Speaker 1: But my absolutely favorite part, and this says a lot
Speaker 1: about me, is when you're sitting at that light and
Speaker 1: you push that pedal grade it is gone, like it
Speaker 1: is absolutely fair, and it's like that feeling is great.
Speaker 1: And then and then you get that like not only
Speaker 1: the vehicle's just gone, you're not waiting to accelerate, you
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about it, but it's silent. It's quiet. Now,
Speaker 1: why do I love that? Because I love music? Right,
Speaker 1: Like I don't want to to turn out my music
Speaker 1: just because I'm on the highway. I'm Will Lucas and
Speaker 1: this is black tag green money tell them. Agruti is
Speaker 1: the chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at General Motors
Speaker 1: and it spent more than twenty year years to the company,
Speaker 1: having started as an engineer. Today, she's focused on weaving
Speaker 1: the EI into the very fabric of the company, working
Speaker 1: in partnership with internal and external leaders to champion the
Speaker 1: broad and diverse war force they have. On this episode,
Speaker 1: recorded at two is afro Tech conference in Austin, Texas,
Speaker 1: tell Us speaks with Blacky's co founder and CEO Jeff
Speaker 1: Nelson about corporate commitment to d e I Electric vehicles
Speaker 1: and why black people should care about the future. Ev
Speaker 1: I'm really excited about this. We are talking about electric
Speaker 1: cars and why black people should care and and and
Speaker 1: uh teba, it's a pleasure to have you here. How
Speaker 1: are you? I'm great? I am. I can't even say
Speaker 1: how happy I am to be here with all of
Speaker 1: you in Austin, but more specifically here atro tech. That
Speaker 1: that's wonderful and so I want to dive right into it.
Speaker 1: So you are the chiefs Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
Speaker 1: at General Motors. Okay, now that's my day job. That's
Speaker 1: your day job. Right. GM is a car company, So
Speaker 1: I'm curious. We're gonna talk about why black people should
Speaker 1: care about electric vehicles, but first let's talk about why
Speaker 1: GM cares about diversity, right? Why is that important to
Speaker 1: a car company like GM? Yeah, it's critically important to
Speaker 1: GM for a whole lot of reasons, but I'll say,
Speaker 1: you know, most fundamentally, because we care about the future.
Speaker 1: We care about the future, and there is no real
Speaker 1: substantial future that engages the public if it doesn't include
Speaker 1: diverse groups. And and we recognize that, not just because
Speaker 1: we're trying to sell to customers. But we're working to
Speaker 1: create a future that's more sustainable, a future where people
Speaker 1: have more access to the things that they need. And
Speaker 1: in order for us to do that well, we need
Speaker 1: to have diverse team members that can help us think
Speaker 1: about it. We need to be engaged in communities that
Speaker 1: are extremely diverse so they can help us think about
Speaker 1: how to do this well. You know, how do we
Speaker 1: create a more animal future where people matter and we're
Speaker 1: helping them have better outcomes? And so that's that's what
Speaker 1: we care about. That's so important, and I think we
Speaker 1: should just give GM around of applause for taking that stance,
Speaker 1: because not enough companies may talk about it, but they
Speaker 1: don't necessarily put the action into it. And GM has
Speaker 1: shown their commitment by hiring you bringing you here to
Speaker 1: afro Tech, So we're excited about that. And you know,
Speaker 1: what you've touched on is something that is important to
Speaker 1: why we do afro tech. What we find is that
Speaker 1: often black people are creators but not owners, right, And
Speaker 1: so as we think about these new industries that are
Speaker 1: being created, these new verticals that are emerging, it's important
Speaker 1: for black people to be there at the forefront so
Speaker 1: that we can be creators and owners going forward. So
Speaker 1: you talked about why this is important to GM. How
Speaker 1: does your work on a day to day basis contribute
Speaker 1: to that vision of hy GM wants to have diverse
Speaker 1: people uh and and inclusive workforce. What are you doing
Speaker 1: on a day today to contribute to that? Yeah, so
Speaker 1: my days are busy that there's a lot going on.
