Group Vice President
Canada, Mexico and South America
Ford Motor Company

Anne Stevens is group vice president, Canada, Mexico and South America, Ford Motor Company, a position to which she was named in October 2003. She is responsible for the entire business in each country, including product development, manufacturing, purchasing, finance and sales and marketing. She is Ford Motor Company's first female group vice president.

Stevens previously was vice president, North America Vehicle Operations, since August 2001. She was responsible for the operations of 21 assembly plants and eight stamping and tool and die plants in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Prior to that, Stevens was vice president, North America Assembly Operations.

Stevens joined Ford Motor Company in 1990 as a marketing specialist in the Plastic Products Division, Vehicle Exterior Systems. In 1992, she was named manager of the Quality Services Department at the division's Saline (Mich.) plant.

In 1995, Stevens became manufacturing manager for Plastic and Trim Products Operations. Later in the year, she was named plant manager at Ford's Enfield Plant in England and became Ford's first female plant manager in Europe. In 1997, Stevens was named assistant vehicle line director, Small Car Vehicle Center, for Ford Automotive Operations in Dunton, England, with responsibility for Fiesta, Ka and Puma vehicles.

Stevens returned to the U.S. in 1999 to assume the post of director of the Manufacturing Business Office for Ford in North America. She was responsible for capacity planning, new program coordination for manufacturing, business and labor strategy. Stevens later served for 15 months as an executive director in Vehicle Operations in North America.

Before joining Ford, Stevens held various engineering, manufacturing and marketing positions at Exxon Chemical Company. She was born in Reading, Pa., and earned a bachelor's degree in Mechanical and Materials Engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia. She did graduate work at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J.

Stevens serves on the Lockheed Martin board of directors, the board of trustees at Drexel University and is a trustee of the Women's Automotive Association International. She serves on the advisory board of the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and is a member of the Council of Americas. In 2000, Stevens received the prestigious Shingo Leadership award and later was appointed to the Shingo Prize Board of Governors. In 2001, she received an Outstanding Business Leader award from Northwood University, and in 2003 she received the Eli Whitney Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. She was honored with a distinguished service citation from the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2004. Stevens has been named twice to Fortune magazine's list of "50 Most Powerful Women In Business." Throughout her career, Ms. Stevens has been a vigorous and enthusiastic role model for leadership in Quality.