A self-determined and expert transform leader of range, equity and inclusion initiatives within the automotive market, 1997 mechanical engineering alumnus Greg Hawkins is passionately placing a new twist to the common adage “If you give a individual a fish, you feed them for a day. If you instruct a individual to fish, you feed them for a life time.”
His adaptation: “If you educate a individual to market place, market and generate the fish they currently know how to catch, you are aiding him feed an whole neighborhood.”
For much more than 15 years Hawkins has worked in product sales and teaching, project style, method progress, and provider variety with automotive suppliers and parts suppliers – substantial and small – through the earth. He’s a Business enterprise Resource Team and Global Integration manager with Stellantis, one of the world’s main automakers and mobility company vendors carrying makes such as Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Jeep, and Peugeot.
As component of this position, Hawkins is taking care of variety provider advancement initiatives for the automaker. In 2022, Stellantis took the direct in setting up the National Black Supplier Advancement Program in partnership with the National Business League, a groundbreaking initiative developing and supporting Black-owned suppliers within just the automobile market as a result of education, connections and means. The initial 15 Black-owned provider enterprises ended up announced in 2022, 60% of which are dependent in Detroit, with far more quickly to comply with.
For this and other efforts, Hawkins was awarded Automotive News’ Notable Winner of Variety honor at Stellantis last yr.
“I’m passionate about individuals’ progress and making certain that everyone that will come into operate just about every working day delivers a little something fantastic. Though my enthusiasm listed here has often been cars and trucks and racing, my accurate passion was assisting persons inside this local community locate that exact same stage of determination within just the enterprise,” reported Hawkins, who also is the previous chair of the automaker’s Gay and Lesbian Alliance. “The effect I’m possessing nowadays is broader than me, broader than the folks I’m serving to, and broader than the firms I aid. It is impacting directly the communities of children like me who were looking to contribute to the environment in a significant way.”
Hawkins’ educational strengths in math and science induced a significant faculty counselor in Gary, Indiana, to recommend a probable career in engineering. On the other hand, he was unfamiliar with what engineers did specially, other than maybe getting to do a thing with cars and trucks. “And it would retain me from doing the job in the area metal mills,” Hawkins recalled during a the latest on line job interview. So, when conference a Rose-Hulman admissions agent at an area higher education honest, he asked, “Do you materialize to have automotive engineering at your school?”
A mechanical engineer was born.
On campus, Hawkins’ identity, management and challenge-fixing skills flourished within the shut-knit, difficult-functioning and team-strategy community of students, school and staff members. As a three-yr residence life workers member, he assisted incoming learners get acclimated to school everyday living and the rigors of Rose-Hulman’s educational surroundings. Hawkins contributed to the scheduling stages as the faculty created the successful changeover to coeducation in 1995, which include currently being co-lead counselor for the initial Procedure Catapult summer months plan that acknowledged higher school ladies. He also launched the institute’s chapter of the National Culture of Black Engineers and resurrected college student interest in the Crew Rose Motorsports leisure club.
Right after developing new enterprise alternatives for Detroit-centered suppliers with this kind of car companies as Common Motors, Ford Motor Company, Toyota and Visteon Automotive Methods, Hawkins used two decades as a technological support engineer with Ford just before acquiring a range of engineering and administration roles with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for far more than a 10 years. The automaker merged with Peugeot maker PSA Team to kind Stellantis in 2021. He’s now specializing in project administration among cross-practical groups that are main improve and is transitioning into business and organizational progress.
Stellantis’ National Black Supplier Progress Application key ambitions are to make a expansion plan and knowledge financial stability. A new finding out management method will connect the suppliers to firms and other enterprises although giving options for software participants to do the job with the automaker. Others becoming a member of in the initiative as company sponsors are Comerica Financial institution, Cummins, DTE Energy, Ford Motor Co., Basic Motors, Lear, Magna, and Toyota.
“We’re developing a exceptional network of people and companies that are committed to acquiring things carried out and making incremental transform in the parts of diversity, equity and inclusion in the auto business and other small business landscapes. We’re searching to adjust communities as very well,” said Hawkins.
This goes again to components within his twist of the “teach a man to fish” adage.
He remarked, “When referred to as upon to be a chief, you don’t automatically have an understanding of the overall landscape about what we’re asked to address, but it’s important that we empower many others to travel us to reach any initiative. That took place in my position as a (Resident Assistant) ground leader at Rose, in NSBE and other college student teams … It taught me how to be successful in environments where all people may possibly not search like me, think like me or arrive from the identical background as me. I worth people for who they are, what they convey to just about every job and what they’re passionate about. I then leverage these traits to drive good results.”
Before this winter season Hawkins returned gained the Workplace Student Affairs’ 2023 Jess R. Lucas Alumni Leadership Alumni Leadership Award, recognizing a previous residence everyday living staff members member for distinguished job achievements.
“My time at Rose-Hulman confirmed me that I can convey worth to everything that I do,” he explained. “I know that if I’m going to make the effect that I want to make at this firm and to aid others see the achievements that I have had in my occupation, that it normally takes numerous various men and women, components and cases to push that achievement. I just come about to be blessed to occur into an natural environment at Rose-Hulman that saw a thing in me and mentored me by way of an unbelievable educational encounter. I normally knew that I was never on your own.”
