Solutions to the skills gap

Allison Grealis, president and founder of Women in Manufacturing, the only national trade association working year round to support, promote and inspire women in manufacturing, will lead a panel on best practices to recruit, retain and advance women in manufacturing.

Women in Manufacturing™ is a more than 700-member-strong national association dedicated to supporting, promoting and inspiring women who are pursuing or have chosen a career in the manufacturing industry.  This group encourages the engagement of women who want to share perspectives, gain cutting-edge manufacturing information, improve leadership and communication skills, participate in sponsoring programs and network with industry peers. Members benefit from exclusive access to regional and national programming, networking opportunities, mentoring and sponsoring programs, monthly professional development webinars, a customized employment tool called WiMWorks, online discussion communities, the quarterly Impact e-newsletter and a robust searchable online directory. www.womeninmanufacturing.org

Allison Grealis is founder and president of Women in Manufacturing (WiM). She is also the vice president of membership and association services of the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA). Since joining PMA in 2001, Grealis has held a variety of positions that included district, committee and division management; affinity partner relations; sponsorship sales; new product and service development; and member services. She earned her BA degree in English with a certificate in women’s studies from Ohio University and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Akron. Grealis also serves as president of the Greater Cleveland Society of Association Executives, as a board member of Our Lady of the Elms High School and as a community advisory board member for the CWRU Flora Stone Mather Center for Women.

Griselda Abousleman is vice president, integrated supply chain for fluid management, material handling and power tools, at Ingersoll Rand. She is responsible for a supply chain strategy to optimize performance in critical operational areas, including cycle time, delivery and quality. Previously, she was with Honeywell as director, global growth; Flowserve as a multi-site leader; Volvo-Novabus as senior manufacturing engineering manager; and AlliedSignal as lean supervisor and global transitions leader. Abouseleman holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Stanford University, which includes overseas study in economics from the Pontificía Universidad Católica de Chile, and a master’s degree in business administration from Arizona State University. She also earned her lean master certification from Shingijutsu and Honeywell, and is a member of the National Society of Hispanic MBA’s, a member of the Society of Women Engineers, and is a board member of Women in Manufacturing.

Christy Mudd is the operational value stream leader for GE Appliances in Louisville, KY, responsible for the order to remittance value stream transformation to reduce inventory and total lead time to the customer by product line. She has held various leadership positions, including site lean leader, CI coach and transformation leader. Prior to this, Mudd was a parts analyst for Ford Motor Company, where she held various positions in materials. She also led the facility through the implementation of the Ford Production System, helping the plant to become the highest ranked Ford facility in the country. Mudd is a 1998 graduate of Bellarmine University where she earned a BS degree in business administration from Bellarmine University.  She is a six sigma black belt and a graduate of the inaugural Leadership Lab for Women in Manufacturing.

Angela Regan is the director of global business development for Dassault Systemes’ DELMIA Brand for Digital Manufacturing and has 15 years of experience in enterprise software. Her manufacturing career started at Invensys with her memorable  factory tour induction at a Whole Hog Sausage Farm in Tennessee. Regan had been a committee member of MESA (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association) a global community of manufacturers, industry leaders and solution providers who are focused on driving business results from manufacturing information. She is an active Women in Manufacturing member and is currently launching the WiM Chapter in Massachusetts. Regan earned a BA degree in English from University of California and an MBA from Northeastern University. She completed six sigma green belt certification at Invensys.