How Women Rise - Stories from Top Women to Watch

Michele Rodgers is the Senior Engineering Manager for Peterbilt Motors, a PACCAR Company. 

Previously, Rodgers was Director of Business & Product Development for Dynacraft.  She has over 25 years of experience  at Peterbilt Motors on the engineering and program management teams and has held several positions of increasing responsibility which included the Director of Program Management.  Rodgers has served as a member of the Peterbilt Women’s Initiative Group (PBWIN) steering committee as well as the PACCAR Women’s Association (PWA) governance committee.  She currently serves on the Women in Trucking Board of Directors.

Rodgers holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Texas, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington. Additionally, she is a licensed professional engineer. Rodgers lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two children and enjoys spending her camping with her family.

Christine Brown is the Associate Vice President of Technology Delivery for Day & Ross. Based out of small-town New Brunswick, Canada, Christine has the privilege of working with a diverse group of professionals to define and execute on innovative solutions to move the business forward through process reengineering and technology. Having worked in technology most of her career, with 15 of those being in supply chain and logistics, Christine is still driven by collaborating to solve an operational problem by leveraging technology.

Christine has been married for more than 20 years, has one teenage daughter, and believes friends are the family you choose. Energized by people, she says she has no favorite places, just favorite people to go places with.

Lisa Gonnerman is the President of Trucking at Bay and Bay Transportation out of Eagan, MN. Lisa has more than 30 years of transportation and safety management experience along with a degree from Iowa State University in Transportation Logistics. Lisa has been very active in the transportation industry. She is a past chair of the American Trucking Association (ATA) Safety Management Council National and was named 2016 ATA National Safety Director of the Year. Gonnerman utilizes her executive level experience to change trucking one mile at a time.

Lisa has become a well-respected trucking industry executive dedicating her 30 years of experience to improve processes and conditions for professional drivers.

Elizabeth is a seasoned heavy-duty truck professional with nearly 15 years experience.  She began her career in customer support assisting dealers with parts purchasing and logistics eventually moving into dealer operations. As a Protection Plans Manager, she focused on warranty processes and helping execute service processes.  She furthered developed her aftermarket knowledge by becoming a District Parts Manager. Elizabeth successfully developed and implemented parts strategies for some of Volvo’s largest dealerships. After seven successful years as a DPM, she accepted a position as a District Sales Manager for Volvo trucks. In this position, she works with dealers to define and achieve their sales goals by focusing on customer success and brand reputation.

Jamie Creekmore has worked with Clean Harbors Environmental Services for nearly 30 years, first starting as an office manager at the Grassy Mountain landfill in Clive, Utah. With a constant desire to learn more and do more, she continued to gain company knowledge and grow her career in different lines of business. She worked at the Aragonite Incinerator as the Logistics Manager, has served in Technical Services roles, as Logistics Coordinator, Operations Manager, General Manager and District Manager. Creekmore is now the Vice President of the Mountain District responsible for the Technical Services, Field Services and Safety Kleen Divisions with seven states and more than 150 team members.

Prior to stepping into her latest role, while she was the Director of Transportation, she upped the company’s driver headcount by 13 percent and increased the number of female tanker drivers in National Transportation by 12 percent through career events at conferences and driving schools.

Creekmore is the Executive Sponsor for the Women’s Employee Resources Group (WAVES) and she leads the company’s Employee Engagement ally/ambassador program, which works to create a culture where all workers feel valued, appreciated and satisfied in their jobs.

Monique Andrews is the Reliability Manager for Peterbilt Motors Company. Originally from The Netherlands, Monique has been with PACCAR and Peterbilt for almost 20 years. She has over 34 years of experience in the Automotive Industry working for different companies in various roles and in several countries. She has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration. Her main focus is to improve processes and products to achieve higher effectiveness and exceed customers expectations. She has been a co-chair on the Peterbilt Diversity Council for 3 years and co-founded three ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) – the Peterbilt Women Initiative, the LGBTQ+ Advocacy, and the Peterbilt’s Black Organization for Leadership and Development.

Andrews recently married and has a 13-year-old bonus son. She strongly believes in supporting others and has been an active mentor for over 5 years, helping her mentees achieving career goals.