AWESOME Announces Recipients of 2018 AWESOME Legendary Leadership (ALL) Award

Women’s supply chain leadership organization to recognize
achievements of Bloom Energy executive Susan Brennan and Panama Canal
leader Ilya Marotta

DES PLAINES, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations,
Management and Education) will present the AWESOME Legendary Leadership
(ALL) Award to two highly accomplished supply chain leaders: Susan
Seilheimer Brennan, Chief Operations Officer, Bloom Energy
Corporation, and Ilya R. Espino de Marotta, Executive Vice
President for Engineering and Programs Management, Panama Canal
Authority.

“Our 2018 ALL Award honorees are trailblazers and outstanding role
models. Their accomplishments are extraordinary, and they have excelled
in two areas where women at the highest levels of leadership are rare,”
said Heather Sheehan, Executive Director of AWESOME. “By their example
and by their efforts, they have made expanding opportunities for other
women a priority.”

The ALL Award was created in 2014 to recognize women supply chain
leaders who have achieved extraordinary professional excellence and
success, addressed challenges impacting opportunities for women and
advanced the changing landscape of women’s supply chain leadership.

As COO of Bloom Energy, Susan Brennan is responsible for global
supply chain and purchasing, as well as all new product launch strategy
and sales execution, operations, capacity management, labor management,
EHS strategy and compliance and government affairs.

Brennan has 25 years of experience in global manufacturing and
operations for the automotive and energy industries. In strategic
leadership roles for Nissan Motor and Ford Motor, she spearheaded
large-scale initiatives and drove the companies’ transformations with
systemic process and corporate culture change. At Nissan, she was the
highest ranking woman in operations – and one of the few women who have
held an executive position at a leading Japanese corporation.

At Ford, Brennan was a key member of the global team that reorganized
Ford under its “Way Forward” program. She led the charge to address
diversity imbalance among Ford’s management, from production supervisors
to directors and co-chaired the Women in Manufacturing Employee Resource
Group.

Throughout her career, Brennan has created and supported organizations
that encourage young women to pursue careers in math and science. She
serves as a national advisory board member for the National Center for
Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter) at Stanford University
and President and founder of the Southern Automotive Women’s Forum.
Twice, she has been named to “Top 100 Women in Automotive” by Automotive
News. She is a Distinguished Alumni of University of Nebraska at
Omaha, and in 2016, she was honored as a Woman of Influence, Silicon
Valley. Susan serves on the board of Senior PLC, a FTSE listed company.

Ilya Marotta, EVP for Engineering and Programs Management for the
Panama Canal Authority, is responsible for preparing the designs and
specifications for all Panama Canal Projects and leads the execution of
the Panama Canal Expansion Program. She is the first woman to hold the
EVP of Engineering position in the Panama Canal’s 100-year history.

Marotta has worked for the Panama Canal Commission/ Panama Canal
Authority for more than 30 years. With a degree in Marine Engineering,
she has worked in the Industrial Division, the Dredging Division, the
Mechanical Engineering Branch; as a valuation engineer for the
accounting division; and as Capital Program Coordinator for Maritime
Operations. She participated in the development of the Panama Canal
Master Plan and the Expansion Proposal presented for national referendum
in 2006.

After the referendum passed, Marotta was appointed Executive Manager of
the engineering department’s Resource Planning and Project Control
Division and, in 2012, was named as EVP of Engineering.

In 2014 she was selected as “Outstanding Woman of the Year” by the
Panamanian Association of Business Executives and received the
“Distinguished Woman Award” from the Association of Professional and
Business Women of Panama. She has been recognized by The Circle of
Intellectual Women of Panama for its Technology and Engineering
achievement award. She was also one of the recipients of the “2016 Women
Who Make a Difference” award by the International Women’s Forum, and was
named on the list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Central America by Forbes
Magazine of Mexico.

The 2018 AWESOME Legendary Leadership Award presentation will take place
on May 10, day two of AWESOME’s sixth annual Symposium being held May
9-11, 2018 in Orlando, FL.

AWESOME (Achieving Women’s Excellence in Supply Chain Operations,
Management, and Education) was founded in 2013 by Ann Drake, CEO of DSC
Logistics, an award-winning supply chain industry leader. The AWESOME
network has grown to include more than 1,100 women in diverse senior
supply chain leadership roles. In addition to the signature
annual Symposium – a by-invitation event for eligible executives —
AWESOME leaders participate in regional events, powered by AWESOME
discussions, research, collaborations, and a scholarship program – all
aimed at advancing women leaders and expanding leadership opportunities
for women in the field. For more information: awesomeleaders.org.

Contacts

AWESOME
Jennifer Nix
Phone: (312) 402-0740
Email: [email protected]
Web:
awesomeleaders.org