Speaker 1: You know, we aspire to be what we say, the
Speaker 1: most inclusive company in the world. Now, we don't want
Speaker 1: to be alone. We want other companies to truly be
Speaker 1: on this mission as well. Um, but what we're really
Speaker 1: doing first and foremost is is we're focusing on us,
Speaker 1: who we are, what our intent is, how we're living
Speaker 1: every single day. And so I hope our team at
Speaker 1: GM literally practice inclusion and we coach our team members
Speaker 1: on inclusion and and I support my team as they're
Speaker 1: doing that, and I build partnerships with leaders across the
Speaker 1: company so that we can have really coaching conversations about
Speaker 1: you know, are we including the ideas of our diverse
Speaker 1: team members and how are we doing it and how
Speaker 1: can we get better at it? Because it's not good
Speaker 1: enough for me and my role to to just have
Speaker 1: people their representation is price of entry. It's baseline, but
Speaker 1: that's not what it's about. Really, what it's about is
Speaker 1: having those ideas heard, you know, allowing our diverse community
Speaker 1: to innovate together and not only the expecting it. So
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time on you know, hey,
Speaker 1: you as leaders. You know, in my role, I'm focused
Speaker 1: on the leadership team and how do you create environments
Speaker 1: where we're expecting people to innovate together, and we're expecting
Speaker 1: people to collaborate together, and where we realize when we
Speaker 1: may have great ideas being left on the table because
Speaker 1: we're not being as exclusive as we could be, you know,
Speaker 1: that's really it. And then helping them understand, you know,
Speaker 1: we are a business and so and I believe in
Speaker 1: this business that we're in and we need to kill it, right,
Speaker 1: we need to kill it. And so what does that mean.
Speaker 1: That means that we have to rise to the occasion
Speaker 1: of hearing things that maybe we haven't heard before, and
Speaker 1: we have to let those voices come through, right. So
Speaker 1: I spent a lot of time with helping leaders under
Speaker 1: stand how to connect diversity, equity and inclusion work that
Speaker 1: we're doing too great business outcomes. I love that, and
Speaker 1: it's so important that you say that, And I hope
Speaker 1: all companies and not even companies, but but those that
Speaker 1: work at companies, even if you're not an official at
Speaker 1: the company, if you're an employee, that's so important. Diversity,
Speaker 1: equity and inclusion isn't charity, right, it's not. It's not
Speaker 1: just that, it's not corporate philanthropy. Now, it is essential
Speaker 1: to being a successful business. Yes, if you're not doing it,
Speaker 1: you're not going to be successful as successful as you
Speaker 1: could be, you know. And a lot of times I remember,
Speaker 1: you know, when you know hit and I actually came
Speaker 1: into my role soon after that. But I've been working
Speaker 1: on diversity inclusion for years from where I was in
Speaker 1: the business and when when we started, you know, having
Speaker 1: a different kind of conversation, people said, well, what's wrong
Speaker 1: with us, what's wrong with us? What are we doing wrong?
Speaker 1: Well I could entertain that question and and talk about that,
Speaker 1: but it's really about what opportunity are we missing? Yes,
Speaker 1: that's really what it's about. And people don't realize it's
Speaker 1: hard to see what's not there, you know. And so
Speaker 1: as we work on diversity equal inclusion, what we're doing
Speaker 1: is we're creating a future that is, you know, more
Speaker 1: substantial for the people in the company and for the
Speaker 1: communities outside of the company than it otherwise would have been. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: And and so when we think about what GM is
Speaker 1: trying to do with electric vehicles, Uh, there are many
Speaker 1: reasons for consumers to think about electric cars, but one
Speaker 1: at the top of the list is the environment. Right.
Speaker 1: The the environment is in dire straits, and it's op
Speaker 1: precious resource and it's limited. But as we think about
Speaker 1: black people, right, and I say this as we have
Speaker 1: just had an election that we're we're still you know,
Speaker 1: waiting to to figure out exactly what the meaning of
Speaker 1: it is. But throughout history and unfortunately, uh, throughout the
Speaker 1: last a few years, Uh, it seems like it's been
Speaker 1: more pronounced than ever. But black people are are sort
Speaker 1: of always wondering what is the future home for us? Right? Um?
