October 11th, 2023 – To celebrate this year’s International Day of the Girl, Ford welcomed two young women to take over CEO roles at its Essex HQ and London Human Centred Design Lab.
Nataly, aged 19, and 18-year-old Nicole were selected to take over the real-life roles and responsibilities of Lisa Brankin, Ford of Britain & Ireland chair and MD, and Usha Raghavachari, European Human Centred Design director.
Nataly was briefed on the launch of the next-generation plug-in Transit Custom Nugget campervan, before developing this Instagram to be published. She led other sessions progressing online sales and social media projects, before joining Nicole at the Human Centered Design Lab.
Nataly said afterwards: “At Ford, everyone genuinely listened and valued my input. It was heartening to feel truly heard and it taught me the importance of open-mindedness. I've gained valuable insights about STEM subjects in industry and realized that women can indeed thrive in leadership roles.”
At Ford’s Human Centered Design Lab, Nicole brainstormed with Usha speaking points for an upcoming innovation conference, provided input for a customer research synthesis and led a marketing discussion for a new commercial vehicle project, before Nataly joined to jointly develop and built a prototype concept destined for a future electric vehicle.
Nicole said: “Pursuing a career in STEM, especially in a male-dominated automotive sector, might seem intimidating but it's encouraging to see an increasing number of women joining. Ford is actively promoting this change, which signifies their commitment to diversity. As young women, it makes me feel we can always believe in ourselves, and never let societal expectations hold us back.”
Breaking down barriers
Ford joined Plan International UK’s ‘Girls Takeover’ initiative to help promote the STEM subjects often required for careers in the automotive industry.
Annually, Ford reports on progress and gender pay, which showed a 1.6 per cent bias in favour of women – meaning they earned slightly more than men. The report puts this in the context of gender representation across different areas and roles, as 80 per cent of Ford’s female workforce is concentrated in staff and middle management positions.
Half a dozen outreach programmes, including the Girls’ Takeover partnership with Plan International UK, promote Ford to all young people, and females especially – helping Ford to foster an inclusive and balanced workplace.
For the United Nations’ International Day of the Girl, Plan International UK supported girls to take over business, politics and media roles, to showcase their skills, and get their voices heard particularly in industries where females are the minority.
Research conducted on 1,000 girls and young women aged 14-24, by Plan International UK, found that women and girls are still experiencing barriers to pursuing leadership roles in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Almost half (49 per cent) of girls and young women do not feel a senior leadership position in STEM is within their reach in the future, and 39 per cent felt they would not be taken seriously if they were to pursue a career in this sector.
Reflecting on the day, Lisa Brankin, Ford of Britain & Ireland chair and MD, said: “Today is International Day of the Girl, organised by UNICEF and Plan International. Here at Ford UK we welcomed two young women to take over mine and Usha Raghavachari’s roles at the Dunton Essex HQ and the London Human Centred Design Lab. I had the pleasure of hosting Nataly, at Dunton, we really enjoyed spending time with her, she brought a fresh perspective to our increasingly important digital offering and in each of our sessions she gave us something to different to consider.”
On the partnership, Usha Raghavachari, European Human Centred Design director, added: “Nicole was an inspiration, and took to the role so naturally. We loved having her with us and she really grasped why the customer is so integral to our design process. With her humble and calm confidence I can tell Nicole’s going to be a wonderful leader one day.”
Rose Caldwell, CEO at Plan International UK, said: “Seeing Nataly and Nicole take over from Lisa and Usha is an inspiring celebration of the incredible potential of girls. The talent, ideas and strength of girls has the power to change, but change isn’t coming fast enough, and girls tell us they have had enough of the empty rhetoric. Together with girls we can make International Day of the Girl more than just a day in the calendar, but a catalyst for powering a world where every girl can reach her potential.”
Notes to Editors
Ford UK Press Office
Plan International UK Press Office
About Ford
Ford, a global American brand woven into the fabric of Europe for more than 100 years, is committed to freedom of movement that goes hand-in-hand with looking after the planet and each other. The company’s Ford+ plan, with Model e, Ford Pro and the Ford Blue business units is accelerating its European transformation to an all-electric and carbon neutral future by 2035. The company is driving forward with bold, new EVs, each one designed with European drivers in mind and innovating with services to help people connect, communities grow, and businesses thrive. Selling and servicing Ford vehicles in 50 individual European markets, operations also include the Ford Motor Credit Company, Ford Customer Service Division and 14 manufacturing facilities (eight wholly owned and six unconsolidated joint venture facilities) with four centres based in Cologne, Germany; Valencia, Spain and at our joint venture in Craiova, Romania and Kocaeli, Turkey. Ford employs approximately 34,000 people at its wholly owned facilities and consolidated joint ventures and approximately 56,000 people including unconsolidated businesses across Europe. More information about the company, its products and Ford Credit is available at corporate.ford.com.
About Plan International UK
Plan International UK is a global children’s charity striving for an equal world. One where every child can reach their full potential and every girl can choose her own future.
Poverty, violence, and discrimination still hold back millions of children around the world. And it’s often girls that are most affected. That’s why ensuring girls get equal chances in life is at the heart of everything we do.
We work across more than 80 countries to build a future where every child is safe and receives an education. A world where all girls are free from violence, in control of their own body, know their rights and have their voices heard.
And if disaster strikes, we’re there too. We work to protect children, keep them learning and help their communities recover.
But we don’t do it alone. To create lasting change, we work together with children, local communities, partners, and our supporters who believe a better future is possible.
We won’t stop until we are all equal. www.plan-uk.org
