One of Volkswagen Group South Africa’s (VWSA) leading women, Dr Lesley Lee, has won South Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government Award in the Automotive Category.
The eleventh annual South Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government (MiW) Awards, took place yesterday (Thursday, 2 August) at the Radisson Blu in Port Elizabeth. The awards recognise the inspirational women achievers in business and government who work for the benefit of South Africa and its future generations. Appropriately the awards take place in August, Women’s Month in South Africa.
An independent panel consisting of various high-profile industry leaders, chose VWSA’s Dr Lesley Lee as the winner of the Automotive Category with finalists Estelle Gathercole (Automotive Industry Development Centre) & Lindsay Pieterse (BMW SA) – second and third respectively.
Dr Lee had this to say about her achievement, “I am truly honoured by this award and I feel it is essential that women in industry are recognised for their achievements. This recognition sets the tone going forward for the young women who will fill our shoes – they need to know it is possible for a woman to succeed in a male-dominated environment and industry. It is also essential to publicise the support that women get from companies like Volkswagen where we are striving for equality at all levels of employment.”
The publication, South Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government, was launched in 2000 with a view to providing organisations with a platform from which to celebrate their achievements in terms of gender equality, as well as to pay tribute to those women who were consistently making their mark in their organisations, communities and in the country, for their outstanding accomplishments.
Carla Wentzel, Division Head of Marketing Services at Volkswagen Group South Africa, won the same award category last year, proving that Volkswagen women are leaders in their field both locally and nationally.
Dr Lesley Lee is responsible for:
- The VW Learning Academies, which oversees the training and development of all VWSA employees.
- The management of 24 permanent and 35 contractual employees, as well as 412 learners, apprentices, technicians and graduates who report directly to the Learning Academies.
- Liaising with national and international institutions to determine education and training development benchmarks in order to match VWSA’s training levels with or ahead of the trend.
- Acquisition and agreement of Corporate training needs and requirements by the Board, Management and Individual employees.
- Heading up the Learning organisation in terms of technical and production leadership, administration as well as Commercial activities.
