Hello and welcome to today's session of Meet Women of tech at Ford. So I'm Gail Dris and we've got some in Deep Singh here as well.Um And we'll be introducing you to some of the great things that we do at Ford as part of um the women of technology community. So, first of all, just by way of introduction a bit about myself. So I'm GDR Garza. I'm actually based in the UK at Dunton Technical Center, which is one of our big engineering centers where we engineer a lot of commercial vehicles. Um I'm really passionate about creating environments where women can thrive in technology careers and that's where Sam and Deep and I really work a lot together in terms of our global women for technology chapter. So I've been working in it for over 20 years um in Ford and across a number of roles. My current role at the moment is as a global product line manager at Ford and I work in the sales space. I work in order fulfillment. So we look after a lot of the contracting and sales of our vehicles around the world and together with some and deep, I co-lead our global chapter of Women of Ford Technology, which is one of our big um employee resource groups here at Ford.

Other experiences that I've had in my career. Um Before this role, I actually worked to deliver um our first ecommerce online vehicle sales capability globally. So that was a great experience. Um And at the same time, was also working as a digital product line manager for all of our it capabilities across our European Ford brand sites. I also worked in manufacturing before that, looking after some of the technology in our plants and across my career, I've had roles in a number of different areas. But one of the things that I really enjoy working uh for the most is collaborating with so many amazing and talented colleagues. I'm very lucky to have worked in a number of global positions. Um And keeping coming back to my friends and colleagues that I've made over my career is, is one of the great things I enjoy. And with that, I'm going to introduce you to Sum and Deep. I first worked with Sum and Deep Gosh, about 1213 years ago and our careers have crossed. Um And about two or three years ago, we came together to lead the global Women of Ford Technology chapter.

So Simon Deep, why don't you tell us a bit about how you came to Ford, how long you've been here? Um And something about your favorite assignments as well.

Absolutely. Um So hello everybody. I am Su Mandeep Singh and um I work currently working in Ford Credit, which is a subdivision of Ford. I'm based in uh Michigan in the Southeast Michigan area and I've been uh with the company for almost 20 a little over 22 years. Um Let me, first of all say that I am so thrilled to get this opportunity to come in and talk to women in technology globally. Um As gay was saying gay and I have been working on this uh with this er G which is a very important er g for uh our uh enterprise technology um team. Uh But this is my first chance that uh you know, I'm going outside of Michigan and connecting with women outside of Michigan technology chapters or uh the four chapters. Um So let me start with um I am an engineer by education. So I did my um uh electrical engineering and my master's in controls engineering from India before I moved to us and I did a uh masters in science and computer science here in us. So since the beginning, I've been very, I was very keen on STEM program and I think I have I come from a family of engineers so maybe that's what motivated me to, you know, go into that field um in uh uh I will also say that married for 26 years and I do have two sons and the reason I put that here is, you know, being married, taking care of the family and your career, it takes uh some special uh balancing.

So I would like to share with you, you know, some of what, what, how did I uh manage to do that while I was also building the career? I know a lot of women have done that. Um But, but it does take special attention and care to um to balance both of them and be successful on both the fronts if there's anything like that. And it's currently my role. I am uh I am the head of uh for credits data engineering team. It's a global team um spread across uh six countries. And currently we are working on our most important objective right now is Cloud transformation for our data uh for credit as a financial institution. And we apply data in ways that um in very different ways. Um uh So I'm really proud of the team and we are very energized on uh and looking forward to this uh cloud transformation journey that we are on. And in addition, I'm also in my team, we are also setting up the new MS in all Google native uh technologies before that. Um I, I would uh uh just like gail, you know, one of the big privileges of working at Ford has been ability to uh work in different areas in a number of different roles and, and build the relationships and lots and lots of learning from both successes and failures.

