Incoming board members will join the Women in Trucking Association to create a new strategic vision. Joining the leadership team will be the incoming Director of Driver Engagement, Andrea Adeyanju.
New WIT board members will be tasked with establishing a direction consistent with the non-profit’s mandate. The women’s trucking advocacy group has long encouraged female participation in the sector, fought for equal opportunity, pay, and fair treatment. The industry has experienced significant growth, with the number of female CDL holders rising from 4 percent a decade ago to 7.8 percent in 2020. Some estimate the increase in women truckers at upwards of 12-14 percent in 2022 and growing. Promoting success, good salaries, and professional support have been cornerstones of positive change. The incoming board members include the following people.
- Sarah Smith: Senior vice president of human resources for Penske Transportation Solutions, where she leads teams responsible for total rewards, corporate and field human resources, recruiting, diversity and inclusion.
- Bonnie Voldeng: Vice president of FedEx Freight Direct, where she leads strategic short-and long-range objectives involving acceleration to market, scale, development, and growth across the U.S.
- Karen Schwartz: Vice president of B2B marketing for Michelin North America, where she leads a 60-plus person team involved in the truck, construction, infrastructure, agriculture, military, logistics, and mining customer segments and businesses in the U.S. and Canada.
Also taking on a leadership role, Director of Driver Engagement Andrea Adeyanju bears the responsibility for orchestrating programs and services that encourage participation, reduce adversity, and promote the successes of women in the industry.
“WIT has created this new director of driver engagement position to support our goal to effectively serve our professional drivers. Andrea’s comprehensive background in the trucking industry and her passion for creating a better, safer work environment for female drivers align with WIT’s goal to support this segment of our membership,” WIT president and CEO Ellen Voie reportedly said. “We are excited for Andrea in the coming months to apply her expertise that will enable WIT to create a more driver-inclusive association that brings value to this critical segment of our industry.”
Adeyanju brings more than a decade of commercial freight transportation experience to the table. She served as safety director for Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration compliance, human resources manager at Bulkley Trucking, vice president of administration for Sudbury Transportation, safety administrator at ACI Motor Freight, and earned safety certifications from the North American Transportation Management Institute and OSHA’s Safety Training Institute.
As Director of Driver Engagement, she will handle the LeadHERtrucking driver mentoring program, Girl Scout Patch Program, Driver Ambassador Program, WIT Image Team, and engage policymaking government officials by setting up ride-alongs.
Sources: womenintrucking.org, womenintrucking.org
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