On The Move: Recent Episodes
Karolina Chachulska, Lissa Franklin (WAT)
This podcast is to (1) give a voice to the incredible women on the move in auto tech, robotics, AI, autonomous, connected vehicles, and mobility at large (2) hear the stories from women in the trenches: engineers, founders, VCs, CEOs, academics, gov’t agencies and more (3) provide insight into the industry including the challenges and success stories, trends and general learnings
Erin Relford is an engineer, creative writer and producer with a career spanning 20 years at the intersection of Tech and Entertainment. She's run several successful programs at The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros., 21st Century Fox, and Mattel, Inc.
Currently a Privacy Engineer at Google, Erin's focuses on emerging products in Robotics, Health, and AI and is passionate about advocating for women in STEM
Jennifer Tisdale (@NextJenMobility) is the CEO at GRIMM , a cyber research firm headquartered in Michigan. Jennifer is a cyber-economics strategist recognized for building cybersecurity strategies and programs for industry, government, and academia. Her expertise has been concentrated on the security of connected, Cyber-Physical Systems, and technologies, and her portfolio includes expertise in Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), Smart Cities development and planning, Critical Infrastructure, and Advanced Transportation Mobility with a concentration in Connected & Automated Vehicles, Aerospace, and the securing of manned/unmanned military platforms. Previously, Jennifer was recognized for holding the first “mobility” job in the United States,
serving as the Cyber-Mobility program strategist for the State of Michigan. Jennifer’s work created the foundation for Michigan’s economic strategy to band together automotive, defense, and aerospace industries with embedded systems cybersecurity, charting a new economic development path for the state. Prior to her time at GRIMM, Jennifer was charged with Cybersecurity R&D for Product Development at Mazda North America. She was the first OEM to voluntarily bring a research vehicle to the Car Hacking Village at DefCon. In 2018 Jennifer was voted one of SC Magazine’s “Women to Watch” in Cybersecurity and in 2022 ranked as one of the “Top 25 Leaders Transforming Manufacturing” by SME. Jennifer advocates for increased diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry. She values partnerships and the need to build trust in an industry rooted in zero-trust models. She actively volunteers with several non-profit and government organizations and works with K12 school districts, encouraging students to embrace cybersecurity education for embedded systems.
Jennifer resides in metro Detroit with her family.
Affiliations:
• National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), National, Washington D.C., Security
Systems Engineering Sub-Committee, 2021-Present
• National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), Michigan Chapter, Board Member –
Cybersecurity Director, 2017-Present
• Advanced Manufacturing HUB (AMHUB), World Economic Forum, Cyber
Manufacturing (Industry 4.0), 2020-2022
• SME, Smart Manufacturing Executive Committee, 2021-2022
• Policy Advisor, State of Michigan, Office of Future Mobility & Electrification, State of
Michigan, 2021-2023
CEO of ChargerHelp Kameale Terry was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. The daughter of Belizean immigrants Kameale has always had a focus on environmental sustainability and community engagement.
With over a decade of experience in CleanTech, Kameale formed ChargerHelp! with her co-founder Evette Ellis to create a reliable Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure. The CleanTech company, powered by technology, uses data to identify and provide maintenance and repair services for electric vehicle charging stations.
Previously Kameale worked at EV Connect where she was the Director of Programs for the electric vehicle charging station network provider. In that role, she structured and led teams to execute infrastructure projects in the United States, Australia, and Canada for both commercial and government entities. Her notable projects include Electrify America - Phase One program, the Southern California Edison Charge Ready Pilot, and the New York Power Authority portfolio.
Prior to that role, Kameale established the Customer Experience Department at EV Connect by partnering with the South Bay Workforce Investment Board employing candidates from the local community. She believes that an equitable green economy can be achieved through impactful development and realignment of existing workforces in conjunction with clean technology.
Kameale is an advisor for Edge Energy and a Co-creator of Culture and Climate, an annual gathering
in Los Angeles of Investors, Founders, Industry Experts, Venture Capitalists, and Speakers in Cleantech. Kameale has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Azusa Pacific University and sits on several boards in entrepreneurial and environmental industries.
