GM DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER

GM Leadership Changes Increases Diversity Among Executive Ranks

DETROIT – General Motors announced a series of leadership changes, effective Nov. 1, designed to further strengthen GM’s financial organization and support the company’s rapid global growth. The moves also strengthen GM’s diversity among its corporate leaders.

(left to right) Mary Sipes, Jamie Ardila, Ray G. Young

Ray G. Young, 45, currently President and Managing Director of GM do Brasil, is named to the new position of Group Vice President, Finance. Reporting to Young will be the CFOs for the regions and the key business functions, along with internal audit, investor relations, tax and real estate. Young will report to Fritz Henderson, Vice Chairman and CFO.

Jaime Ardila, 52, currently GM LAAM Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East, will become President and Managing Director of GM do Brasil. In his new post, Ardilla will report to Maureen Kempston-Darkes, GM Group Vice President, and President, GM Latin America, Africa and Middle East.

Mary Sipes, 46, currently Vehicle Line Director Full Size Trucks, will become GMNA Vice President Product Planning and Executive Director, Global Portfolio Integration. Sipes will report to John Smith, Group Vice President, Global Product Planning and to Troy Clarke, Group Vice President and President GM North America.

(left to right) Amy Farmer, Jill Lajdziak and Diana Tremblay

DETROIT – In the Oct. 8 issue of “Crain's Detroit Business” magazine, three General Motors leaders were recognized on a list of the "2007 Most Influential Women" in metro Detroit. GM's Amy Farmer, Jill Lajdziak and Diana Tremblay were recognized at a special ceremony scheduled for Oct. 18, when they join 90 others being added to the prestigious list that is compiled once every five years.

GMNA Vice President of Labor Relations Diana Tremblay was cited for being the lead negotiator in the recent contract talks with the UAW. “Crain's Detroit Business” reported, "The agreement paves the way for GM to turn over retiree health care benefits to the United Auto Workers under a voluntary employees' benefit association, or VEBA, that UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said would cover retiree health benefits for the next 80 years."

GMNA Manufacturing Manager Amy Farmer was recognized for her work in manufacturing and labor relations for GM. Since April 2006, Farmer has been responsible for six assembly plants: Bowling Green, Ky.; Detroit; Hamtramck, Mich.; Moraine, Ohio; Shreveport, La.; and Spring Hill, Tenn. “Crain's Detroit Business” reported that her current focus is on maintaining a strong relationship with the United Auto Workers and executing GM's manufacturing goals.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Rick
Wagoner (left) and GM North America Vice
President Labor Relations Diana Tremblay
listen as International UAW President Ron
Gettelfinger talks at the bargaining table after
the ceremonial hand shake to the kick-off the
2007 UAW-GM national contract negotiations
in Detroit. (General Motors Photo/John F. Martin)

One aspect of being a "Most Influential Woman" in the region involves community service. Farmer is on the board of Health Plus Michigan, Lajdziak is a board member of United Way, and Tremblay is regional chairperson for the March of Dimes.

Saturn General Manager Jill Lajdziak has been with the brand since its startup in 1986, and she moved through a number of positions before becoming general manager in 2000. She has been instrumental in the brand's most recent product and sales successes, as her position oversees brand and product development; marketing, advertising and public relations; and sales strategies.

PONTIAC, Mich. – General Motors today announced that Alicia Boler-Davis, currently assistant plant manager at GM’s Pontiac Assembly plant in Michigan, is appointed plant manager of its Arlington Assembly plant. The move was effective Oct. 1, 2007. Boler-Davis is the first African-American woman to be appointed to plant manager at a GM vehicle manufacturing plant.

Boler-Davis began her GM career in 1994 as a manufacturing engineer at GM’s Midsize/Luxury Car Division in Warren, Mich. In 1997, she was promoted to senior manufacturing engineer in the division. In 1998, Boler-Davis transferred to GM's Detroit-Hamtramck plant where she held several positions of increasing responsibility. In 2002, she was promoted to General Assembly area manager at the facility. Boler-Davis moved on to become area manager of the Paint Shop at GM’s Fort Wayne assembly plant in Indiana in 2004, then area manager of the plant’s Body Shop in 2005. She was promoted to her current position of assistant plant manager at GM’s Pontiac assembly plant in 2006. Boler-Davis holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.