Speaker 1: And there are a lot of issues voting rights, economic quality,
Speaker 1: social justice that are probably at the top of black
Speaker 1: people's minds when they think about, well, the future, what
Speaker 1: we're worried about, what the government should be doing, what
Speaker 1: companies should be focused on. So, can you talk about
Speaker 1: why black people should care about the environment, Why is
Speaker 1: that an important issue for black people to take seriously
Speaker 1: and to really think about how they can contribute and
Speaker 1: make positive change. There are a lot of reasons, but
Speaker 1: I'll start with one of the things you didn't mention
Speaker 1: in your list, which is healthy. Okay, health, our health,
Speaker 1: our longevity, our ability to raise children that are in
Speaker 1: an environment that is more positive of them than the
Speaker 1: ones we were raised in, particularly where we tend to live. Right,
Speaker 1: we know that our communities and other socio economically disadvantaged
Speaker 1: communities are the ones that are most disadvantage when it
Speaker 1: comes to the state of climate and the state of
Speaker 1: the environment. Like there's there's no way that we can
Speaker 1: deny that. And at GM, we're working towards this vision
Speaker 1: of zero crashes, zero missions, and zero congestion, and that
Speaker 1: center one zero emissions is one that is tied to
Speaker 1: the health of people. And so when you look at
Speaker 1: the Black community, you know we have a long way
Speaker 1: to go. We know that our social determinants are not
Speaker 1: leading us towards having healthier lives, and so um when
Speaker 1: you focus on the environment, when you focus on climate,
Speaker 1: it takes one of those social determinants of health and
Speaker 1: it moves us moves it into our favor. Okay, so
Speaker 1: it's it's it's really critically important for our community for
Speaker 1: that reason. Um, I could listen anymore, but well, I
Speaker 1: think what you're saying is resume. I mean I heard
Speaker 1: people you know, we're going to church. Now you know
Speaker 1: you're you're, you're you're really ministering too. I think what
Speaker 1: we need to hear write the environment and thinking about
Speaker 1: electric vehicles in many ways, Yes, it's an economic issue,
Speaker 1: but it's also a health issue. It's about our lives,
Speaker 1: is right. And you know, as we said earlier, as
Speaker 1: the world is changing, as the world is shifting, for
Speaker 1: too long, black people, women, other marginalized groups have been afterthoughts,
Speaker 1: and so it's important. And again I applaud GM, and
Speaker 1: I applaud you for the work that you do for
Speaker 1: making sure that we're in the conversation earlier that that's
Speaker 1: that that is important. And and so GM is clearly
Speaker 1: up to the task of doing the work that's necessary
Speaker 1: to produce products and vehicles that are going to move
Speaker 1: us to the kind of future that's going to prolong
Speaker 1: the environment, that is going to allow black people to
Speaker 1: live healthier lives. Um and and and and just looking
Speaker 1: at some of the numbers, right the Biden administration his
Speaker 1: pleasure to reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by at least
Speaker 1: fifty Now, I don't know if you all like me,
Speaker 1: but sometimes you hear and you think, oh, that's a
Speaker 1: long way away, but you're like, oh, it's two. That's
Speaker 1: like next week's tomorrow. Um. And then the goal further
Speaker 1: is to get to net zero emissions, by which you've
Speaker 1: already spoken about how GM is focused on that. So
Speaker 1: GM is clearly up to the task. But you can
Speaker 1: make the vehicles, and I think you know your previous
Speaker 1: answer sort of made this case, but would love for
Speaker 1: you to to to underscore a bit more. How do
Speaker 1: you get people to buy them? Especially when electric vehicles
Speaker 1: are on average more expensive. So if we've got black
Speaker 1: people in particular, who are already economically disadvantaged, we've got
Speaker 1: a recession either in it or it's on the horizon.
Speaker 1: How do you get people to say, Okay, I get
Speaker 1: what you're saying about health outcomes, Like get what you're
Speaker 1: saying about the environment, but I can't afford it. How
Speaker 1: do how do we think about that? And how is
Speaker 1: GM thinking about that? Yeah? Absolutely, and there's a lot
Speaker 1: of things. It's like, even if I can afford it,
Speaker 1: why should I spend my money on that? Yes, if
Speaker 1: we're keeping it real, you know, there are a lot
Speaker 1: of things we can choose to spend our money on. UM.
Speaker 1: So it's it's it's a pretty complex puzzle. UM. But
Speaker 1: when you think about our community, one of the things
Speaker 1: that we're absolutely focused on for all communities that once
Speaker 1: again positively impacts the black community is creating products that
Speaker 1: are available at all different price points. Okay, so we've
Speaker 1: had some electric vehicles out UM for years. Most you know,
Speaker 1: most recently might think about the Chevy Bolt and things
Speaker 1: like that, and they're smaller vehicles and you look at
Speaker 1: that size versus that price, and you say, no, I'm
Speaker 1: not really interested in that, right, I'm just you know,
Speaker 1: keeping it real, we have to increase those product offerings,
Speaker 1: and so we're doing that. So we started on a
Speaker 1: on a more expensive front because we had to allow
Speaker 1: the technology to improve. And this is afrotech. We understand
Speaker 1: that over time, as you develop and innovate on technology,
Speaker 1: the cost of that technology comes down, and so that's
Speaker 1: what we've been doing. So we started with you know,
Speaker 1: some more expensive vehicle sets. But we just announced, um,
Speaker 1: a couple of months ago, that we're gonna have a
Speaker 1: Chevy Blazer coming out. It's gonna be at a price
Speaker 1: point electric Blazer, because the Blaze is already out there.
