The Women’s Industry Network’s (WIN) mission is to support and enhance the role of women in the collision repair industry, promoting education, professional advancement and networking. The WIN Board of Directors exists to guide the organization in furthering these initiatives. The all-volunteer group represents various collision industry segments including, but not limited to, repair facilities, suppliers, consultants, information providers and insurance companies.
Elizabeth Stein, vice president of strategic initiatives, Certified Collision Group, was recently named as the latest WIN chair for 2024-25. Having joined its Board of Directors in 2019, she has previously served WIN as membership chair and co-chair of its Annual Education Conference.
Stein recently discussed how WIN membership is helping today’s collision repair industry.
WIN Chair Elizabeth Stein.
How does WIN works with its members, their organizations, students and the collision repair industry as a whole?
We work with many women and men in management and other industry roles who want to learn how to improve recruitment and retention for female employees. This shows us that the industry is continuing to accept women in many different positions and seeing their importance to the market. Even with this progress, there is always room for improvement, and that is why WIN plays an important role in the overall structure of the collision repair industry. Through our focus of attracting, retaining and promoting women, we are able to create and support multiple programs to help continue to enhance the advancement of women and the elevate the automotive industry as a whole.
How does WIN achieve these goals?
In a nutshell, WIN offers education, mentoring and leadership development opportunities to build critical skills for success in the collision repair market. This not only benefits the individual, but what they bring back to their organizations, and then assists the overall industry as well.
WIN educates women about the marketplace through both our annual conference and regular informative webinars on industry topics like: ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) and calibrations, welding, the technician shortage and electric vehicle repairs, as well as finance, leadership and personal growth skills. The result is supporting organizations get back their talent that is now better trained, more informed and has greatly expanded their skill set.
Besides education and industry knowledge, WIN also provides great networking and connection opportunities for women in a male-dominated industry. We have regular regional meet-ups where professional members can meet with one another and expand their networks. They also can learn be a mentor or learn from mentors in various collision repair industry fields. In addition, we have many committees that members can join and learn to develop both teambuilding and leadership skills.
Tell us about WIN’s history of helping student scholarship and school outreach programs.
Another way WIN is helping the collision repair industry is developing tomorrow’s technicians, today. This most recent year, WIN provided a record 30 scholarships and/or professional tool sets to women to help expand their skill sets in the field of collision repair. This not only helps meet the industry’s key issue of tech shortages by providing both tuition assistance and real, hands-on professional tool sets, but has created industry newcomers with an immediate opportunity to hit the ground running with a much faster track to full employment.
Another way WIN helps students is by providing mentoring and best practice learning opportunities. We’ve established social media chat rooms and portals where students can participate and discuss their collision repair journeys and successes, plus we now offer monthly peer-to-peer group sessions to assist in their collective collision repair journeys.
How does WIN accomplish so many positive results?
Obviously the devotion and hard work of our many members and volunteers are key to achieving these many results, but we really have to thank our industry sponsors for making this all possible. Our sponsoring organizations are taking an active role in developing the talent pool for our entire collision repair industry. We appreciate and thank all our sponsors for their commitment to women in the industry through continued financial, leadership and resource support since our inception.
Sponsors of WIN are industry leaders from every collision repair business segment who value the network’s mission of achieving industry sustainability through accessing the talent, skill, mindset, energy and drive of women.
How have WIN’s Most Influential Women (MIW) awards have complemented the professional work women have done to enhance the collision repair industry?
A: WIN established the MIW award in 1999 to recognize women whose leadership, vision and commitment to excellence have enriched the collision repair industry. Celebrating MIW’s 25th anniversary this year, more than 100 recipients have been chosen based on their industry influence, professional accomplishments, commitment to community, and investment in the future through their willingness to mentor other women.
These industry professionals serve as shining examples of the array of opportunities that are available in collision repair, as well as testaments to the positive impact that women can have in this and all other fields. Their exemplary journeys show all women that anything is possible when you put in the work.
For more information about WIN, visit www.womensindustrynetwork.com.
