Leading While Overlooked: The Black Woman's Experience in Fleet

From the OEM manufacturing floors to the FMC's critical support departments to the garage and the compliance, procurement, and director desks, Black women are quietly holding Fleet together. They have mastered the choreography of operational crisis - securing vehicles, supporting drivers, negotiating with vendors, and ensuring every detail works for the teams they support.

And still... they are too often unseen. Too often underestimated. Too often expected to hold everything together... while being told they're "not quite ready" for the roles they are already performing; even after they've put in the work and hold the title.

This is the tension Black women live with in fleet: Exceptionally capable - yet structurally overlooked.

The Challenge the Industry Must Acknowledge

Black women in fleet and commercial automotive continue to encounter conditions that blunt their impact even as that very impact sustains the operation. Their voices are frequently minimized in meetings. Their strategic contributions are sometimes credited to others. Their paths to leadership are blocked by informal gatekeepers who favor familiarity over proven performance.

This isn't about individual bias alone — it's about systems that weren't designed with Black women in mind.

The Hidden Cost of Overlooking Excellence

When organizations fail to elevate Black women into leadership:

·      They forfeit cultural intelligence that strengthens workforce engagement

·      They lose frontline insight critical to safety and efficiency

·      They weaken trust with the diverse communities they serve

·      They send a message to every rising leader watching: excellence doesn't guarantee access

Alignment breaks. Innovation slows. Growth is capped at the ceiling that's been placed on them. These are the unnecessary stop gaps the industry can no longer afford.

The Leadership Black Women Already Give

What Black women bring - consistently - is not just resilience, but a refined leadership methodology shaped by lived complexity:

·      They are skilled navigators of ambiguity because life demanded it.

·      They create belonging because exclusion taught them the cost of its absence.

·      They lead with empathy, clarity, and precision - not because it is trendy, but because it is survival.

What's real... They've been leading this whole time.

It's high time (as Granny used to say) that the titles, pay, and power match the reality.

What Change Requires - And Where It Begins

Real progress doesn't start with a DEl bullet point in an annual report. It starts with:

·      Visibility - elevating Black women as subject matter experts, not background labor

·      Sponsorship - not just mentorship, but active advocacy in rooms where decisions are made

·      Investment - funding credentials, leadership programs, and technical development

·      Access - to executive tracks, business ownership pathways, and enterprise partnerships

·      Accountability - tying advancement and culture metrics to leadership performance

These are not charity measures. They are competitive strategy.

Because when Black women rise in fleet, the workforce stabilizes, operations sharpen, and innovation accelerates - aggressively.

Where Black Fleet Network’™ Stands

BFN exists to ensure Black women do not carry this industry on their shoulders without also being empowered to carry its direction. We are:

·      Showcasing Black women's expertise on stages, exhibit floors, and leadership panels

·      Building pathways to executive readiness and influence

·      Connecting them to sponsors, corporate opportunities, and equitable advancement

·      Designing learning and development systems rooted in real mobility careers

·      Ensuring the generation behind them sees a future clearer than the one they inherited

Fleet and mobility are evolving. The question is: Will the industry evolve with the leaders it already has?

Black women are not waiting for validation — they are inviting partnership.

They are not asking for a seat — they've already proven they belong at the head of the table.

They are not the exception — they are the indelible history, presence, and future of progress.

And a future where Black women rise... is a future where the entire industry wins.

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Black Fleet Network is driving fearless conversations at the intersection of fleet, mobility, and community

— stay connected.