Reeshemah (Rae) Ross Howard

Mission Leader/ Manager Strategic Partnerships and Sustainable Programs at General Motors

Rae is an accomplished leader, highly recognized for delivering goal-oriented results.
From the University of Michigan, Rae holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration Degree with Finance concentration.
Currently, she is the ESG Strategies Mission Leader for Sustainable Materials, Packaging, Circularity and Nature at General Motors, responsible for developing strategy for determining and measuring sustainable content.
Previously, she was the Global Resin Commodity Manager and the Interior Overhead Systems Commodity Manager at General Motors, responsible for creating vision and deliverable action plans for the resin and interior overhead systems buying teams.
Throughout her career, Rae developed and implemented new paint technologies, resolved throughput concerns, managed multi-million-dollar contract negotiations and led high performance teams.
As subject matter expert for phosphate, electrocoat and primer surfacer paint layers, Rae created material specifications, validated paint materials including preparation of Design and Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA and PFMEA) and launched leading technologies in vehicle plants.
She also solved throughput issues using Red X and Design for Six Sigma methodologies.
Additionally, Rae headed the Paint Creativity Team and aided in realization of over $50M in savings for technical project improvements.
As a manager, she led the Interior Garnish Trim and Overhead Systems teams to success in supplier relations enhancements and business metrics. While the Resin Commodity Manager, Rae was named by Plastics News to Women Who Break the Mold.
Besides her professional accomplishments, Rae started a monthly story time program for elementary school youth at the Pontiac Public Library and youth empowerment workshop at Mount Clemens Middle and High School. She serves the corresponding secretary in the Theta Lambda Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a member of the American Numismatic Association Exhibits Committee.
She encourages youth participation in science, technology, engineering, and math fields. She also served as a coach and mentor for an elementary school robotics team.