Um So overall, my focus although has been on technical roles, uh just the role prior to my current role, I did have the opportunity to uh lead the business strategy office and also the product head for our dealer services, for credits, dealer services area. And that was a very unique learning experience, almost like running a company. What does it take to run an operation of um good size company uh where we have approximately 1500 employees spread over six countries. Uh So very fulfilling um experience that assignment was definitely one of my uh favorite assignments so far or one of my uh top favorite assignments in addition for the last 2.5 years. Um uh I've been coding uh Women of Ford Global Chapter, er g in um Close Alliance and partnership with Gail and we absolutely love, love this partnership. Uh I have gained so much out of this, of course, you know, the purpose was to give back to the organization. So while we are giving back to the organization, both of us have really benefited uh from this role. Uh the, the tremendous learning and connection this has brought across the uh our geographical geographic borders is just amazing. Uh Then as you can see, I'm not going to go through all of this uh all the bullet points, but just uh wanted to highlight that over my 22 years of career, I have worked on multiple different technologies and multiple different um uh skill teams is what we call them, like manufacturing, marketing and sales, uh on planning and logistics, as well as uh you know, driving some really large transformations from process uh perspective.

Uh My key area of focus has always been data. So really data warehouses for a lot of different skill teams. And uh that is what prepared me for my current role, which is uh really having a very large department and a very large uh transformation for food credit. So that's a little bit about me. Uh I'm very passionate about fostering DN I uh clearly in my uh er G role, uh you know, passionate about creating those opportunities and giving back to the uh women in technology careers. Um But in general also, uh you know, I am doing what I can and wherever I can influence in fostering um inclusion for minority as well as for women. So that's, that's about me.

Thanks. So this is, you know, to get to know us. So please feel free to put any questions in the chat for us that you've got. Um But while we see what people are interested in, I've got a question for you s so can you tell me about someone who's made a big impact to your career in your life? So as you reflect back on the different roles that you've had and either as in a, as a, as a woman in a technology career or in other ways who is someone that's had a big impact on your career to date?

Mm. That's a, that's a great question, Gail and I think I have, I have actually a list, um list of those people who have really influenced um who really influenced my career and you know how I balance work life. But I will say, uh and I'm not gonna take any names, but I've had, uh I've had, I would say the opportunity to work with some very senior level leadership um uh across some of my assignments. And in a couple of those occasions, I was actually um you know, my assignment involved working for or being a it partner for some very demanding business partners. Um Like when I say demanding, very demanding uh uh and, and who would not want to listen to a no. So as tough as, as it was uh you know, being working for leaders um at that, um you know, who hold themselves accountable to such high standards of uh delivering the results as well as their teams. I did learn a lot um uh from those. So, so there are a couple, there was a uh VP or EVP for MBNL um very influential guy. He taught me, uh you know, he really taught me how to be, how to take a radical approach and, you know, being very clear on when we are doing the problem solving.

Sometimes I did before that, you know, I did feel being a woman, you know, my approach was more soft handed, you know, trying to please and making sure nobody is upset. Um But, but that would make progressing the projects very difficult in some cases. So working for this uh EVP who's no longer uh he retired actually a couple of years ago uh was a very significant, has had a very significant impact on, on my career and my life. And then I do want to also mention two women uh who are at a very top level now, very high. Uh uh They, they're handling some of the largest enterprise, technology divisions, both of them, them being very inspirational, you know, just, just the, and how they manage um the responsibility, the stress that comes with it and, and then still holding themselves and the teams accountable, tremendous learning, every interaction has been great.

Um So that's, that's about me, Gail, how about you? You want to share, how is it about you?

So I think as you're reflecting back, I think actually one of the biggest areas for me, we, we talk a lot about allyship and advocacy. And I think some of the ones in my career that have really made an impact are those ones who have understood what an ally is and to be, you know, an advocate of, of, of women and, and and people throughout their careers. So there's a number of, uh, male leaders that we work with, who have stepped up and recognized the importance of having diversity across our teams and having advocates and allies through our personal careers, as well as through the organization. It's such an important part um, of, of my professional career so far. So I think they're the ones that I would recognize. Ladies. We have a couple

questions in the chat if you want me to read

those to you. Yes, please.

Perfect. All right. How do you, how do you to bridge the gap, global gap, geographically, time zone, culture, et cetera. As you co-lead projects?

That's a great question. A million dollar question. Um Let me take the first try and then gay, I'd love to hear your thoughts as well. Um So, so I will say it is um it is a challenge, you know, time zones is, can be a huge challenge. Uh So one of the things and this is something that I developed over the period of time. Um This was pretty big for me when I was actually supporting uh global plans. Um all three shifts uh supported in different regions. So, um so the key to this is uh you know, you need, we need to invest, how successful was really investing in my teams as well as in my uh relationship. Um So first few months can s can seem like a really uphill battle but really kind of laying down, you know, what are the clear expectations uh when you are partnering with other regions and, and the style of operation and really level setting, you know, what would be the, I mean, just recognizing the fact that we'll not be able to work together with all four hours of overlapping time.

