Powered by Women || COVER STORY Powered by Women || COVER STORY

DBusiness readers nominated eight metro Detroit women who hold

leading positions in the automotive industry, sponsorpships and event
planning, health care, logistics, insurance, and nonprofit organizations.
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July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 46 July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 47

COVER STORY || Powered by Women Powered by Women || COVER STORY

Vice President Instrumentation and Driver HMI,

The Americas, Interior Division
Continental Automotive, Auburn Hills
Employees: 212,000 Revenue: $43.9B

Jennifer Wahnschaff grew up in an automotive family in St. Clair

Shores. Her father worked for Ford Motor Co. and her in-laws were
employed by Chrysler Corp. She always liked cars, and was drawn
to the design of exteriors and interiors rather than the engines and
hardware that excited her father and brother.
In school, she had a natural competitive streak, and participated
in math competitions and science fairs. At one time or another, she
pondered becoming a teacher, a lawyer, a veterinarian, a doctor, and
a psychologist. Then a very close girlfriend came home from private
school one day and said her high school counselor told her that
since she was good at math and science, she should be an engineer,
Wahnschaff says. I was good at math and science, too, so I decided
that I would also be an engineer.
While earning a mechanical engineering degree at Michigan State
University in East Lansing, Wahnschaff co-opted through a variety
of assignments ranging from AC Rochester to Inland Fisher Guide
at what was then known as General Motors Corp. She stayed
with Fisher Guide following graduation in 1992, doing warranty and
quality database functions, and writing database
programming to analyze warranty data. At that point, she was mar-
ried with one child, and another on the way.
She was later promoted to senior mechanical engineer in
GMs Interior Division, before moving to Takata in 1998 as team
leader for interior seating and sun visors. In 2001, she joined
Continental Automotive as a senior mechanical engineer in the
instrumentation and displays business unit of its interiors division.
Since then, she has advanced through numerous leadership posi-
tions and, in 2011, she moved her family to Babenhausen, Germany,
where she became director of Continentals GM and Fiat Global
Customer Center.
Wahnschaff returned to Detroit in 2013 to assume her current
responsibilities, which include leading her 1,600-plus-member
CONTINUED ON PAGE 55
When she was chief marketing officer for insurer Priority Health,
Joan Budden was part of innovations like covering complementary
medical practices, using the Health Care Bluebook to help tell
President beneficiaries what their out-of-pocket costs would be, and offering a
and CEO rewards program for members who shop around for the best price
Priority Health, for a service.
Grand Rapids Now that shes president and CEO of the Grand Rapids-based
Employees:1,200 nonprofit health plan, expect more changes to come. I like change,
Revenue:$3B I thrive on it, Budden says. Keep trying new things, thats how the
world gets better.
After she became CEO in January, Budden made a point to
address how Priority Health is doing in the post-Affordable Care
Act world. I was pleasantly surprised about what I heard, and I also
learned a lot, she says. As an industry, health care is facing a lot of
challenges, (one of which is) that its simply unaffordable and people
need solutions.
Employers, in particular, believe they have few choices and are
frustrated with escalating health care costs, Budden notes. They
want to see increased rivalry among insurers. Competition increases
innovation, she says. The ACA has improved competition and made
it more accessible for people to shop and compare things on the
basis of facts, so theres a lot of transparency about prices today.
The ACA has been good for Priority Healths business. The
insurance companys market share among individuals statewide
who buy their own insurance has risen to 20 percent from 5
percent since the act took effect in 2010, Budden says.
Among seniors who buy Medicare Advantage coverage, a
fee-for-service model, 54 percent statewide are covered through
Priority Health. Of the approximately 725,000 Priority beneficiaries
in Michigan, about 390,000 receive coverage through their employer,
125,000 have Medicare Advantage, 110,000 buy their own insurance,
and 100,000 are Medicaid recipients.
Looking to the future, Budden says Michiganders can look for
Priority to make coverage and services more affordable, while
increasing beneficiaries access to health care. I believe afford-
ability is the biggest challenge we face, she says. I think Im a
champion on this.
Budden has her focus on changes in the payment structure
that favors paying for high-quality outcomes; rendering services at
alternative sites of care, including in the patients home; and offering
preventive care thats more cost-effective.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 55