Thanks to infoedge LLC for supporting this episode.
Michelle Avary - VP Product Strategy & Government Affairs, North America, Einride
As a leader in automotive technologies, Avary has been at the forefront of
revolutionizing the mobility space and has devoted her career in establishing
better infrastructures for automotive, autonomous, IoT, and connectivity
platforms. She is passionate about improving safety and decarbonizing mobility.
A key member of Einride’s executive team in North America setting the
company’s strategic direction and product vision, Mrs. Avary guides the
development of key electric, autonomous, and digital products and services,
leads government relations and public policy, creation of safety management
systems, and helps scale overall business.
Prior to joining Einride, Michelle was Global Head of Automotive and
Autonomous Mobility at the World Economic Forum. She oversaw a global team
accelerating the transformation of mobility to be safer, cleaner, and more
equitable. In partnership with respective Chairs, she led the Automotive
Governor’s community meeting annually in Davos and created the Global
Autonomous Vehicle Council, comprised of the top AV companies and
regulators from around the world.
Prior to joining the World Economic Forum, Avary, was Vice President of Products
and Strategy, Global Automotive Io(m)T at Aeris. Under her leadership,
automotive revenue grew by over 20% annually. She was instrumental in winning
one of the largest automotive customers, resulting in over $1 billion in revenues.
Prior to Aeris, Avary led a global team that developed and operated
embedded and tethered services for Toyota Motor Sales, bringing in over $60
million annually, and scouted technologies for leading supplier Harman.
Michelle is a noted public speaker and thought leader appearing at SXSW,
Reuters, on BBC, NPR, and the Forum’s Agenda as well as guest lecturer at
University of Pennsylvania and University of California Berkeley.
An endless pioneer in developing automotive technologies, Avary co-founded
Drive Time Metrics, an automotive data monetization startup. Her passion for
technology, diversity, and equality culminated in establishing one of the first in
the world women in technology groups, Women in Automotive Technology an advocacy group that empowers women worldwide to reach their potential in
tech and auto field.
As an avid promoter of automotive technologies and a lobbyist, Avary is on the
advisory board for various startups, including DeepScale (sold to Tesla) and Sfara
and has been recognized by the Federal Communications Commission, Federal
Trade Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and National
Transportation Safety Board as a subject matter expert on automotive
technologies. She also served as an executive director for the Future of
Automotive Security and Technology Research, as well as LA Auto Show’s
advisory board.
Her patents for telematics technologies including Automatic Crash Notification
Using Pre-recorded Messages, Cross Channel In-vehicle Media Consumption
Measurement and Analysis, and Discovery Playlist Creation are recognized
worldwide. Avary has several more pending patents.
Avary holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Pennsylvania State
University, a Masters of Art in Economics from the University of San Francisco, and
studied international law and economics at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
She is also a certified yoga instructor.
Thanks to infoedge LLC for support for this podcast
Sonya Shorey is a World Economic Fellow, Vice President of Strategy, Marketing, and Communications for Invest Ottawa, Bayview Yards, and Area X.O; the Co-Founder, Executive, and Director of the Board of SheBoot, a national non-profit corporation dedicated to helping women tech founders acquire investment to scale and succeed; and a strategy executive and management consultant with more than 24 years of leadership experience in public and private organizations.
About International Women’s Month: www.investottawa.ca/IWM
- On March 8th, the world celebrates the economic, social, cultural, and political achievements of women on International Women's Day.
- In Canada's Capital, we join forces with 40 to 60 partners and people across our region, country, and worldwide to create an entire month of impactful initiatives dedicated to advancing these important goals: International Women’s Month
- Members across our local, national, and global community participate in, and benefit from, a series of leadership events and initiatives for current and aspiring women leaders from all walks of life
- International Women's Month is far more than a set of activities - it's a powerful driver for long-term, sustainable change.
- Together, we leverage and harness the power of our collective resources and strive to create a critical mass of successful women leaders from every walk of life who significantly impact our economy and society.
