GM’s highest-ranking Black female exec gets promotion

he highest-ranking Black woman in the Detroit Three is now ranked even higher.

Alicia Boler-Davis has been promoted to executive vice president of global manufacturing at General Motors, the first Black woman to hold this position. In her new role, Boler-Davis will lead a team of 180,000 employees at 171 facilities worldwide.

Boler-Davis will be replacing Jim DeLuca, who retires from the company after 37 years.

She has been with GM since 1994, having served in various engineering and manufacturing leadership positions in the last two decades. Previously serving as the automaker’s senior vice president of global connected customer experience, Boler-Davis led GM’s connected customer activities, including OnStar and its call centers. She has also served as head of Global Quality and Customer experience, and was also a plant manager of the Orion Assembly and Pontiac Stamping plants.

“With all the change facing our industry in the next several years, Alicia’s vast and diverse experience and proven track record for delivering results will help ensure our global manufacturing performance and capabilities are aligned to meet the challenges ahead,” GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra says in a statement. “Alicia’s strong manufacturing background, combined with her recent roles leading quality and the customer experience, will allow us to grow an even stronger customer-focused link to our people and processes in manufacturing.”