48 DBUSINESS || July/August 2016 July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 49

COVER STORY || Powered by Women Powered by Women || COVER STORY

CEO, Global Strategic Supply Solutions, Livonia

Employees:100 Revenue:$36M

Lisa Lunsford was in an enviable position when she started her

first business but thats because she earned her way to that
position. After coming to Michigan from her native North Carolina
and landing a job with Ford Motor Co., she enjoyed a supportive
environment and plenty of mentoring from her colleagues.
But by 1998, she felt restless. I had that bug, she says, to do
something different. She left Ford and launched I Thinc LLC, a
company whose business was writing software for transportation
and warehousing applications. Ford was sorry to lose her, but rather
than being angry about her departure, they told her something that
added to her confidence and demonstrated her value.
Ford said, Anything you need, well support you, and if it fails,
you always have a job (here), Lunsford recalls.
Lunsford had no intention of failing. I Thinc LLC got off to a
strong start, as Lunsford worked with her brother on software
applications for vehicle quality systems. Like many businesses,
however, it took a hit following the 9/11 terror attacks. It hit us
pretty hard, along with the technology bubble, and we started
losing clients, Lunsford says. In order to keep the bills paid, we
decided to move into IT support instead of software development.
It was more flexible.
That move ultimately led her to connect in 2010 with Robert
Gruschow, president of Deshler Group in Livonia, who wanted
Lunsford to join him in a new venture that provided engineering
services, manufacturing, assembly, and supply-chain man-
agement. Together, Gruschow and Lunsford established Global
Strategic Supply Solutions, where Lunsford now serves as CEO, in
addition to serving as vice president/marketing for Deshler Group,
her partners company.
All this was quite a leap for the erstwhile tomboy who grew up
near Greensboro, N.C., with four brothers and worked summers
on her grandparents tobacco farm. After graduating from Bennett
College, Lunsford caught the attention of Ford and came to
Michigan to start a career in the automotive industry.
Now married with a 10-year-old daughter, Lunsford realized
when she established GS3 that she had to be totally committed to it.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 55
Owner
The Fulkerson Group, Birmingham
Employees: 9
Revenue: NA
Tavi Fulkerson has played a pivotal role in
changing the face of Detroits major events landscape.
From a relative backwater in the 1980s, with only the (at the time)
Detroit Auto Show, Detroit Thunderfest hydroplane races, and the
Thanksgiving Day parade to show for itself, Detroit today is home
to world-class industry, sporting, and civic events thanks to
Fulkersons ability to match events with appropriate sponsors.
Next year, Fulkerson will have represented 25 North American
International Auto Shows, and grown the number of sponsors from
zero to 140, while this Novembers Americas Thanksgiving Parade,
now with some 200 sponsors including Art Van Furniture in
Warren will be her 20th on record.
In addition to those two major events, The Fulkerson Group
arranges marketing partnerships between an array of sponsors
and the Ford Fireworks Detroit, the Detroit Jazz Festival, and the
Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix. Fulkersons company also
represents the annual Fuel: Detroit leadership summit and
Christmas Village Orlando in Florida, which is modeled after a
traditional European Christmas market.
After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1974,
Fulkerson worked in Ann Arbor at public radio station WUOM-FM,
and as a rock-and-roll DJ at WIQB-FM. The radio station got sold,
changed format, and everyone had to find new work, she says. I
put out a shingle because I had a natural
ability for promotion by connecting the
dots between companies and events.
I started staging events like fireworks
displays, air shows, and Eastern Michigan
University football. I was hired by the
hydroplane races in the late 1980s to help
them celebrate the 75th anniversary of the
Detroit Gold Cup. I sold a six-figure sponsorship
to a Chrysler-Jeep dealer association in 1990
and never looked back.
As Fulkerson networked through the Gold
Cup crowd, she met local car dealers who opened
the door for her to connect with the Detroit Auto
Show. They asked me to help the show secure
sponsorships and work with the Tier 1 auto suppliers
who wanted to be involved, she says. I started selling
NAIAS sponsorships in 1993, and theyve been a client
ever since.
The Fulkerson Group markets and sells events,
negotiates contracts, and assures fulfillment that is,
making sure the sponsoring companies get what theyve
paid for, including credentials, hospitality chalets, displays,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 55

