Amanda Rowland

Brainstormer, Christian, Connector, Engineer, Explorer, Foodie, Idea generator, Marketer, Project manager, World traveler

I have had a career of 10 years with Whirlpool Corporation and continue to have a passion for our products as well as how we can can make Whirlpool one of the best places for women to work. I graduated with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and joined Whirlpool's Engineering Rotational Leadership Program. I then earned a Mastering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue while doing a work/study with Whirlpool on modeling heat distribution in oven cavities. After 8 years in various categories, levels of development & execution, leading engineering teams, and supporting dozens of products, I then took a step outside of engineering and earned my MBA with an emphasis in Finance and Corporate Strategy. I joined the JennAir Product Marketing team shortly after this and supported Go to Market Strategy and Product Development for our Luxury Cooking Products. Finally I transitioned into our Merchandising team leading Built-In Kitchen Products in Pricing/Promotion/Go To Market Strategy. Through this technically deep and broad career, I have seen many instances of bias and lack of advocacy. Joining and being a co-pillar the Whirlpool Women's Network the last 3-4 years, I have been working to bring awareness and education to the gaps in our development and career navigation processes. Whirlpool has fully embraced the Inclusion & Diversity momentum in the last few years, enabling my team to successfully introduce the "Ally Journey" to leaders. Through the Ally Journey and our first training launched this year on "Speak Up for Diversity", we have engaged leaders and showed them how they can take a more active role in driving differentiated and more inclusive experiences for our employees.

Furthering awareness of biases Help allies identify biases when they are present Enable employees to speak up for diversity and drive inclusion Move ourselves, our allies, and the organization from feeling disabled to enabled, so we all can speak up effectively for diversity challenges.

Furthering promotion and development of women requires male allies to be a part of the solution

Change Management, Engineering, Merchandising, Product Development, Product Execution, Product Marketing, Strategy Creation

Through my technically deep and broad career, I have seen many instances of bias and lack of advocacy. Joining and being a co-pillar the Whirlpool Women's Network the last 3-4 years, I have been working to bring awareness and education to the gaps in our development and career navigation processes. Whirlpool has fully embraced the Inclusion & Diversity momentum in the last few years, enabling my team to successfully introduce the "Ally Journey" to leaders. Through the Ally Journey and our first training launched this year on "Speak Up for Diversity", we have engaged leaders and showed them how they can take a more active role in driving differentiated and more inclusive experiences for our employees. I am excited to have the opportunity to attend TEDWomen to hear different perspectives and how other strong, creative women have been successful in furthering inclusion in the workplace. I look forward to bringing fresh, new ideas back to my company so we can take LEAPS in in the journey of making Whirlpool one of the best places for women to work.

When I am in a tough situation, whether it be in a physical contest like a race or in a challenging school or work situation, I have a strong will that drives me to dig deep and find this reserve energy that makes me run harder and deliver more than I would have thought possible. (my husband laughs and says I am the only person he knows that actually gets faster going up hill)