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March 28, 2008
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Greenlee’s Chera Ellis is the incoming chair of the National Association of Electrical Distributors’ Women in Industry committee |
The electrical industry is no longer a man’s world. More women are taking on leadership roles within electrical manufacturers and distributors and they are changing the expectations of what women can achieve in this industry.
Greenlee’s Chera Ellis knows firsthand that women can advance. Recently named as the Midwest regional sales manager, she joined Greenlee seven years ago as a product manager before being promoted to director of marketing in 2006.
She credits Greenlee’s culture of inclusiveness as a big factor that has enabled women, including herself, to achieve their career goals. In fact, more than 35 percent of Greenlee’s leadership team is comprised of women.
“I would credit our president [Scott Hall] as the biggest advocate for adding diversity,” Ellis says. “He wants to hear different opinions and diversity is a method for achieving that goal.”
Building on this strong base of support from Greenlee, Ellis is now actively working at a national level to continue this momentum for women and promote the industry for others who may be interested in pursuing a career in electrical manufacturing or electrical distribution.
As soon as she was promoted to director of marketing, she joined the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). “I wanted to show them that that Greenlee was active from a marketing standpoint and we have a culture of promoting women,” Ellis says. “We’re different and we have something to say.”
Ellis became active in the NAED’s Women in Industry committee, which promotes networking and other opportunities for women. Just two years later, she has been named as its incoming chairperson.
With the growing ranks of female executives, Women in Industry has grown both in terms of its membership and stature.
“What I like is that it’s not just about growing our business, but how collectively we can all do better,” Ellis says of the committee. “It’s about the issues that we’re facing in business and how we can grow talent.”
Women in Industry held its first standalone conference last year and attracted 120 participants, almost twice as many as the conference organizers had expected. The group still holds meetings at NAED’s regional conferences and at its annual meeting.
“It was exciting,” Ellis says of the first Women in Industry conference, which included a panel of speakers and a talk from a PGA golf professional.
Based on the positive reception to last year’s conference, there is a similar format scheduled for this year’s conference. “We know we’re in a tough economy so we want to make sure that what we offer is adding value,” Ellis says. “We want people to leave with the skills that they can use in business.”
As Ellis prepares to take over as chairperson of the committee, she wants to encourage more women to participate. “I don’t want this to be looked at as a ‘good ol’ girls club’ but as an opportunity to become an advocate for attracting talent to the electrical industry.”
Like other industries, the electrical industry is facing a shortage of professionals. Ellis hopes to use Women in Industry as a way to recruit talented female students and women who are beginning their careers. At last year’s Women in Industry conference, there was a contingent of female students from Texas A&M University’s industrial distribution program, which is considered one of the top-rated programs in the country.
Ellis is optimistic about the future of the electrical industry and the role that women will play in it. She notes that NAED’s chairperson is a woman, Tammy Miller, the CEO of Border States Electrical Supply, which she says “speaks volumes” about the industry.
For her part, Miller says that she is thrilled that Ellis has agreed to chair the Women in Industry Committee. “Chera brings fresh ideas and abundant energy to the job. We appreciate her enthusiasm and support for the organization. As we wrap up our centennial year, we look ahead and expect this group will have a significant impact on our association during the next century.”
After a career as a professional billiards player, she got a “real job” 20 years ago as a purchasing filing clerk for Parker Pen. The first 10 years of her professional career were in supply chain management and the past 10 years have been in marketing and product development. In 2005, she received her MBA in Global Management.
As both incoming chair of Women in Industry and as Greenlee’s first woman to be named as regional sales manager, Ellis will be another example of women who can achieve great things in the electrical industry.
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