50 DBUSINESS || July/August 2016 July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 51

COVER STORY || Powered by Women
When Sharon Zhou decided to leave her native China to seek
a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor, she figured she might stay in the U.S. for a couple of
CFO
years. That was very much the expectation of her parents.
TPS Logistics, Troy
But the American business sector has a way of finding places
Employees: 85 for talented people, especially those who are willing to take a
Revenue: seemingly limited opportunity and turn it into something bigger.
$375 million When Zhou was offered a data-entry position with TPS Logistics
in Troy in 2010, it might not have appeared to be an offer that
would put her on the fast track to success.
Zhou, however, saw different things in the opportunity. Hon-
estly, at first, I felt a bit overqualified for that position with my
masters degree and CPA license, Zhou says. But after a couple
months with TPS, I really saw the potential of the company.
Zhou recognized it was a business that would reward contri-
butions, and she was quickly promoted to accounts payable, fol-
lowed by a promotion to assistant controller, and then controller.
When the incumbent CFO resigned in 2014, Zhou completed her
astonishing four-year rise from a data-entry new hire to serving
as the companys top financial executive.
The key to her ascent, she says, was approaching every task
with an eye toward delivering the most value she could, rather
than merely satisfying the requirements.
If I was asked to present a report, instead of just finishing the
report, Id figure it might be really nice to do an analysis based
on the numbers, Zhou says. So I just did so voluntarily. Id
do a summary page, along with my own analysis pointing
out things the CEO might be interested in. He was very
impressed. To this day, he still talks about it.
Zhou quickly discovered that she would need that
commitment to excellence in her role as CFO, a task
that didnt merely consist of number-crunching.
As she was settling into the position, the company
decided to merge its finance operations with another
department that manages its freight. Her preparation
for that role, she says, was aided by her early days at the
company doing data-entry.
When I did data-entry, that was part of the freight
52 DBUSINESS || July/August 2016
build process, so I spent quite some time learning it, Zhou says.
There were a lot of late nights and weekends of working. I sat
down with people in every department and talked about data-
entry, internal auditing, accounts receivable, accounts payable
just to watch how they did their day-to-day work.
Zhou says it took her six months to really understand the
process, but once she got it, she immediately started making
improvements.
Her growth came as she confronted not only a language
barrier, but a cultural one, as well. For example, she had never
celebrated Thanksgiving before coming to the U.S. (nor had she
eaten turkey), so her colleagues fixation on that holiday was
entirely new to her. Every little thing is so different from life in
China, Zhou says.
Recently married to a fellow U-M graduate, the hardest part
of staying in the U.S. for Zhou is the separation from her parents.
While she would love to convince her parents to join her here (she
is their only child), shes not sure it would work, given the language
and cultural barrier. Im so excited about my work every day, and
every day Im learning new stuff, Zhou says. So I dont think Im
going back to China any time soon. Dan Calabrese
Powered by Women || COVER STORY
President and CEO
Arab American and Chaldean Council, Troy
Employees: 137 Budget: $12 million
It has been reported that social service agencies in Michigan ex-
pect more than 5,000 refugees to arrive in the state this year. Since
the Syrian civil war began in March 2011, Michigan has received
335 refugees from Syria alone more than any other state.
Overall, more than 30,000 refugees from the Middle East have
settled in Michigan in recent years.
The dilemma of the refugees strikes a nerve with Haifa Fakhouri,
who herself arrived in Detroit from Jordan in 1967 to study at
Wayne State University. Later, Fakhouri saw immigrant issues up
close and personal while serving as an international adviser to the
U.S. Agency for International Development. She also worked with
the United Nations Development Population in Jordan as a
consultant on women and population policies in the Middle East.
I saw the impact of the wars in the Middle East, the civil war in
Lebanon, the Iraq-Iran war, and I witnessed the plight of refugees
