A Transgender Journey in the Automotive Industry
I want to introduce you to an extremely intelligent, fantastic and brave woman, whose story is a shining light for the automotive industry. Lynne Keiser is a transgender woman who works as a research engineer at Ford Motor Company’s Greenfield Labs in Palo Alto, California. While working at Ford as a gay man for many years, she decided to transition in early 2016.
Lynne's story is one of obstacles and challenges that even saw her having to leave the United States to work in technology while staying with her partner. It covers issues facing gay, same-sex couple, transgender and immigrant communities, due to her journey as a person who lived as a gay man prior to transitioning and because her partner was originally in the US on a temporary H1B visa.
But her story is one of hope as well. Since after bearing the stress of hiding her true self from her colleagues, Lynne decided to transition while on the job at Ford. Unlike many other companies, and unlike what many people envision how automotive companies react to situations that deal with transgender issues, her supervisors and human resources at Ford were actively supportive and created a path for Lynne to transition as smoothly as possible. Since her transition, Lynn has continued working on advanced research projects at Greenfield Labs and become involved with the local technical community, building her network and taking part in numerous professional events around Silicon Valley. She also is a member of Ford's LGBTQ employee organization, GLOBE and helped to organize Ford’s participation in the San Francisco Pride Parade.
But this story is best heard from Lynne's own lips. I invite you to listen to click here and listen to the complete audio recording of Lynne's session on Michelle Meow podcast at the California Commonwealth Club.
Castro Car Guy is honored to help sponsor sessions of Michelle Meow's California Commonwealth Club discussion series. Click on the links below to view some other sessions we helped sponsor:
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