Uh But if we have 30 minutes of overlapping time, what would we, how would we focus on and, and gay and my partnership on er G is one great example. And uh so that's one part that uh you have to be very intentional and mindful of how this relationship is going to work the expectations on both the sides. Uh The second thing is, you know, when it comes to direct reporting teams, which I do now, I actually have one in China, a very recent, very young team uh understanding uh or, you know, again, you know, two things that has worked for me is making sure that you're building strong teams, uh level setting the expectation and giving them the autonomy and number.

So the biggest thing is um delegating and trusting that they will make the right decisions and they'll come to you when, when they need to. So that has been one of, I would say out of many experiments that is what really worked out in. Uh for me on several occasions,

the trust is a great one actually. Salmon A I think if I reflect on how we collaborate, we use the tools really effectively. I mean, we, we talk a lot but we use tools to recognize that we're in different time zones. So if we are collaborating to present or to do a forum, then I have the advantage of being five hours and a few coffees ahead of you in the day. So you will send me things the night before I can work on them and we collaborate like that very much and we use things like Webex teams to be having those conversations and remembering things between us. So the use of different ways of communicating is so important. I think in terms of building relationships, you know, I've had, you know, some deep, I think we've only met once, right? Even though we've been collaborating on that this so much. And I think in a lot of my professional relationships, it's about being authentic. You know, we, we're professional, you have to be respectful um and understanding different people's point of views when all you can see them in is a little box. But I think being authentic and being yourself is, is a really important one in, in, in terms of building the trust in those relationships with your colleagues and peers. I think that would be the big one for me. Thank you.

Another question I have here uh through what avenue did you get hired at? For online application? Career, fair employee referral? Conference, et cetera or other.

So I got hired into Ford of Britain in Europe. Um We have people from all different routes come into Ford. So we have from our, what we call our, our apprentices in, in, in, in the UK, we have college graduates, um as well as experienced hires that come through. So there's all different routes and there are different ways about finding out about the job. So there's linkedin, there's, you know, our, our, our websites, there's many different ways of finding out personally. Um I came through, I think at the time, it was a bit of a different route. It's probably a bit more common. Now. I actually worked for Ford as an agency employee um for a few years and then I converted over to be a Ford permanent employee. Um because I wanted to focus on my career, I wanted to get the benefits of, you know, the things that Ford offered in terms of career progression and in terms of development and also having worked as an agency colleague in Ford for a while. I really like the culture. It was something that I wanted to be part of. So I came through that route into Ford, um about 1516 years ago now. And then I've worked up through my career through there. What about you? Some deep?

Uh Yes. Uh You're, you're right. There are multiple channels and just like you gail I also worked as a contracting in as a contractor in Ford first, I was actually an IBM employee uh working on Ford pro uh products. And never in my dream, I had thought that, you know, I will end up spending 21 years with Ford. As I was writing the slide. It was like, wow, it's been that long. Um But, but just like you said, you know, one of the things that really attracted me to Ford was the culture. Um And, you know, I was, I was quite young, you know, I was, we were just starting the family. I had my first baby was just about six months old uh back then. And I was looking uh for uh a corporate culture where I could actually balance work life. Um And, and I would get the, you know, I could thrive in, in both the aspirations and Ford has done a tremendous job, I will say, you know, although it may sound like just Ford, but every division that I've worked with, uh you know, there has been different learning. It's just we are just, we are such a big and humongous company that every time you move to a new role, it's a totally different learning. So that kept me uh fresh on, you know. Uh So, so I really like my appetite is I wanna learn something new.

