For more than 20 years, Elizabeth Mayhew\u2019s career has taken shape at GE Vernova, beginning in 2004 as an intern and moving through the company working in supply chain roles as well as design engineering.<\/p>\n
The West Virginia native has called the Capital Region home after moving here to complete GE\u2019s operations management leadership program. Today, she is the general manager of configuration management and product definition for the gas power division.<\/p>\n
When Mayhew isn\u2019t managing a team of more than 800 engineers across the division \u2014 which covers eight countries \u2014 she enjoys unwinding with hot power yoga and exploring the outdoors with her husband and two sons, all avid skiers and bike riders.<\/p>\n
She is being recognized as a Woman of Excellence: Excellence in the Professions through the Capital Region Chamber of Commerce.<\/p>\n
Q: Can you explain your job title to us, and what your role entails?<\/p>\n
A: The Gas Power division builds and services power plants that generate reliable electricity for people all over the world. I lead an organization of over 800 engineers in eight countries that create Computer Aided Design 3D models and drawings of power plant equipment, keep track of what parts go in which units that are running at our customers\u2019 sites all over the world, and ensure that our equipment meets all local regulations that help to keep the people working and living near the power plant safe.<\/p>\n
No two days are ever the same, though I typically start my mornings connecting with our teams in Asia and Europe, and then work across the time zones.<\/p>\n
Q: What\u2019s one thing you do for your job that people wouldn\u2019t expect to be part of your role?<\/p>\n
A: Leading an organization is ultimately about people and, as humans, we all have good days and bad days. We bring our lives to work with us\u00a0\u2014 a new house, a wedding, a baby, a sick parent or a death in the family. These things impact our energy, our attention and how we interact with others. An important aspect of my day-to-day life is to notice subtle changes in my team, and then to offer the right level of support that helps them balance work and life through each chapter.<\/p>\n
Q: You are being recognized by your peers as a Woman of Excellence: Excellence in the Professions. What does that recognition mean to you?<\/p>\n
A: This recognition has been a nice opportunity to pause and reflect on all the cool things I\u2019ve gotten to do over the last 20 years. My work in engineering has given me the opportunity to see the world and to build an incredible network of friends and colleagues. I feel fortunate to get to work on challenging and interesting problems every day and that I\u2019m still learning and growing.<\/p>\n
Q: Do you have any advice for women in your field?<\/p>\n
A: It\u2019s OK to not be like everyone else. Only one in four undergraduate degrees in engineering is awarded to women. You are very likely going to be the only woman in the room frequently. Your perspective matters.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d also encourage women to say what they want out loud\u00a0\u2014 even if it seems scary to speak up. Most conversations about your career happen without you in the room. Make sure you have a personal \u201cboard of directors\u201d that can speak on your behalf when you\u2019re not present and never lose your own voice to advocate for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For more than 20 years, Elizabeth Mayhew\u2019s career has taken shape at GE Vernova, beginning in 2004 as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[288,844,610,9,11,10,49,51,50,8147],"class_list":["post-226921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-business","tag-latestnews","tag-local","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-skco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}