As one of the recipients of a Woman Driven Award from the Motor Vehicle Retailers of Ontario, Alyssa McKeown is grateful for having spent almost 25 years of her life in the business and being one of only a few women in Canada to own a dealership.
McKeown, Managing Partner and General Manager of Forbes Chevrolet Buick GMC, received the Influencer and Advocacy Leadership Award at the Women Driven Leadership Awards that were part of the recent Automotive Conference and Expo event in Niagara Falls, Ont.
“I try my best to be a positive influence in my store with other women, supporting Women. And I try to be innovative with the things that I do at my store — things that are outside the box just to be a little bit different in 2024,” said McKeown in an interview with Canadian auto dealer.
“My General Sales Manager is a female, my Pre-Owned Manager is a female. We’ve got a really strong female presence in leadership. These are the girls I’m grooming to take over from me, so that when I get my next store and (the) one after that, I’ll plug in powerful women into these roles.”
The other categories and winners were: Young Leader Award for Sarah Bonany, Service Manager at Georgian Chevrolet and Buick; Diversity and Inclusion Leadership for Shannon Maloley, Vice President of Business Development at Finch Auto Group; Executive Leadership for Jennifer Lennox, Vice President of People and Culture at Auto Canada; and Community Leadership for Christy Fines, Managing Partner at Barrie Chrysler and 400 Chrysler.
The awards celebrated the dedication and positive impact women have made in their communities, workplaces, and beyond. The Women Driven program consists of year-long events throughout Ontario, a special MVRO magazine with articles about women in automotive, and the awards. Last year there was only one general leadership award given out and there were four recipients.
McKeown became Managing Partner of her dealership in 2022, four years after being promoted to General Manager in 2018. She said the Women Driven program and its awards help to inspire young women to choose automotive as a career and realize there are opportunities for advancement.
“I think this is essential for growing that diversity in the car business, and we still have a long way to go,” said McKeown. “We’ve come a long way, especially in the last five years. Prior to that you didn’t really hear about anybody celebrating women in automotive. If we just keep this momentum going we can really bring some great talent into our business… The hardest part is they get chewed up and spit out and leave the business because it’s hard.”
The Women Driven program began in 2018 and was co-founded by Mississauga Toyota President and CEO Susan Gubasta. She made it a platform upon becoming the first woman president in the 100-plus year history of the MVRO. Gubasta further enhanced the program in 2019 when she became President of the Canadian International AutoShow.
COVID then interrupted any progress, but it returned in a big way last year with Women Driven in-person events throughout the province. This year the program was extended geographically to make it easier for members to attend.
“The goal behind it was to go to the communities and make connections,” said Liz Kearney, MVRO Project Manager. “We’ve seen year-to-year growth in attendance for the events. It’s been great as an association to share more stories of various career opportunities.”
