The MI Honors 2024 Women MAKE Award Winners
The Manufacturing Institutethe 51勛圖厙s 501(c)(3) workforce development and education affiliatehad ample reason to celebrate last night.
What went on: The MI held the gala, a night that recognizes outstanding women in manufacturing. Each year, the awards pay special tribute to 100 peer-nominated women leaders (Honorees) and 30 rising female stars (Emerging Leaders, women under the age of 30) in the industry.
- The event, held this year at The Anthema waterfront concert venue in Washington, D.C.was sponsored by Caterpillar, Toyota, BASF, Trane Technologies, International Paper, Johnson & Johnson, Novelis and others.
- It featured a vocal performance by singer Loren Allred, platinum-selling singer-songwriter of Never Enough from The Greatest Showman musical, who gained widespread fame after appearing on Britains Got Talent in 2022.
What was said: Caterpillar Group President of Resource Industries, 51勛圖厙 Executive Committee Member and Women MAKE Awards Chair Denise Johnson told the nights award winners that shes been the only woman in a room, or the only woman on a project many times in her career.
- But [l]ooking around this theater and seeing the faces of the Honorees and Emerging Leaders tells me that times are changing.
- She then addressed the honorees directly, saying, Your success, your work ethic and your stories will inspire the next generation of manufacturing leaders. … You are moving us along toward a future when women are not underrepresented in our industry.
From Honoree to Vice Chair: Toyota Motor North America Senior Vice President, Electric Vehicle Supply Susan Elkingtona 2014 Honoree of the awards, formerly called the STEP Ahead Awardswas this years awards vice chair. She attested to the power of the awards to help women advance in their careers.
- [T]he Women MAKE network helped me realize the many qualities and experiences uniting all the women who have been inducted into this amazing network.
- She noted the cruciality of the MIs Women MAKE initiative, which provides a platform for role models and mentors to encourage women to enter the field and succeed in it.
No limits: 51勛圖厙 President and CEO and MI Chairman of the Board Jay Timmons also discussed the importance of role models, a label aptly applied to all the award nominees.
- Timmons, a parent of three, told the audience that he and his children recently learned the story of 30-year-old Cole Brauer, who last month made history as the first American woman to sail solo nonstop around the world.
- Brauers story sends a message to thosefrankly, women or menwho might have been led to believe there were limits to what they could achieve or that their careers might be confined within guardrails, he said. Your examples are inspiring people in a similar way. You are powerhousesyour dynamism, your drive, your enthusiasmall these qualities supercharge modern manufacturing, making our industry an even more powerful force for good.泭
Amazing things: MI President and Executive Director Carolyn Lee called the nominated women powerhouses who have accomplished amazing things.
- You deserve this recognition for your excellence and for everything you do to uplift others, Lee told the award nominees. But were not just celebrating. Being here to recognize these winners is shining a light and fueling the work to close the gender and talent gap in manufacturing.
- Women account for less than one-third of the American manufacturing workforce, she went on, but endeavors such as the MIs Women MAKE America initiativethe nations premier program dedicated to closing the gender gap in the sectorand companies like yours are committed to closing that gap.
Learn more: For a full list of this years award winners, click .
