LOUISVILLE, KY – March 1, 2023 – The Manufacturing Institute (MI)—the workforce development and education partner of the National Association of Manufacturers—announced that Alison Seward, Executive Director of Manufacturing Quality for GE Appliances (GEA), a Haier company, has been recognized as a 2023 Women MAKE Awards Honoree. This annual national awards program honors women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory floor to the C-suite.
“Alison Seward is a force for good in our industry, our company, and our community,” said Bill Good, vice president of manufacturing at GEA. “She is a collaborative leader, a mentor and champion of women, and her work has made our products, jobs, and culture better. We are thrilled to see her receive this recognition.”
Alison has led numerous transformational initiatives throughout her 20 years with the company through roles in engineering, program management, quality, and operations. As executive program director for the Kitchen Clean Up business at GEA she drove double digital revenue growth and led the startup of an $80 million dishwashing line during the global pandemic, creating a new product architecture that will positively impact all new dish programs and a best-in-class assembly line that incorporates state-of-the-art automation and robotics to improve the quality and ergonomics of operators’ work.
Alison is a role model and a champion for young women within GEA and is committed to attracting and retaining talented female engineers. She devotes hours each week to mentor and engage women to help increase the influence of women in engineering. In 2015, Alison donated the $10,000 grant she received as a winner of GE’s Edison Pioneer Award to fund the first-ever Engineering Women’s Leadership Conference in partnership with her alma mater, University of Louisville Speed School of Engineering. The conference provides female engineering students with the skills, confidence, and resources necessary to shape their own futures. In its first five years, the conference has served more than 500 undergraduate women from three Kentucky universities.
Alison is also a strong advocate for mothers in the workplace and is a founding member and executive champion for GEA’s Working Mothers Committee. She has been published in the Women in Manufacturing (WiM) Impact Quarterly magazine on “Working Mom Guilt,” and was the keynote speaker on “Advocating for Yourself” for the WiM Working Moms Annual Event in 2022.
With a passion for making a positive impact on her community, Alison has volunteered with numerous organizations, including IMPACT 100 Louisville, a group of women dedicated to transforming the lives of Louisville nonprofits through high-impact grants.
“I am proud to receive this honor alongside this impressive group of women,” said Alison. “I love working in manufacturing because it is a place where I can use my problem-solving skills to influence, execute, and deliver great results. I am also able to be an example to other women and girls, including my daughters, that they can succeed in a technical field.”
The Women MAKE Awards are part of the MI’s Women MAKE America initiative, which is the nation’s marquee program to close the gender gap in manufacturing. Women account for about half of the U.S. labor force but represent less than one-third of the manufacturing workforce. Women MAKE America aims to create a 21st-century manufacturing workforce by empowering and inspiring women in the industry.
“The biggest challenge facing manufacturers continues to be the growing workforce crisis, and women are the industry’s largest talent opportunity; bringing just 6% more women into manufacturing would fill all open jobs in the sector today,” said MI President Carolyn Lee. “That is exactly why the Women MAKE Awards are so important and powerful. These are the women who will inspire our next generation of female talent to pursue a career in this industry.”
On April 20, the MI will recognize 130 recipients of the Women MAKE Awards in Washington, D.C. The evening will highlight each Honoree and Emerging Leader’s story, including their leadership and accomplishments in manufacturing.
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About GE Appliances
At GE Appliances we make the world a better place, and our team is committed to leading in the communities where we live and work. Today, our appliances are in 50 percent of all U.S. homes, and our business is committed to serving every family in the country. We are a purpose-rooted and passion-driven organization that believes there is always a better way. We manufacture and sell products under the Monogram®, Café™, GE Profile™, GE®, Haier, and Hotpoint brands. Our products include refrigerators, freezers, cooking products, dishwashers, washers, dryers, air conditioners and water filtration systems. For more information on our company, brands, and corporate citizenship, visit www.geappliancesco.com.
About the Manufacturing Institute
The Manufacturing Institute builds, diversifies and strengthens the modern manufacturing workforce, with the goal of furthering individual opportunity, community prosperity and a more competitive manufacturing industry. The MI engages underrepresented communities and shifts perceptions about careers in modern manufacturing, leads skilled training and career development programs, provides thought leadership and research on the changing state of the workforce and builds partnerships to scale up its impact on manufacturing in the United States. As the 501(c)3 nonprofit workforce development and education partner of the National Association of Manufacturers, the MI is a trusted adviser to manufacturers, equipping them with solutions for the industry’s toughest challenges. For more information, please visit www.themanufacturinginstitute.org.