Agency: GTB (WPP)
Role: Art Direction + Design (Freelance)

Ford has long championed gender equality within their ranks. It makes sense: to build vehicles that meet the needs of all consumers, it is crucial that the people designing, engineering and building these vehicles reflect the people who buy them. However, women are underrepresented across all STEAM fields and scarce indeed in automotive, where women make up only 25% of the overall industry workforce—a number unlikely to change unless more young women and girls are exposed to this male-dominated field.

To address this disparity, we launched the Girls' Fast Track Races, aiming to give girls the same introduction to engineering and cars that boys have been receiving for years. The program spanned from September to February, launching with tips and tricks videos and workshops led by Ford engineers, both designed to help girls prepare their cars to race. Starting in October, regional events were held in cities across America, giving hundreds of girls the chance to race for the first time ever. To close out 2016 and kick off year two of the program, in February of 2017, four Girl Scouts were invited to race live on the Today Show.

In this project, I was brought in to guide art direction and also served as a vendor through my company, Laser Rays, to create trophies to match the campaign, as well as over 25 different pinewood derby car designs used in the video production. Additionally, I contributed to the campaign videos with art direction, bringing the concept to life on screen and reinforcing the connection between creativity, engineering, and the future of mobility.

The excitement on the girls' faces was pure joy. And, if this program opened new career possibilities in the minds of even a few of those girls, it was a success.