from Middle Eastern countries stranded in European airports,
Fakhouri says. When I came back, I met with my priest and a few
other community leaders and said, We have to have an insti-
tution to deal with the future problems of refugees coming to
the United States.
In the late 1970s, Fakhouri began applying for foundation
grants, meeting with government officials, and holding fund-
raising events to turn her vision into reality. With the support
of the late Father John Badeen, former president of the Eastern
Orthodox Churches of Metropolitan Detroit, and others, she
co-founded the Arab American and Chaldean Council in 1979.
Under Fakhouris leadership, the nonprofit organization has
become the largest community-based social services organization
focused on Middle Eastern communities in the nation, with 44
outreach centers in Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties. Its
headquartered in Troy, the city with the second largest non-
native-born population in southeast Michigan.
Were basically a human service agency, Fakhouri says.
We have medical clinics, employment training, social services,
behavioral health programs, youth and senior citizen programs,
and food distribution programs. We have an affiliation with
community centers in California and Chicago, but 80 percent
of our work is in Michigan.
The organization, which delivered 391,469 services to 69,249
clients in 2015, provides translation and interpreting services to
federal, state, and local government agencies, and it has applied
for a grant to conduct U.S. citizenship test preparation classes for
English as a second language to individuals. Its $12 million annual
CONTINUED ON PAGE 55
July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 53
COVER STORY || Powered by Women
COO, Rehmann, Troy
Employees:800 Revenue:$116.4M
Stacie Kwaiser joined the CPA firm of Rehmann in 1996,
intending to stay for a few years and then move to an in-house,
corporate position.
Obviously, its 20 years later and I continue to seek more
opportunities whether (that means) bigger, more complex clients;
leading different teams; or rolling out new training programs, says
Kwaiser, who was named COO of the countrys 30th largest CPA,
business consulting, and financial services firm in January. I believe
that if you work hard, you should enjoy what you do and I do.
Not only does Kwaiser enjoy the work, she strives to foster
success in others through sponsoring and mentoring professionals,
especially women. I was raised to be a caring person, so its just an
opportunity to help others, Kwaiser says. Theres nothing more
exciting to me than seeing someone elses success.
She says reaching the C-suite and pulling up other women
along with her will help to balance the gender gap that exists in the
accounting profession. According to the Accounting and Financial
Womens Alliance, of 47 firms that participated in its 2015 survey
of women in accounting, 22 percent of the companies had female
principals or partners.
Also rare is having a female CEO. Among the top 50 CPA
firms, only one has a woman at the top, Kwaiser says.
To help improve that statistic, she participates in two of
Rehmanns mentoring programs, and currently has six mentees
within the company. Often its helping them navigate the firm
to achieve their goals, which typically is to become
a principal, and looking out for them in their
careers, she says.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 57
54 DBUSINESS || July/August 2016
WAHNSCHAFF
instrumentation and Driver HMI (Human Machine
Interface) teams product development and tech-
nology roadmap components, in addition to its
overall organization. Im responsible for all of the
electronics that help inform drivers on the road,
she says, from the instrument cluster to the head-
up display, HVAC controls, and center stack, and
from design and development all the way through
manufacturing. Her OEM customers include
GM, Ford, and FCA, as well as Tesla and other new
electric-vehicle makers.
She describes her leadership style as very
open: I like to give responsibility to team members
to help them excel and take ownership and lead-
ership of their parts of the business as if theyre
CEOs, she says. That allows me the freedom to
work on strategy instead of operational details.
And I like to mentor and develop individuals. I think
its very important that they understand when
theyre doing a good job, and when they need
support or need to change, correct, or redirect.
With divisions in Brazil, Australia, China, and
Korea, as well as in North America, Wahnschaff has
