AWESOME’s Fifth Anniversary Symposium Salutes Two Supply Chain Leaders

AWESOME (Achieving Women's Excellence in Supply Chain Operations, Management and Education) has presented the AWESOME Legendary Leadership (ALL) Award to two highly accomplished supply chain leaders: Francesca DeBiase, Chief Supply Chain and Sustainability Officer, McDonald's Corporation; and Kristin French, retired Brigadier General, U.S. Army, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Logistics and Materiel Readiness), U.S. Department of Defense.

Francesca DeBiase is responsible for overseeing McDonald's Global Supply Chain while embedding sustainability into the way McDonald's does business around the world. Her team leverages the scale of the company's $40 billion spend in food, packaging, logistics, toys, technology, equipment and other services, while driving safety, quality and sustainability throughout the company and achieving leadership in those areas in the food industry. She is also the Global Advisor to the McDonald's Women's Leadership Network.

Kristin French, a West Point graduate, retired from military service as a Brigadier General, and now serves as a principal adviser to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics. She is responsible for the oversight of DoD logistics policies, practices, operations and efficiencies in support of enhanced readiness to the Warfighter. Prior to this current role, her 29+ years in the US Army included tours in the Pentagon, Defense Logistics Agency and Army Material Command, and she served in deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Croatia.

“The selection of these two outstanding leaders is evidence of the impact women are having at the highest levels of supply chain leadership in dramatically different organizations,” said Nancy Nix, AWESOME Executive Director.

The ALL Award was created in 2014 to recognize women supply chain leaders who have achieved extraordinary professional excellence and success, addressed challenges impacting opportunities for women and advanced the changing landscape of women's supply chain leadership.

The 2017 award presentation took place on May 3, opening night of AWESOME's Fifth Anniversary Symposium which concludes tomorrow in Chicago.

Tisha Danehl, vice president of Ajilon, a national professional staffing agency serving the supply chain says while women may be underrepresented in supply chain management roles, there are certainly opportunities for them:

In a report co-published by Gartner and AWESOME—a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing women's leadership in supply chain—researchers note that two ways companies can offset the gender imbalance include: filling the pipeline with more women in entry-level positions, and focusing on leadership development programs that ensure women are being actively considered, sponsored and advanced.

AWESOME was founded by Ann Drake, CEO of DSC Logistics, and has grown to be a network of more than 950 women in diverse senior supply chain leadership roles. AWESOME leaders take part in networking, research, industry events, discussions and collaborations to support the advancement of women's supply chain leadership.

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