Speaker 1: They're fantastic. Um, but that's gonna be a thirty I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: Chevy equal not as many to be a thirty thou
Speaker 1: dollar price point, right, Chevy Blazer is gonna be slightly
Speaker 1: more around. But now you have a vehicle that's gonna
Speaker 1: be sized for a family, that's that's gonna allow you
Speaker 1: to get around, that's going to be at a price
Speaker 1: point that's that's very reasonable. And so that's one thing
Speaker 1: we do. But then there are other things we have
Speaker 1: to consider. You know, you have the vehicle, how are
Speaker 1: you going to charge it? And for our community, um,
Speaker 1: you know who often lives in urban centers, right, not
Speaker 1: often in suburbs. You've got things to think about, Right, Okay,
Speaker 1: we've got how many people in this apartment building and
Speaker 1: how many charging stations? You know, this is this is
Speaker 1: a big deal and um, and so we're we're innovating
Speaker 1: in that area in a lot of different ways, and
Speaker 1: we're partnering with with several different organizations, both for profit
Speaker 1: and nonprofit, and particularly nonprofits that are focused on the
Speaker 1: Black community and for other underrepresented communities. We actually created UM.
Speaker 1: We actually have UM an Equitable Climate Action Framework that
Speaker 1: we put together that's underpinned by a fifty million dollar
Speaker 1: UM fifty million dollar fund, Equitable Climate Fund, where we're
Speaker 1: partnering with UM organizations in the Black community that can
Speaker 1: help us think through how do you do this? Well? Right,
Speaker 1: you know, we understand, we know a lot like technically,
Speaker 1: like you said, we're up to the task to getting
Speaker 1: these vehicles out. We're up to the task to creating
Speaker 1: charging infrastructure that makes sense with different levels of charging
Speaker 1: and all of that. But the real question is what
Speaker 1: do people really need that are in the city that
Speaker 1: want to own an electric vehicle? And how do we
Speaker 1: deliver it in a way that they'll understand what we're
Speaker 1: doing and why we're doing it and it's gonna work
Speaker 1: for them. And we can't get all those answers by ourselves.
Speaker 1: That's that is a gym. That is that is truly
Speaker 1: a gym that you just drop, yeah, please please please
Speaker 1: please flap for that, because what you're talking about is
Speaker 1: the total experience of ownership. That's exactly right, right, And
Speaker 1: you know, if companies just look at it as well,
Speaker 1: let's make them affordable. Well you're you know, the m
Speaker 1: s r P. The price point can be affordable, but
Speaker 1: if people can't live with it, if they can't charge it,
Speaker 1: they can't sustain the ownership of the vehicle. And that
Speaker 1: only comes when you've got diverse voices in the room.
Speaker 1: And that when we've got to tell us at the
Speaker 1: table to sort of think about that and make sure
Speaker 1: that all the leadership is aligned to building that stuff
Speaker 1: into the product experience up front. Yeah. Absolutely, And you know,
Speaker 1: part of what we have to do with that, and
Speaker 1: part some of the partnerships were forming, is we have
Speaker 1: to educate our community to really understand what's going on
Speaker 1: around them, right, because there's only so much you can
Speaker 1: get off of Twitter and different you know platforms, you
Speaker 1: only get so much um But to truly understand what's
Speaker 1: going on and what are the things we need to
Speaker 1: think about so we know what to raise our voice
Speaker 1: in is really important. So educating the black community is
Speaker 1: critically important. And the other thing that we're committed to
Speaker 1: is getting more people educated in the environment and climate
Speaker 1: in you know, this future of electric vehicles, so that
Speaker 1: they can be participating in policy tables right in in
Speaker 1: local government forums and things like that with the knowledge
Speaker 1: and the expertise, so that that diverse voice at the
Speaker 1: table is actually affecting change. It's going to be to
Speaker 1: benefit of diverse communities and particularly the black community. You know,
Speaker 1: I was pretty shocked. I um. I had started working
Speaker 1: in sustainability space several years go before I moved into
Speaker 1: my current role, and you know, like spent you know,
Speaker 1: several years at GM as as an engineer. Very few women,
Speaker 1: so I moved into sustainability or there are a lot
Speaker 1: more women, but there were no black people. I'm surprised,
Speaker 1: right right. And so you think about that, and you
Speaker 1: think about the change that's going on in the world
Speaker 1: and how the world is more focused on sustainability. Think
Speaker 1: about Paris Accord two one percent now, and we need
Speaker 1: to have enough people in the room that are looking
Speaker 1: at environmental justice and how do we create equitable futures
Speaker 1: for the community. And so we're also committed to that.