I'm not necessarily looking at upward uh uh ladder. But as long as, you know, I'm learning something new, I'm adding value, it stays, uh it stays fun for me. And I'm very proud to say that Ford has really given me that support um through the culture. Uh I've had some outstanding mentors, you know, who have really pulled me up when I was in my lows and pushed me even further when I was in my eyes. Um And then of course, the product line, I just love the what we do, what we build for the world. And, you know, our, our commitment to um the environment is another thing. So, so my values very much line up with what Ford has to offer to the society and to the world. And that's, that's why I've, I've been here. Um I will say, you know, from the new hiring perspective, if you're interested, I would say there are many more new options that have now opened that didn't exist um building connections with linkedin. So I have recently hired some very talented um managers, senior managers, technical managers in my team and I got in touch with them uh through linkedin itself. So, so definitely, if you're uh looking for that next progression, you know, staying active in linkedin can go a long ways.

Yeah, very much. So, I have another one for you, Simon. Deep. See I'm getting all the questions in today. So you mentioned about your family. Um One of the things that comes up when we talk about our careers is work life balance. And you know, there's been a number of changes over the last few years. You mentioned that, you know, you have um a couple of Children. So can you talk to us a bit about just work life balance and how you, you know, work through some of those things and the challenges of global teams and how you keep that balance?

Uh Yes. So that is, that is a question that I get asked a lot of time gail I'm sure a lot of us get asked this question quite a bit. Um I will start with, you know, this all really starts with being authentic and really being clear on, first of all, defining what is right for you and everybody's right can be different, you know, and, and so really laying down and use the help of mentors or anybody that you can trust if you're not able to do it yourself because I went through that process.

I wasn't very clear in my mid twenties, you know, what is it, what was important to me? It was all like everything coming to me from all directions and I wasn't sure what to do. So, um so, so one of my mentors told me, you know, clearly define what your priorities are and then being authentic. So when you bring yourself to work, bring your whole self to work, when you wrap up that day at work, you know, make sure that you're fully then dedicated to your family or what, whatever you need to take care of. So that was, that is one of the approaches that it took me time to practice it and apply it. Uh But, but I think once I got it, it was, it was, it was a smooth smail sailing and then it's not and then setting up the expectation with your team, with your boss, with your um even in with your family, right? How would you, how would you divide and conquer the responsibilities of running the family as well as, you know, managing the kids and their activities, et cetera. So I will say I've been lucky, you know, my spouse was by uh quite uh cooperated in that sense.

And um so I've come this far. Uh Another thing from my joining perspective, one of the big attractions was Ford, used to have a daycare very close to the facility. It was like five minutes from where I worked and both of my kids were able to get in there. I had a newborn baby and, and you know, uh another toddler. And so that was another big benefit. I could go run at the lunch time, see them. So I've used uh different kinds of techniques um with COVID coming in and all of us going remote, you know, sometimes I think we all have struggled. Where do we put that mark to say? OK, work ends and life begins. Uh So in the beginning just like all of you, you know, I had my moments where work they never ended. Uh But what I started doing was, you know, just, just a, just about halfway into COVID was take that break. Although I didn't have the driving time, I started going, taking time out for my walks, for example. So I could actually kind of put a end to my day and then start the second part of my life. So that that is what has worked for me. Um Gail how about you

really similar? Actually, I think it's defining those parameters and what's important to, to me and being clear with my team and my colleagues, you know, when I work when I don't and and also how I work. So if I choose to work of an evening, then don't necessarily expect people, you know, the rest of my team to write as my decision. And I think we all have those different boundaries and, and it's been really transparent and open with, with my colleagues, as I say on, on, on, on what's important to me. I think the other thing I'm really conscious of is is that we have we cast a shadow with some of the way we work as well with our work life balance. So it's respecting other people's work life balance as well. And how does it all come together and things that I can do can impact on other people's um balance as well, so just really reflecting on that and, um, and as I say, having those really open conversations with the teams to understand how they work. Um, like you, I've got, um, well, yours aren't teenage. I've got a teenage son. He in the UK, we have a nursery here as well. So he went to the Ford Nursery.

Um, so I think throughout my career I've been very lucky to be able to find that balance that suited me when I needed it. So, yeah, it's, it's, it's not an easy one, but I think we have to do what's right for us first and then we find other ways to work the rest of it in and also taking the time for ourselves.

Absolutely. 11 more thing I would like to add for our participants who are listening to this conversation is I think it is so important to have your support network, your girls support network, which is different from, you know, your work network and your family network that is just so important.

