Women In Motorsports Names Inaugural Cohort
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Chip Ganassi Racing and PNC Bank are introducing the inaugural class of interns for their Women In Motorsports program. The program, which was launched earlier this year, aims to create awareness and support for gender equality and economic inclusion for women in the motorsports workforce.
The partners say the program is also designed to accelerate career pathways and mentorship opportunities. The interns will take part in on-site learning and career development during the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, including the 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
“Our goal is to provide these young women with a unique, in-person experience alongside a race team, to truly understand what motorsports is all about,” said Danielle Shephard, lead engineer at CGR. “Activating this internship during the race season will help these women apply their knowledge and skills to use in a real-world setting, and hopefully, help them decide where to take their careers from here.”
The interns will work with race team managers and department leaders to assist with the team’s racing functions, including operations, engineering, information technology, and athletic training.
The interns are listed below:
- Kenna Edwards, Information Technology – Indiana University
- Leela Edwards, Mechanic/Subassembly – Harper College
- Rebecca Hutton, Engineering – Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis
- Jennifer Short, Engineering – Purdue University
- Jessica Young, Athletic Training – University of North Texas
“Our strategy is based on the idea that when young women see more role models in traditionally male dominated fields, it may be easier to believe that they too can make a meaningful impact on that field – and the data shows that teams with meaningful representation of women create more innovative solutions faster than non-diverse teams,” said Debbie Guild, PNC’s head of enterprise technology and security. “We know that creating a community of support, such as what PNC and CGR are doing with this intern program, is a simple yet effective way to tell these women to stick with motorsports, and demonstrate to them that it is an exciting and rewarding career for women, just as much as it is for men.”
In addition to the internship program, the Women In Motorsports campaign includes a video content series highlighting female leaders working at CGR.