- We unite to inspire, empower, and equip women in professional fields spanning tech, entrepreneurship, investment, industry, government, academia, research, media, and nonprofits during the entire month of March
- It shines a spotlight on the work we undertake as a community all year long
- Strategic, collaborative action is needed now more than ever.
- According to the World Economic Forum, at the current rate of progress, it will take 131 years to reach full gender parity.
- We call on all regions and nations to join in and create an integrated, powerful wave of global action to move the dial.
- Over the last five years (2019-2023), IWW has engaged more than 20,000 participants, and women leaders from all walks of life.
- This includes internationally recognized speakers such as Mandela Schumacher-Hodge Dixon, Monique Woodard, Sarah Kunst, Dr. Anita Sengupta, Melissa Hanna, Sarah Lacy, Esosa Johnson and Regina Gwynn, the founders of Black Women Talk Tech, Elizabeth Yin, Arlene Dickinson, Michelle Romanow and Manjit Minhas (all from Canada’s Dragon’s Den akin to the US Shark Tank), Joanna Griffiths (Knix), Jenn Harper, and Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Health Officer
Thanks to infoedge LLC for supporting this episode!
Estephania, a first-generation American, possesses a natural talent for fostering startups. Her portfolio includes successfully building global startup teams in prominent cities such as Seoul, Tokyo, Munich, Stockholm, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Tel Aviv, and across the United States. She has a track record scaling startup teams, from the early stages of pre-seed funding to the more advanced stages like series C. She has garnered invaluable experience working internally with renowned industry giants like Apple, Meta, and Waymo.
Currently, she has launched her own Talent accelerator dedicated to driving the success of startups; she partners with venture capital firms and accelerators to guide their portfolio companies from inception to Series A. Her expertise extends to advising pre-seed to Series A founders on holistic people organization strategies.
Steph enjoys traveling, Pilates, cooking & reading in her spare time.
Regina received her BA in International Affairs from George Washington University. She then went on to receive both her MBA and Masters in Public Policy from Georgetown University. After completing graduate school in 2004, Regina spent four years working on Media Mergers & Acquisitions at Goldman Sachs in Los Angeles. She joined Morgan Stanley in 2009 and now sits in the Chicago office as a Managing Director within the Global Industrials Group.
She oversees the global automotive and global mobility technologies verticals. For over twenty years, Regina has dedicated her career to advising corporate clients on a variety of transactions, including traditional mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as a variety of debt and equity capital markets transactions.
Regina lives in Oak Park, Illinois with her husband and their two children.
Sandra Roksić is a systems engineer on the high voltage battery team at Lucid Motors with experience in designing and validating automotive systems. Her career has been focused on emerging automotive technologies such as infotainment systems, autonomous vehicles, and most recently electrification.
Her current role is centered around: optimizing the charging experience, electric vehicle serviceability, and battery system safety and reliability. Sandra is passionate about creating innovative solutions that make a difference in the world and strives to make leading transportation technologies accessible to the broader community. She believes that the EV industry is the opportunity to achieve this and works on defining the intersection between technology and society and how emerging technologies can be used to improve people’s lives.
She holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo.
Annie started her career in UX and Machine Learning at Robert Bosch's Silicon Valley research center. During this time at Bosch Annie also moonlighted on the weekends as Team Leader of Team AnnieWay for DARPA Urban Challenge 2007, where AnnieWay was an “underdog” team with very little money, manpower, resources and time, and against all odds, successfully qualified as a Finalist for the DARPA race. Thereafter, at VW Group’s Silicon Valley innovation lab, Annie co-created and led companywide initiatives on USA Product, PR, Legal, and Governmental Affairs for Audi Autonomous Driving. After Audi/VW Annie spent 6+ years in the startup world of innovative solutions for self-driving cars and robotics automation; advised/consulted entrepreneurs, investors, auto OEMs, suppliers and other entities on autonomous driving; joined Toyota’s Silicon Valley lab; and briefly co-led Hexagon’s Autonomous Solutions group. Today, Annie is excited about her current journey as Deputy CEO at VinAI.
Thank you to infoedge LLC for sponsoring this episode.