And I will, I cannot, um I cannot, I don't have words to express, you know, how much of that um Friends support circle has actually helped me, you know, staying positive through some of those, some sometimes what seem like very difficult time and things were out of control. Uh So definitely lean in on that, make sure you have that supports uh structure. Where can you can be, you, you're not a manager, you're not a engineer, you're not a wife, you're not a mom, but you are yourself and, and, and just leaning on, on them on those, um, challenging times is so important. Ok. Gay. Maybe I'll ask the next question. So I have. Ok, go ahead. Go ahead.

Um, for young engineers who want to be direct hire at Ford, what steps should they take to distinguish themselves and be found in the pool of resumes?

So I'm gonna answer this one. It, it's not a direct question in terms of dis distinguish themselves. I think one of the pieces of advice I would give is take every opportunity that's presented to you. So throughout your career, you're presented with different opportunities either to um present something like this or whether it's to mentor or whether it is to take a training opportunity or maybe a position that you're not really sure about, or maybe at college, you're asked to do a project with a team that you're not sure about.

Take every opportunity because you don't know what those opportunities are gonna lead to, what doors they're gonna open and what they're going to present. And in terms of a AAA resume and you know, the just the general experiences that we have that wealth and depth of experiences just through all the different opportunities is one of the things that will really make it more rounded as you apply some of your different experiences to the jobs that you wanna do the next time you get anything

really? Well, said, Gail. Uh, so what I'll add to that is, um, I would, I wouldn't, I mean, don't look at it as, how do I make a resume? So I stand out what I would look at is, you know, reflect in and see why do you want to work for, for or for any other company? So, learn a little bit about, you know, why do you want to work for that company? What attracts you to that company? And so that's one aspect of it, one dimension of it. Um The second dimension of it is think of and this is something that um you know, I also learned from some tips from my mentors is what is the brand, what is your value proposition? So working for a company, what can you bring to the table that will be valued by that company? And, and I will say, um you know, it takes time uh over the course of my career is how I learned that really taking uh taking, you know time to build a brand of, what is it that I can bring that others cannot, it's so important and that brand statement does not necessarily have to be pages long.

It could be a short sentence with three or four bullet points of what are your key strands? What are you passionate about? Um There are four like, like we gay and I mentioned is a very big company and we need lots of different kinds of skills and expertise and we are very big on hiring a new talent straight out of college. Uh But what will help is if you take time to prepare with some of this information? Um um you know, and it can, it can go a long way with many different companies, not just with Ford.

That's really good advice.

Ladies, we have two minutes left. Is there anything else you wanna say to our participants before we wrap up?

Yeah, Gail would you like to share what is this women of Ford technology, er G that we support and what do we do with that?

Ah women of for technology. So it's a global community of women in technical careers and it's really dedicated to empowering, developing and supporting our colleagues. Um It seeks to create a safe space, a safe environment where we can get to know each other where we can learn.

But it's not, although a lot of it's around networking, it's not just networking. We also provide mentorship, um the opportunities for professional development, but also we look at things like technical career paths, how we can be supporting and building and providing the opportunities to be learning about technical career paths as well as championing, as I say, our men as advocates and allies and really building that network that's really strong to create the environment where we can all thrive in a technical career and we have representation, I mean, truly from all around the world.

So s and deep and I pull together the global representatives, we, we build this as a global community. Um And it is a very strong empowering group to be part of. Um And it's a lot of fun to work on as well. We have a bit of fun along the way.

Absolutely. We do have a lot of fun. Um So thank you so much and the looks like we are on the top of the hour. So um I do want to take a minute just to thank women in technology. I was, I will say, you know, when this um when this opportunity came up, both gay and I were really excited, first of all, to know that women are coming into action, not just within Ford. Uh But, but across the board, we have such a huge opportunity for girls and women to go into this career and contribute to the society. And so, so it's really um encouraging to see um women in technology has now become a large global chapter and we have so many different companies and people aligned to it. So, thank you again for this opportunity. We hope you this session was informative for you and we hope to see um some of you potentially as our employees, our team members in near future.

Yeah, thanks everyone and some indeed just a reminder there's in the chat as well. There's a couple of links, we've got other four team members available to chat around careers. Um, and there's also a link there to careers.four.com from Fly and the team. Thank you, everyone.

Have a great rest of the sessions. Um Thank you for joining. We really appreciate your time. Yep. All right. Bye bye bye.