Speaker 1: So by show of hands, how many people in the
Speaker 1: audience use an electric vehicle? Raise your hand. I'm just curious,
Speaker 1: So we got a few hands up. But as you
Speaker 1: can see, there's a huge opportunity to get more people
Speaker 1: to to get to get on the bandwagon, so to
Speaker 1: speak about where the future is headed. I want you
Speaker 1: to to put on your marketing sales had real quick right,
Speaker 1: So we talked about how the environment is important and
Speaker 1: how electric vehicles contribute too, you know, reducing the effects
Speaker 1: of climate change. But what are some other reasons that
Speaker 1: you would tell people to think about as they are
Speaker 1: considering purchasing an electric vehic? What are some of your
Speaker 1: favorite features an electric Because I love my I I switched
Speaker 1: over and you know, I'm a I'm a convert and
Speaker 1: I would evangelize it, but I am curious. What are
Speaker 1: your thoughts like, what are some of your favorite features
Speaker 1: and your experience with evs. Yeah, they are fantastic. So
Speaker 1: if you first just think about you know, I don't
Speaker 1: know how many of you have have have bought a
Speaker 1: car recently or have family members by a car recently.
Speaker 1: But the technology inside the vehicle from a software perspective,
Speaker 1: from an integration perspective, as is grown by leaps and
Speaker 1: bound off time, and that is on steroids and electric
Speaker 1: vehicle it's it's just fantastic. You know, you know what
Speaker 1: you want is at your fingertips. It's much more user friendly,
Speaker 1: user intuitive. It needs to be, but it makes the
Speaker 1: experience really special. So you get in your car and
Speaker 1: it and it feels different. But my absolutely favorite part,
Speaker 1: and this says a lot about me, is when you're
Speaker 1: sitting at that light and you push that pedals, great,
Speaker 1: it is gone, like it is absolutely fantastic, and and
Speaker 1: it's like that feeling is great. And then and then
Speaker 1: you get that like, not only the vehicle's just gone,
Speaker 1: you're not waiting to accelerate, you don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about it, but it's silent. It's quiet. Now why do
Speaker 1: I love that? Because I love music? Right, Like, I
Speaker 1: don't want to have to turn up my music just
Speaker 1: because I'm on the highway, you know, I don't, I don't.
Speaker 1: I And so like that experience, the sound system experience, um,
Speaker 1: along with just the pure dependability of that of that drive,
Speaker 1: that of that electric vehicle. It's just it's fun. I agree.
Speaker 1: I'm someone that typically doesn't like driving, but in an
Speaker 1: in an electric vehicle, I'm like, let me just take
Speaker 1: a random road just for the experience. I get what
Speaker 1: you're saying. That's that's real. That's real. So if you
Speaker 1: all aren't convinced by by what it does for the environment,
Speaker 1: if you like cars, if you like driving, I guarantee
Speaker 1: you an electric vehicle will be a much better experience
Speaker 1: and you get to enjoy that drive more. You know
Speaker 1: how you lean back and fronton Ohio. So okay, you've real,
Speaker 1: keep it real, and and but you can just enjoy
Speaker 1: it more. That's fantastic. So I want to go back
Speaker 1: to what you were talking about earlier, which is, you know,
Speaker 1: what we talked about, the total experience of ownership and
Speaker 1: how you know, GM is working with public and private
Speaker 1: entities to think about how we can do you know,
Speaker 1: do more to build it more charging stations and urban
Speaker 1: epicenters and among other things. I want talk about the
Speaker 1: role of the government, right the the federal government in
Speaker 1: additions to state and local government. So um, in this
Speaker 1: past Congress or this current Congress, the Infrastructure Investment in
Speaker 1: Jobs Acts, the Jobs Act was passed, which allocates a
Speaker 1: lot of federal dollars to do a lot of needed
Speaker 1: infrastructure improvements, and some of those are specifically allocated for
Speaker 1: the environment. From your perspective, in the perspective of GM,
Speaker 1: is that enough or does more need to be done
Speaker 1: at the level of the federal government but also state
Speaker 1: local governments. Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you. I'm really glad
Speaker 1: you asked that question, particularly about the state and local governments. UM.
