Employee Spotlight: April Banner Innovates Production, Expands Opportunities for Women in Maryville, Tennessee
Q: Describe your role and proudest achievement at DENSO.
A: I’m a manager of Flex and Innovation Production Engineering at DENSO’s Maryville, Tennessee, facility. As the site continues to transition to a manufacturing hub for electrification and safety systems, our team helps Production Engineering groups retain institutional knowledge, share engineering expertise and continually innovate our approach. It creates a win-win situation for our team and products, and our customers.
This is fulfilling work, but my proudest accomplishment at DENSO is creating the Ladies Excelling @ DENSO (LE@D) business resource group (BRG) with co-chair Beth Rollins. LE@D, the first BRG established at DENSO in Maryville, will celebrate its third anniversary in April.
Q: What does Ladies Excelling @ DENSO do?
A: LE@D works to increase representation of highly-skilled and impactful women within functional groups and leadership positions at DENSO in Maryville. To fulfill our mission, LE@D continues to build a vibrant, cross-functional team and provides women at DENSO opportunities to grow their technical and interpersonal skills.
Through this atmosphere of inclusion and support, LE@D connects members to colleagues and key influencers within the company to expand their network and drive positive change. In addition to monthly training sessions, we also organize social and charitable events on and off campus while having as much fun as possible along the way!
All are welcome to join. No matter how you self-identify, it takes people of all backgrounds to help push us forward.
Q: March is Women's History Month. What does it mean to you?
A: Women’s History Month may only bring to mind historical events like Women’s Suffrage or the passing of the Equal Pay Act to some. However, today women are still fighting on many fronts to be equal to men. Although I personally may never make the pages of history, what I can endeavor to be every day is a woman who speaks up and who is not afraid to stand out, even if it means I stand alone. I believe that every uncomfortable situation we are willing to tackle today means one less for the women of tomorrow to overcome.