Corporate Culture: The Ultimate Strategic Asset

Nicole Wiggins is chief diversity officer of Navistar, Inc. She is responsible for the development and integration of Navistar’s workforce and supplier diversity strategies and for fostering an inclusive work environment where all employees feel a sense of equality and belonging. She also leads Navistar’s diverse supplier relationship management program, reporting diverse spend to internal and external stakeholders and ensuring inclusion of diverse suppliers in Navistar’s source selection process. 

Prior to her current role, Wiggins served as associate director, Diversity and Inclusion, where she led Navistar on its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) journey and built awareness of DEI across the company. Earlier, she was Navistar’s director of Supplier Diversity and held several roles within the Procurement function. 

Wiggins has received several awards, including the Nettie Fowler McCormick Champion of Change award in 2020, and was named a Top Women to Watch in Trucking by Women in Trucking in 2021, one of Diversity Plus magazine’s Top 25 Women in Power Impacting Diversity, and Diversity MBA magazine’s Elite Top 100 under 50 Executive and Emerging Leaders. She has served as a board member for the Chicago Minority Supplier Development Council (CMSDC) and is a member of Delta Mu Delta International Honor Society in Business. 

Wiggins has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and an MBA with a concentration in project management from Keller Graduate School of Management. 

Lesley Kerr is the Vice President, Human Resources at Ryder System Inc. She supports the Supply Chain Solutions, Dedicated Transportation Solutions, and Fleet Management Solutions divisions at Ryder as a business partner. Kerr has worked at Ryder for 24 years gaining progressive experience within Human Resources working most of her career directly supporting the leaders of the business with HR and talent solutions.

As an employer of a large population of front line hourly employees, drivers, technicians and warehouse employees, a key focus area for Kerr and her team has been how to engage employees in a dialogue, so we can continue to improve their employee experience and retain these talented employees. She led a team focused on developing and implementing strategies that drove business results, created a positive work environment and experience for all employees and increased levels of employee engagement.

Kerr recently joined the Board for Women in Trucking. In addition, she participates in the GM Supplier Diversity and Inclusion board meetings working with other organizations focused on diversity and inclusion.

Sarah Smith is the Senior Vice President of HR for Penske Transportation Solutions. In this role, Smith leads teams responsible for Total Rewards, Corporate and Field HR, Diversity and Inclusion, Recruiting and HRIS. Smith began working for Penske in 2010 and has held this role since 2019. Prior to that, she held several roles in HR including Vice President of HR Operations and Director of Labor Relations.

Prior to coming to Penske, Smith worked in private practice as an Attorney, was in-house counsel, led the Human Resources function, and worked in Operations and Labor Relations for a privately held company. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French from Wilkes University and has her Juris Doctor degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago.Smith  has four (4) children and lives in the Reading, Pennsylvania area. In her free time, she enjoys listening to music, cooking and spin class. 

Kesha Sylvester serves as the Atlanta South Zone Transportation Division Manager at UPS. She is responsible for executing business strategies aligned with global supply chain solutions. These initiatives help optimize the transportation network, streamline operational costs and increase revenue. As a class A license holder and certified Tractor Trailer Driver Trainer she promotes a safety culture in accordance with UPS, DOT and OSHA guidelines.

In 2019, Kesha was featured in “Women in Trucking” for bringing gender diversity to transportation. She is a Co-chair/Executive Officer of the Women in Operations BRG and a mentor. Her passion for uplifting others is not new, as she is a founding member of the Women’s Leadership Development program which was rolled out in the Metro NY District in 2006.  

In addition to having over 20 years of operational experience, she holds an MBA in Global Leadership from Colorado Technical University and BA in Business from Baruch College. When she isn’t spending time with family and friends she enjoys dancing, kick boxing, adventure travel and volunteering at Camba, a local non-profit organization.   

Alexis Hart is the Director of Culture, Development and Learning for Daimler Truck North America where she is responsible for the tools and process that help drive employee engagement. This includes the employee engagement survey, employee recognition program, learning platform and strategy, performance management, and executive and management development programs. In addition to this role, she is the HR lead responsible for Financial Services and International Assignment companies in the United States and Canada.

In her twenty-six years with the organization, she has worked in and led various departments including Labor Relations, Employee Relations, Recruiting and Human Resources Business Partner.

Hart graduated with her master’s degree in Industrial & Labor Relations from Wayne State University and a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management from Michigan State University. She has a Senior Professional Human Resources (SPHR) Certification.

Hart has also been serving on the Board of Trustees for Northern Michigan University for the past seven years. She is currently Vice-Chair and Chair of the Finance Committee.

In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, golfing and spending time with her three dogs.

Vinita is currently the Senior Fleet Sales Manager with responsibilities of over 500 fleet accounts in North America along with  pricing and fleet project strategy at Paccar Parts.  Preciously she was Assistant Director of Materials  responsible for performance of over $350 million of inventory across PACCAR Parts’ distribution network, including forecast and fulfillment planning. She has held several positions in the Supply Chain and Customer Experience teams within Paccar and is excited to be in sales. Vinita is also involved in Diversity initiatives, employee retention and employee growth withing the organization.

Vinita moved to United States from India in 2009 after completing her Bachelors in Information Technology at University of Pune and working with Siemens as SAP Engineer in Mumbai. After traveling across America for a couple of years, she pursued her Masters in Computer Science at University of Washington and started with Paccar immediately after.

Vinita resides in greater Seattle area with her husband and their eight year old daughter Aria. They enjoy lots of family time on weekends with walks, reading, cooking and playing racquet sports.