Speaker 1: In order for this to work well, right, and I'm
Speaker 1: not going to pretend GM is the only company on
Speaker 1: this journey, right. The whole industry is on this journey, UM,
Speaker 1: and therefore communities are on this journey. UM. In order
Speaker 1: for this to work well, we need really strong intent
Speaker 1: from a local level, from a state level, and from
Speaker 1: the federal level. So current administration, current Congress has given
Speaker 1: a great kick start to the work that needs to
Speaker 1: be done. Seven and a half billion dollars on charging infrastructure.
Speaker 1: That is more than a little bit, okay, but it's
Speaker 1: going to take more than that, and so we need
Speaker 1: Congress UM to continue to look at how are we
Speaker 1: growing in this transition to electric vehicles and what more
Speaker 1: can they do? And not only that, you know, and
Speaker 1: we we work very well UM at the federal level
Speaker 1: with many different agencies, with with the UM, with the
Speaker 1: e p A, with the d OE, etcetera, etcetera. UM,
Speaker 1: who are who are supporting who can give more support
Speaker 1: now through acts like UM the Infrastructure Act as well
Speaker 1: as the tax credits that we have recently. But but
Speaker 1: we need those organizations to work well together, you know. UM.
Speaker 1: So just like at companies, companies deal with silos, you
Speaker 1: have a little bit of that at the government level,
Speaker 1: and so we need them to work well together as
Speaker 1: they you know, work on you know, their ideation of
Speaker 1: what the future looks like. Okay, So that's important at
Speaker 1: the federal level UM as well as you know, looking
Speaker 1: at potentially more UM legislation in the future. But then
Speaker 1: when you look at it from a local and state level,
Speaker 1: states particularly can be extremely influential in this direction. And
Speaker 1: states have to decide, you know, what kind of state
Speaker 1: do they want to be, okay, and what kind of
Speaker 1: environment do they want to create for the citizens of
Speaker 1: that state. And so you know, states that you know,
Speaker 1: really think hard about this. You know, we know the
Speaker 1: state of California is way in and you know, typically
Speaker 1: what goes on in California will tend to spread to
Speaker 1: other states in the nation. UM. And and California has
Speaker 1: put a lot of deep thought in this for a
Speaker 1: long time, and so we need other states to continue
Speaker 1: to grow their skill and their awareness and their ability,
Speaker 1: and so we work with them at the state level
Speaker 1: to understand what their priorities are. How does that merge
Speaker 1: with what we need to have happened to take care
Speaker 1: of people in the community as we deploy electric vehicles,
Speaker 1: you know, how do we take state priorities and stack
Speaker 1: them so that you know, they're going to be aligned
Speaker 1: with a more sustainable future. But still states need to
Speaker 1: manage their budgets and things like that. But states need
Speaker 1: to you know, really jump in and figure out, Okay,
Speaker 1: how do we want to form our mark on the
Speaker 1: future of the of electric vehicles and therefore in the
Speaker 1: future of people. And then from a local perspective, the
Speaker 1: role that the local government can play is really helping
Speaker 1: states understand, um, what's most important for those constituents like
Speaker 1: they have to help states think and um. And that's
Speaker 1: why we partner many times with local organizations because those
Speaker 1: local organizations are tied into the local government. And as
Speaker 1: we educate people and as we create technical solutions with
Speaker 1: smaller for profit and nonprofit you know, local organizations, states
Speaker 1: get informed and can make better decisions about the community.
Speaker 1: So it's it's multi tiered, but everyone has more work
Speaker 1: to do here, right. That includes companies, and it includes governments,
Speaker 1: and it includes community organizations. I really just want everybody
Speaker 1: to give that a round of applause because that was
Speaker 1: a master class. I really, I honestly believe that this
Speaker 1: talk gets to be required viewing for every elected official
Speaker 1: at every level of government, because you clearly just broke
Speaker 1: down how we need to be thinking as a as
Speaker 1: a nation, but also as we go state local about
Speaker 1: this problem. And you bring so much passion and energy
Speaker 1: to this and not only to this issue, but to
Speaker 1: the cause of of what GM is committed to and
Speaker 1: hiring a diverse workforce and and building great cars. Right.
