Stellantis launches 2 programs to foster leadership diversity

Stellantis has launched two new leadership development programs for its diverse employees this month to prepare them for advancement opportunities in the company.

The Black Leaders Advancement Collective (BLAC) and Leaders Embracing All Diversity (LEAD) are modeled after the company's Women's Leadership Experience (WLE) development program.

The training initiatives fall under one pillar of the automaker's diversity strategy called "people and education," said Lottie Holland, Stellantis' director of diversity, inclusion, engagement and Equal Employment Opportunity compliance.

"Within that, we also established aspirational targets for diverse representation at our leadership level," Holland told Automotive News. "In order for us to achieve those targets, we had to make sure that we had some tangible tools in place to be able to develop this type of talent that will be needed for future opportunities."

The participants will be sponsored by leaders within the company and get third-party training by experts in leadership skills.

The company said WLE, BLAC and LEAD are eight-month programs that will be managed by the company's 11 business resource groups. These groups represent workers from various backgrounds, including African Americans, Asians, women and people in the LGBTQ community.

The WLE training, which began as part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2019, graduated its third class in October. Stellantis said 86 percent of the WLE graduates experienced "professional growth through promotion or developmental assignments."

WLE came about after the company's Women's Alliance business resource group, now called Women of Stellantis since FCA's merger with PSA Group, held a strategy session several years ago on how it could help women advance. Teresa Thiele, Stellantis' director of aftermarket purchasing, global body and interior and North America operations, helped lead the team that came up with the WLE proposal.

The latest WLE class has 25 participants, while LEAD has 20 and BLAC has 15.

"We really want it to be a journey," Thiele said. "We want people leaving these programs to come away with a variety of rich experiences, including building their network to help in their advancement so that they have that going forward. So there's a variety of internal and external aspects to it. It all circles back at the end, with also encouraging them to pay it forward, and to be a future advocate and sponsor as they advance in their careers."