Celebrating women in auto industry
May 15, 2023
You can’t be what you can’t see.
That’s why it’s so important for organizations like CADA and our provincial association partners to continue to promote the auto retail industry to a more diverse audience, to help attract the next generation of talent.
CADA, with the help of our provincial associations, has been actively promoting profiles of successful women in auto retail on our LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook social channels. “We reached out to our provincial association partners to help us identify the women making a difference in our industry, and the response has been great. We’ve been able to feature Dealer Principals, sales consultants, technicians and other key team members that help dealerships be successful,” said Brigette Goldenshtein, CADA’s Communications Coordinator. “They understand how important this message is. This is an amazing industry.”
Goldenshtein herself had some news of her own worth celebrating, as she just recently completed her Masters of Business Administration from the prestigious Schulich School of Business at York University. “Everyone was really supportive, and offered help along the way,” she said. “I probably couldn’t have completed it successfully without the support of CADA. The association’s leaders really value higher education. The degree was a collective effort.”
As part of her studies, Goldenshtein took a course on diversity, equity, and inclusion, which is an extremely hot topic in the industry. “We learned what steps to take to actually make an impact and a difference. For example, to actually implement DEI practices, you can’t just hire one woman, or one Black person, or one Asian person, and it has to be at all levels including management. To really see and feel the change that is needed, they need to diversify at least 20% of their staff and leadership teams.”
She was also awarded the Forté Fellowship, which is a women in business designation bestowed only upon women who showed exceptional leadership skills and in recognition of contributions to gender diversity and inclusion.
Brigette is just another example of the impact that women are having within CADA, our provincial associations, and across the industry.