Tilly Chang is the Executive Director of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority which plans, funds, and delivers improvements for San Francisco’s multi-operator transportation system. She developed San Francisco’s 30-year transportation investment blueprint known as the San Francisco Transportation Plan.
She is Chair of the Self-Help Counties Coalition, Vice-Chair of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority's Peninsula Rail Program Executive Steering Committee, and serves on the boards of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, UC CONNECT Advisory Committee, and Self-Help for the Elderly.
Thanks to infoedge LLC for supporting this podcast.
Selika Josiah Talbott is a leading industry voice for the adoption of New Mobility: Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric vehicles. The Founder of Autonomous Vehicle Consulting, LLC and Solutions 4 New Mobility Education, LLC., she provides strategic advice to companies and organizations in the mobility space and educational materials for youth and adults on new mobility. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California and Co-Directs the UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies' Environmental Justice Fellowship. Selika has extensively published in Forbes.com and is considered a go-to expert media source as
well as a highly sought-after speaker. Selika has had a Distinguished career in public service at the federal, state, and local levels. She served at the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and State of New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission and held policy positions in County and Township public entities. As an attorney, she practiced product liability defense representing franchises, taught continuing legal education, and authored several papers on insurance and product liability defense.
Selika has a J.D. from Hofstra University School of Law, a B.A from SUNY Stony Brook with a Political Science Major, and a Minor in Socio-legal studies. She also holds Certifications in Executive Leadership from American University, and Diversity Equity and Inclusion from Cornell University and Corporate Board Readiness from Santa Clara University.
Amy Jones Satrom is Head of Operations at Nuro, where she oversees on-road operations, software quality and mapping operations, and operations product. She leads teams across the US, most notably in Houston, TX, Scottsdale, AZ, Los Angeles, and Mountain View, CA. Prior to joining Nuro, Amy led operations at 23andMe where she was responsible for overseeing supply chain, lab operations, logistics, and operating systems. Previously, she held various leadership roles at Amazon, across both operations and the company’s retail businesses. Amy started her career as a nuclear engineer in the US Navy. Amy received her Master of Philosophy in Engineering for Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge where she was a Gates Scholar and her B.S. in Oceanography from the United States Naval Academy.
Thank you to infoedge LLC for sponsoring this episode.
Tune in to get to know Imogen Pierce.
She was Head of City Engagement and Integration at Arrival where she worked with cities to develop their mobility solutions. Before Arrival, Imogen worked as an aerodynamicist at Jaguar Land Rover. Since we spoke to Imogen she has become an ambassador for sustainable transportation at Fully Charged the largest Clean Energy & Electric Vehicle consumer channel.
This episode was supported by infoedge LLC.
Tune in to our discussion with Sohaila Ouffata, Director of Platform, BMW iVentures. She is the ultimate Tech-Evangelista and a passionate tech Venture Capital investor. She believes in the long-term opportunities through backing purpose-driven tech startups tackling the biggest problems in the transportation industry. Sohaila is also the founder of The African Tech Vision.
Hannah Kain is President, Founder, and CEO of Alom, a global supply chain company supporting its Fortune 500 customers in the technology, automotive, medical, financial, and energy sectors.
Hannah was born in Denmark. In addition to a business and political career, she taught at Copenhagen Business School and Hannah holds three university degrees.
Hannah is a board member of the National Association of Manufacturers, board chair of How Women Lead–Silicon Valley, serves on the WBENC Forum Leadership Team. She has received numerous industry and leadership awards.
Our guest today is Beth Hill, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer, and Head of Privacy at FordDirect. Beth’s experience in technology, privacy, and cybersecurity, law and policy focuses on how data continues to transform the automotive industry and consumer experience. Prior to joining FordDirect Beth was Senior Counsel and Enterprise Privacy Counsel for Chrysler Group/FCA.
Listen to Laura Merling from Google talk about innovation, transformation and convergence of trends and industries within the broadly understood transportation space.