Speaker 1: So I want to kind of wrap things up by
Speaker 1: talking about your professional journey. So you've been at GM
Speaker 1: for over twenty eight years while just a little bit right, yeah, um,
Speaker 1: and you started out as an engineer. So I'm curious,
Speaker 1: and this is really a personal question for me because
Speaker 1: I started off an engineering and now being sea level
Speaker 1: in the company, I'm curious, do you miss the day
Speaker 1: to day work of being an engineer, sort of having
Speaker 1: your hands in the mix and getting your hands dirty
Speaker 1: and building, yes, a lot. Do you try to meddle
Speaker 1: a little bit of yes, absolutely, I don't feel bad. Yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah it is. It's really funny, you know. And some
Speaker 1: people know this, but most people don't. So I get
Speaker 1: to visit facilities all over the country and all over
Speaker 1: the world. Um, And I'm electrical engineer. You know a
Speaker 1: lot of you know, robot programming, coding, you know, machining,
Speaker 1: equipment design, build installation improvement, you know that kind of
Speaker 1: stuff really, you know, fast moving problem solving constantly, you know,
Speaker 1: because most of my workers in manufacturing and manufacturing engineering,
Speaker 1: and I love being dirty, right and um, but more importantly,
Speaker 1: I just love fixing things. And so I just love
Speaker 1: fixing things and solving problem and like working with a
Speaker 1: group when people are like, oh here we go again, right,
Speaker 1: and then solving that problem that you've been seeing over
Speaker 1: and over again for the last several years, you know,
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, you know, nailed that, right.
Speaker 1: It's such a great feeling. And so there will be
Speaker 1: many times that you know, I'll call a plant and
Speaker 1: I'll be like, hey, you know, I'm gonna come, you know,
Speaker 1: visit you all were gonna talk a little bitout D
Speaker 1: and I. How can I support you? And then I
Speaker 1: just want to go walk the floor. And then they'll say,
Speaker 1: we'll tell what we'll do a tour. I don't want
Speaker 1: a tour. I want to just like y'all, don't have
Speaker 1: to do any preparation. I just want to go walk
Speaker 1: the floor, talk to people, see how it's going. Right,
Speaker 1: And then on a good day, somebody will say, you know,
Speaker 1: I would say, how's it going. What's the biggest problem
Speaker 1: you're working with? And I say, oh, we've been doing this,
Speaker 1: this and this, And then I get to just go
Speaker 1: back and forth with it. Do you think about this?
Speaker 1: Did you think about that? You know? And then you man,
Speaker 1: that's the fix I need. This sounds like the perfect
Speaker 1: job to be able to work on D and I.
Speaker 1: But then also, you know, go in and getting the
Speaker 1: reeds sometimes yeah, yeah, or when i'm you know, talking
Speaker 1: to the I T team, and I love it when
Speaker 1: they call and they're working on bias and artificial intelligence, right,
Speaker 1: and how do we make sure that in all the
Speaker 1: software development we're doing we don't have bias in that? Oh?
Speaker 1: I love that conversation, right, And I particularly love it
Speaker 1: when some people on the phone don't know that I'm
Speaker 1: a techie, right, and then and then I started diving
Speaker 1: into the conversation. You catch them off. Guards're like, okay,
Speaker 1: you know a little something, right, I thought you were
Speaker 1: just a D and I person. Okay, that's fatastic. So um,
Speaker 1: let's yeah, let's apply for that. I love that, so
Speaker 1: ym so Um, you've been there now almost thirty years ago.
Speaker 1: Why did you decide to go there in the first place? Oh? Wow,
Speaker 1: that's a great question. And and the question I usually
Speaker 1: get asked us why am I still there? Um? But
Speaker 1: I went in the first place. I was only planning
Speaker 1: on being at GM for three years. Wow, right, So
Speaker 1: I was. I went there because, Um, I had this plan.
Speaker 1: I was going to be designing devices, um to implant
Speaker 1: in people to help with paralysis, right or hearing deficit.
Speaker 1: And I had an undergrad I majored in electrical engineering
Speaker 1: from my bachelor's and my masters and both I did UM.
