To elevate women in the workplace, set goals toward actionable change

To elevate women in the workplace, small, actionable steps can lead to meaningful change.

That starts with companies taking a look at their own management teams to ensure that women are present and included, said Amy Nelson, founder and CEO of The Riveter, a network and community for working women that launched in 2017.

Nelson spoke Thursday to about 500 attendees at Women Driving Auto Retail, an event hosted by NADA. She said companies can work to improve women's participation on leadership teams and make the workplace more welcoming.

"Think about how you can make that change over time. We make goals every year and every quarter," she said. "Make it a goal to diversify the leadership."

Companies can put those goals into practice by creating mentoring and sponsorship programs, working to advance female employees' careers, encouraging a hire or promotion and offering flexibility, Nelson said.

In addition, she said, companies should not make assumptions about what women may or may not want in their careers, such as whether they'd like to travel on a business trip, because of factors such as having children at home.

"Women can tell you what they want. They can tell you their career aspirations," she said.

NADA has increased its focus on the Women Driving Auto Retail event, both in terms of its content and in attendance, 2022 NADA Chairman Mike Alford told Automotive News ahead of this year's NADA Show. More than 500 tickets were sold to this year's event, up from 340 in 2022, NADA said. "One of the things that we're seeing is just, candidly, how successful women are in our space right now, and the network that they have to share best practices, to talk about [and] to share their journeys together," Alford said. "There's a lot of energy and a lot of esprit de corps and a lot of sort of collegial, 'Hey, how could we support each other and share our stories so we can help others get into this space and advance, as well?' "

At Thursday's event, Stephanie Chung, founding chief growth officer and global brand ambassador at private aviation company Wheels Up, shared the story of her career ambitions and growth — starting from her first job in aviation, parking airplanes and loading luggage at Boston's airport — before telling attendees how they can own their power and have an impact.

"You don't have to be told to be empowered. You have the power," Chung said. "But how do you grab hold of that? It's really simple. First, make sure that you're giving yourself special care. Make sure that you're not trying to blend in. That's not what you were designed to do."

When women can do that, she said, "you'll become unapologetic. You'll be bold. You'll be confident."