Laura is currently responsible for all things automotive at Google Cloud. In the past, Laura has held roles in sales, marketing, business development, and product management at Fortune 500 companies and start-ups including Ford, AT&T, Mashery, Sybase, McKinsey, and more. She has been responsible for ecosystem development and platform solutions at AT&T Business Solutions. She has shaped autonomous vehicle strategy and global digital services strategy at Ford. Laura has been instrumental in the technology, transportation, and industrial sectors, leading digital transformation initiatives throughout her career. She has earned a coveted SDForum Visionary Award and is a regular speaker at industry events.
Listen to Karolina and Lissa interview Nina Qi. Nina is talking about her path to break into tech from the world of finance. She also talks about the amazing mission of Voyage, a start-up that is providing autonomous mobility to seniors.
Nina Qi, Chief Operating Officer at Voyage, a self-driving car startup. Prior to Voyage, Nina led corporate development at Autodesk, and previously managed M&A, investment, and strategic partnerships at Uber. Nina started her career as an Investment Banker at Deutsche Bank before transitioning into tech.
Listen to Jennifer Brace talk about her inspiring career, Ford 2021 Global Trends Report, and the future of the automotive space.
Jennifer Brace has spent 17 years with Ford Motor Company working in engineering, marketing, user research, mobility innovation, and most recently futuring. Her career began in vehicle engineering and transitioned into human machine interface working with engineers, designers and customers to develop the SYNC user interface. In 2015 she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to Ford’s Greenfield Lab to develop a User Experience Research team to provide qualitative customer insights. She then transitioned to the Mobility team focusing on developing digital services in entertainment and leading the user experience innovation team for FordPass. Today, back in Michigan, Jennifer is the Global Consumer Trends and Futuring Manager. She works across the different areas of the company to bring a forward-looking perspective to all aspects of the business.
Jennifer holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a MS in Engineering Management from the University of Michigan.
Big thanks to infoedge LLC for hosting this podcast!
A road to the top: listen to Shauna McIntyre talk about her career choices, grit, and hard work that helped her rise to the top and become the CEO of Sense Photonics.
Sense Photonics CEO Shauna McIntyre is a seasoned technology and automotive executive. Shauna joined Sense Photonics from Google, where she led its automotive services program. She began her career with Ford Motor Company and then worked as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. Later, she joined automotive and commercial vehicle Tier 1 Honeywell International (Garrett) as VP of the Honeywell's Commercial Vehicle Turbocharger platform. Shauna's interest in driving innovation then led to her joining Achates Power, and management consulting firm Egon Zehnder as U.S. Automotive and New Mobility Practice Lead. Shauna holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA and UC Berkeley.
Big thanks to infoedge LLC for hosting this podcast!
How do you design a perfect mobility experience for the future?
Listen to Karolina Chachulska and Lissa Franklin talk to Melissa QuintanilhaMelissa Quintanilha is a user experience designer with 20 years of experience designing digital products for various industries including automotive, productivity, server & datacenter management, manufacturing, and more. She has experience conceptualizing, designing, and managing complex digital systems. She’s passionate about humanizing technology and making complex systems approachable and easy to use. Melissa has worked at Microsoft as a user experience designer envisioning next-gen automotive experiences. She founded her own UX/UI studio designing digital products and services where she has continued specializing in automotive and mobility, on-demand mobility scenarios, and design experiences for infotainment, teleoperations, and autonomous vehicles - including an autonomous boat. She has a BS in Computer Science and holds an MFA degree from Ohio State intangible design, natural interaction, and responsive environments.Big thanks to infoedge LLC for hosting this podcast!
Listen to Lissa and Karolina interview Seval Oz, who brings to this conversation her 20 years of professional experience, amazing energy, and so much wisdom.
Big thanks to infoedge LLC for hosting this podcast!
“It takes guts, a little bit of insanity, and it takes also a lot of trust in yourself and the people you surround yourself with (to start a company).”
Listen to the incredible story of Manuela Papadopol from growing up in Romania to becoming the CEO of DesignatedDriver.
Big thanks to infoedge LLC for hosting this podcast!
This short episode is the introduction to the podcast from Women in Automotive Technology.