become adept in leading a team thats diverse not
only in gender, but also in nationality and culture.
You have to be considerate of English as a second
language, and also of different cultural perceptions
with how a message comes across, she says.
She points out that she has a supportive
husband to help her manage the balance between
her family, career, and travel schedule. I married
my high school sweetheart in college, she says,
and he has been an excellent support person a
mentor, a coach, and a confidant. Hes always
there for me.
What advice does Wahnschaff have for women
in business? I think its important to have confi-
dence in yourself and your capabilities, as well as in
your life partnership. Try to find an even balance of
workload between you and your partner. Dont try
to fit into the 80s model of doing it all yourself. And
read books by other businesswomen, because
some women believe that theyre the only ones
who have gone through their circumstances.
Gary Witzenburg
BUDDEN
For one inpatient stay, you could have about
200 office visits, Budden says. So why not offer
people more access to their physician?
Also related to preventive care, Priority recently
released results of a five-year study of 9,000
beneficiaries that did a head-to-head comparison
of the prevalence of chronic conditions and costs
between participants and nonparticipants in its
HealthbyChoice program. The workplace program
is designed to raise awareness of potential health
risks and reward employees for making measur-
able progress toward being healthier.
The study results showed HealthbyChoice
saved employers up to 12 percent in claims costs,
or $1.2 million over four years. Over five years,
there was a 25-percent drop in the development
Powered by Women || COVER STORY
of diseases such as diabetes, chronic lung disease,
and heart disease related to a decrease in blood
flow to that vital organ.
Also look for Budden to tackle problems in
individual coverage, where premiums industrywide
have doubled since the ACA took effect. People
who enroll during special enrollment are entering
the market when theyre in need of services, but
not entering when they dont need them, she says,
adding penalties may need to be put in place to
level out the playing field.
To boost access to health care, last year Priority
Health started offering telemedicine mental health
services in rural areas where such practitioners
are scarce. I really believe that, as a society, we
need to make health care work, she says. Its an
underpinning of who we are. Ilene Wolff
LUNSFORD
It was truly the beginning of one thing and the
end of another, Lunsford says. She and Gruschow
believed they could offer companies benefits in
areas like tracking and in-line vehicle sequencing. It
was a step in a different direction, as Lunsford rec-
ognized the limitations of the market for IT services.
Going into GS3 pushed me to recognize thats
becoming more of a commodity, Lunsford says.
Some of the software we developed has been im-
plemented here, and some of our IT clients didnt
want to let that go, so we hired some people to take
care of (tracking and in-line vehicle sequencing).
But make no mistake: GS3 isnt an extension of
Lunsfords past ventures. The company processes
more than 4 million parts each year while offering
the management of materials, manufacturing,
assembly, and distribution to its clients.
Lunsford says she has placed a strong focus
on workforce diversity not only helping her own
employees, but working with international partners
of GS3 who have no background in adapting
and incorporating workplace diversity into their
business models.
And its possible none of it would have hap-
pened had she not explained her intention to walk
away from Ford and her former colleagues.
I just told them I thought it was time,
Lunsford says. I felt that bug. I cant describe it,
but its the thing thats nagging at you that theres
something more. Dan Calabrese
FULKERSON
brand presence on websites and in advertising,
and VIP experiences like access to the paddock
at the Grand Prix.
When we meet with companies, we try to
match them up with events that make sense for
them from a marketing and a philanthropic point
of view, Fulkerson says. At the NAIAS, Tier 1
suppliers want to be close to the 5,000 media who
attend. For those companies and foundations that
want to give back to the community in a way thats
visible and special and appeals to all ages and
demographics, you need to be with The Parade
Company, the granddaddy of civic events.
Tavi just doesnt take a property and go out
and sell it. She collaborates with the property
