of students to what the automotive industry is all about.” said Michael Youngs, Spring Hill GPS Plant Director. “I think our group made an impression on those young ladies, and hopefully some of them will turn out to be GM employees in the future.”
Pam Elliott, a skilled trades GMS coach at Spring Hill, also helped represent GM at the event and offered insight into opportunities for women at GM.
“This was such a rewarding experience – reaching out to young girls in their early and impressionable years with a hands-on stem event was not only educational, but also a great training opportunity and a truly fun time for all that attended,” said Elliott.
WiM South is a regional conference for manufacturing professionals who are navigating the way through their careers—whether it be in production, the C-Suite, or anywhere in between. This conference, produced by the Women in Manufacturing Association (WiM), offers attendees based in the southern US region:
Using promo code SAWF at check-out, receive 20% off of your WiM South registration now through November 1!
The #1 Job Skill for Today and the Future
Lunch & Learn Webinar – November 10, 2021, Noon to 1 pm Central
Organizations around the world are rethinking the key job skills that ensure success for their companies. While hard skills are vital, more important are soft skills. In fact, empathy has been identified as the #1 job skill desired in employees. Talking about having empathy is easy but truly doing it and doing it well is more difficult. If you want to learn a Jedi Mind trick for developing effective empathy skills – tune in!! Webinar is free for members and students. $10.00 for non-members. Zoom link sent once registered.
Presenter:
Gina Simpson, certified professional coach, Soluna Strategies. Combining her professional experience with her passion to help others, Gina founded Soluna Strategies, a firm that specializes in developing energetic, innovative successful individuals and organizations. She is a highly sought-after, charismatic keynote speaker and author that works with students, individual clients, and organizations moving them towards actualization of their goals Gina holds a M.S.Degree in Marketing and a B.S. Degree in Business Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from the University of Alabama where she is also a clinical instructor in entreprenuership.