Speaker 1: My minor was in biomedical engineering. So I had all
Speaker 1: this research, great research based experience. But I was like, well,
Speaker 1: if I'm going to design devices to go on people's bodies,
Speaker 1: I need to know how controls really work. In real life,
Speaker 1: you know, because fundamentally, you know, when you deal with tissue,
Speaker 1: it's not any different than when you're dealing with a
Speaker 1: cable other than the levels of energy. Right. So I
Speaker 1: decided to go to work for that, and I came
Speaker 1: to GM as my second job because I could get
Speaker 1: really really great controls experience, right, you know, programmable logic
Speaker 1: controllers and all different kinds of um you know, fluid
Speaker 1: dynamics and things like that like in real life, because
Speaker 1: I didn't have as much maker experience when I was
Speaker 1: in undergrad and masters. So that's why I came. I
Speaker 1: figured I'd be able to get that in a few
Speaker 1: years and I move on. But I stayed for the reason. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I mean it's just endless opportunity
Speaker 1: to do different things. I've never been in a role.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've had very few roles that I've been
Speaker 1: in for more than a few years, you know, And
Speaker 1: so you know, solving different kinds of problems and different
Speaker 1: parts of the business has just always kind of kept
Speaker 1: me going and you know, kept me lit. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it. Yeah, and so and so we're here
Speaker 1: at that rotech. There are so many people here who
Speaker 1: are looking to connect with companies to get a job
Speaker 1: or to make a career pivot into tech. So can
Speaker 1: you leave us with us some advice on what can
Speaker 1: this generation that typically doesn't stay at a company for
Speaker 1: for years that they're really like, I'm going to be
Speaker 1: there for three months? And what can this generation do
Speaker 1: to stand out to a company like g And how
Speaker 1: can you know, we think about this generation think about
Speaker 1: how to position themselves to get these jobs that are
Speaker 1: going to impact the future. Yeah, I think you know,
Speaker 1: it's interesting, particularly when you talk to tech people. You know,
Speaker 1: it's one thing if you talk to a person that
Speaker 1: considers and stuff. A business person Okay, so a business
Speaker 1: person is kind of thinking about the whole business and
Speaker 1: all the different levels that you push and pull to
Speaker 1: make a business work, make a business profitable, make a business,
Speaker 1: make people happy, whatever. And then and then tech people
Speaker 1: are um and business people are on a spectrum to
Speaker 1: the tech people learn a big spectrum. And many tech
Speaker 1: people are really focused on a particular type of tech
Speaker 1: right and they want to drill into that and they
Speaker 1: want to be amazing at that, which there's nothing wrong
Speaker 1: with that. But what I encourage all tech people to
Speaker 1: do is to lift your head up and get to
Speaker 1: know the business. And and no matter where you show up,
Speaker 1: you need to bloom where you're planted. You know, you
Speaker 1: show up in whatever job and whatever location. Blooming doesn't
Speaker 1: just mean solving that technical problem. You know. The way
Speaker 1: I've been successful is by understanding why is this a
Speaker 1: problem I even need to solve in the first place?
Speaker 1: Why hasn't the problem been solved in the past. Has
Speaker 1: it been lack of investment? Has it been the way
Speaker 1: you know, lack of belief in people. Has it has
Speaker 1: it been you know, we fixed it, but that wasn't
Speaker 1: really to fix you know? Has it been decisions made
Speaker 1: by leadership teams that marginalize your ability to actually solve
Speaker 1: the problem, like like why are we here in this moment?
Speaker 1: And when you when you dig into that, you know,
Speaker 1: even if you're in an innovative space, you know, why
Speaker 1: is it that we're not able to have the breakthroughs
Speaker 1: that we're looking for? Often you have to look at
Speaker 1: the whole context. And tech people that look at the
Speaker 1: whole context and build relationships that help them understand the
Speaker 1: business are the most valuable because there's always give and take.
Speaker 1: You don't always get what you want, you know, but
Speaker 1: you have to understand if you're not getting what you
Speaker 1: think is best, why is that? And then who do
Speaker 1: I need to partner with to either go in a
Speaker 1: different direction right or yes? And what's going on? You know?
Speaker 1: I think it's so critical that you do that regardless
Speaker 1: of where you are, you know, so don't be completely
Speaker 1: heads down, you know, be aware and and and make
Speaker 1: your technical decisions with as much of the bigger picture
Speaker 1: in mind as you can tell. But thank you so much.
Speaker 1: I I I enjoyed this conversation. I feel like this
Speaker 1: entire conversation was just a bunch of Mike drops. Thank
Speaker 1: you so much for being with us. Thank you all
Speaker 1: for being here in attendance. And uh, I hope you
Speaker 1: all learn as much as I did. Black Tech, Green
Speaker 1: Moneys and production to Blackvity, Afro Tech on the Black
Speaker 1: Effect podcast Network and I Hired Media is produced by
Speaker 1: Morgan Davon and me Well Lucas, with additional production support
Speaker 1: by Sarah Rogan and Rose McLucas. Special thank you to
Speaker 1: Mike and Davis van Ness ROUNDO learn more about my
Speaker 1: guests and other tech this stuff. This is the innovators
Speaker 1: at afro tech dot com, joining Black Tech, Green Money
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