to ensure that theyre creating value for the
sponsors, says Jack Riley, senior vice president
and marketing director at Fifth Third Bank. She
consults the property and says, This is what
sponsors are looking for, and heres what youre
going to need to do to make this great. Then she
works with the sponsors to drive the value they
should be getting out of the asset.
Fifth Third Bank, which recently moved its
regional headquarters to downtown Detroit, last
year sponsored a float in the Thanksgiving Day
parade. It also has spent more than 10 years as
title sponsor of the Turkey Trot races that are held
in conjunction with the parade. We do surveys that
ask about awareness and feelings for sponsorships
that were involved in, and we get very high marks
on that, Riley says. In our most recent survey,
we increased our score by six points.
Fulkerson sees major events as antidotes to
modern cultures obsession with all things digital.
They have enabled our community to have gath-
ering points, or a time to get together, she says.
Its not online or via email; its person-to-person.
This is the greatest time Ive experienced in Detroit
in terms of how people are working together to
make it a very exciting place to live, work, and play,
and attend events. Tom Beaman
FAKHOURI
operating budget comes from donations, founda-
tion grants, and other sources including General
Motors Co., United Way of Southeastern Michigan,
and the Central Intelligence Agency.
My priority right now is the Seven Mile
Project, Fakhouri says, referring to the ACCs
$16-million plan for redeveloping Seven Mile Road
in Detroit between Woodward Avenue and John
R. We established an ACC campus there with
an employment training center, a youth center,
adult services for needy families, and a behavioral
health clinic. We coordinate with major community
organizations in the area, like Detroit Community
Health Connection, which provides services to the
underserved population in the area.
The project also has brought about the
makeover of seven storefronts, along with sidewalk
improvements and the installation of planting beds
and park benches. Were working with people to
encourage economic development of specialty
shops coffee shops and restaurants around
the Seven Mile area, Fakhouri says. She also is
in talks with the city about the development of a
multi-unit housing complex.
After 37 years in the community, ACC can point
to many accomplishments, but Fakhouri says her
work is never finished. Many refugees are already
involved in our economy, and many have estab-
lished their own shops, she says. They are young
entrepreneurs building a new life. Immigrants are
assets, not liabilities. We look forward to welcoming
everyone. Tom Beaman
July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 55
COVER STORY || Powered by Women
Eight years into her career as an engineer
and engineering manager at Dana Corp., Rachel
Fortenberry was interviewing for a chief engineer
position but the sales vice president insisted
she move into sales. He said, Wait a minute. You
cannot go to engineering. You have to do sales,
she says. He wouldnt let me take the chief engi-
neer job; he wanted me in sales.
A native of Brazil, Fortenberry graduated
magna cum laude from Paulista University in
Sao Paulo with a degree in mechanical engineer-
ing (while working as a co-op with Volkswagen
Brazil). Upon graduating, she joined Danas Sao
Paulo Axle Division as a product engineer in 1987.
Two years later, she moved to the Spicer Clutch
Division in Detroit.
Dana had a program where they would swap
members around the world for training, and I was
one of the few there who spoke English so I was
selected to come to the U.S., she says. In 1992,
she was promoted to account manager for major
U.S. accounts at GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Along the
way she became a U.S. citizen, got married, and
had two children; from 1995 to 1999, she was a
stay-at-home mom.
When she returned to work, Dana sent her to
Sao Paulo to be general sales manager for the
KWAISER
For example, Kwaiser may make a strategic in-
troduction to a colleague for a mentee, or point out
her special skill to a higher-up. One time, Kwaiser
helped create new work opportunities by pointing
out a mentees skills in information technology
risk management to a principal from another Reh-
mann office (the firm has 17 locations in Michigan,
Ohio, and Florida, including one in Saginaw, where
Kwaiser is based).
Her mentoring activities extend outside of
Rehmann through community activities at the
YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region, where shes a past
president and board member; and professional
organizations such as the Michigan Association
of Certified Public Accountants, where Kwaiser
started a three-year term on the board of directors
last September.
To me, theres no bigger compliment you can
pay to someone than to ask for their guidance or to
learn about their success, she says. Thats what I
often tell people; its humbling to me when people
refer to me as a mentor.
Randy Rupp, CEO of Rehmann, says Kwaiser is
a key member in the 75-year-old firms strategic
direction and is responsible for its operational
56 DBUSINESS || July/August 2016
Powered by Women || COVER STORY
Fluid Systems Division. But the following year,
she and her husband (also with Dana) moved to
Minas Gerais in Brazil. He moved to a different
company, she says, and we were in this little town
where there was not much automotive (work), so I
thought I would try something different.
I opened this little business, a deluxe small
restaurant next to a grocery store in a busy area
where we made and marketed our own brand of
ice cream. I wanted to learn how to run a business
and do the books. It was a good experience and
a great lesson in finance. I learned that your fixed
costs have to be low because your sales will vary.
After Fortenberry and her husband were
divorced in 2002, she sold the business, moved
back to the United States, and took a job with
Troy-based ArvinMeritor as sales manager of
suspension modules and modular door systems,
again working with GM, Ford, and Chrysler. I
wanted to raise my kids in the U.S., so I (came)
back. My professional godfather at Dana had
moved to ArvinMeritor, and when I met with him,
he told me this was the place to be.
She was promoted in 2003 to sales and
program manager for GM passenger car and
light truck exhaust systems, before moving to a
platform manager job (also for GM car and truck
management. Stacie has demonstrated that she
is a true leader someone who understands what
it takes to help us continue exceeding expectations
for clients and associates, he says.
Kwaiser says leadership skills come with
experience. I think a leader is built on many of the
attributes that I display: Caring, compassionate,
can provide direction and get others to move
forward to achieve something, shows appreciation,
and is a good communicator.
She says many of those traits come naturally to
her. She was captain of her volleyball and softball
teams at Bridgeport High School in Saginaw, and
she reads books on leadership and works at a firm
that subscribes to Dale Carnegies How to Win
Friends and Influence People principles. I think
its also something you have to be cognizant of and
work to be better at, she says of leadership traits.
Kwaiser says she once asked her daughter
Megan, 11, for her opinion on how well she passes
leadership skills to the next generation. (Megan)
told me, Youve always taught me to lead by
example, Kwaiser says, and you dont have to
be bossy to be a leader.
Ilene Wolff
exhaust systems) at Emcon Technologies in 2008.
She assumed her current position in 2010 when
Faurecia acquired Emcon.
Today, Fortenberry travels extensively to
support global teams in Europe, China, Korea, and
Brazil. Fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish,
she has, at times, served as a delegate for the vice
president of the GM Business Unit.
A Corvette enthusiast, she says the best thing
about her job is working with cars, and her tough-
est challenge is the need to balance internal with
external customer demands. I believe in my team
members that everyone is giving me 110 percent
and Im very flexible. I like to be more of a coach
than a boss, and work side by side with them.
How has she balanced raising children with the
long hours and travel her career has demanded?
My parents came to live with me for a few years
after my divorce, and I moved next door to my
sister. My (new) husband is a great stepdad,
and doesnt travel as much as I do, so its a great
partnership. I always joke with my friends and say
that if a pilot gets sick and I have to land the plane,
thats easy compared to being a single mom and
doing a good job in automotive. I always felt that I
had to paddle a little faster than everyone else.
Gary Witzenburg
All action photos were shot in studio
by Detroit-based photographer Martin
Vecchio. Paint for this project was
supplied by Motor City Paint Co. The
canvas was created by the editoral art
team and hand lettered by local artist
Alejandra Roig-Bucco. Honorees were
shot at a later date.
July/August 2016 || DBUSINESS.COM 57