General Motors Executive VP Gerald Johnson Awarded Prestigious Black Engineer of the Year

BALTIMORE - Dec. 23, 2020 - PRLog -- The 2021 BEYA STEM Conference, set to take place in a digital environment Feb. 11-13, 2021, has announced the list of the legacy event's award winners. Recognized with the top honor of Black Engineer of the Year is Gerald Johnson, Executive Vice President of Global Manufacturing for General Motors.

As executive vice president of Global Manufacturing, Gerald is responsible for the budget, quality, and safety performance for 103,000 employees representing more than 129 manufacturing facilities on five continents in 16 countries globally. When production at GM was temporarily suspended at the beginning of the pandemic, Johnson and his team worked across the company to quickly and effectively shift manufacturing and engineering resources to ventilators and mask production for frontline health workers. He is also credited for spearheading the company's robust safety protocols and return-to-work strategies that made it possible to safely reopen GM plants and other operations.

"For 35 years the BEYA STEM Conference mission has been focused on opening doors of opportunity for future STEM professionals," said BEYA Chairman Tyrone Taborn, who is also CEO of Career Communications Group, publisher of the US Black Engineer & Information Technology magazine. "A big part of that is acknowledging dynamic leaders like Johnson who show up and deliver in their positions but also continuing to pave a path towards a better future in STEM-related careers for Blacks and minority talent."

Johnson's, a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion is an inaugural member of GM's Inclusion Advisory Board (IAB), which was announced on June 1, 2020, and whose goal is to improve diversity and inclusion within GM through words, deeds, and culture. His bold video shared widely on LinkedIn offered essential guidance on having difficult conversations about racial equality in the workplace.

Throughout his career, Gerald has been devoted to continuous improvement - professional and personally. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at Kettering University, where he helps the engineers of tomorrow, and he is a volunteer mentor for TutorMate, which supports literacy learning for underserved school students.

"Manufacturing has been Gerald's passion since he was an 18-year-old co-op student, and he has dedicated his career to continuously improving how we build vehicles and components with the highest level of quality and efficiency. His leadership and steadfast integrity have made General Motors a better company." - Mary Barra, CEO & Chairman, General Motors Company

About BEYA & CCG

The BEYA STEM Conference is produced by Career Communications Group, Inc. (CCG), the leader in workforce diversity, working with all types of companies to help support them in promoting multiculturalism and gender equity in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). For 35 years, the BEYA STEM Conference has been a leading event for professional development, networking, and providing a resource for minorities to feel empowered. For more information about the 2021 BEYA STEM Conference, visit www.beya.org.