Maria Bland has been working in the automotive industry for over 20 years. She has managed several quality engineering and manufacturing positions in the supply base for organizations such as Plastech Engineered Products, Collins and Aikman, and Federal Mogul. Maria is currently managing the Manufacturing Engineering TRACK Program at General Motors. TRACK is an early career development initiative for new engineering hires designed to build foundational skills, and greater exposure and understanding of the business. She is in her 8th year at GM and has held several different roles in Purchasing, Engineering, and Quality.
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Her leadership in these roles showcase her enact ability to be flexible with a diverse background of disciplines. All at the same time leading her teams to be equally valued, impactful, and understood. “As a leader, it is my job to promote a safe environment for my employees while I dare them to be great, innovate, and continue to create the best version of themselves without hesitation and on purpose”, says Maria. Maria, along with her 25 year old daughter Cachet, founded OWDOT in 2018. OWDOT will be a vessel and exhibit for other women who want to be successful leaders within their companies and communities. Maria desires to give opportunities to those that visualize but also want to realize their leadership strengths by promoting funding for higher education, providing environments where people can connect and be inspired, and most importantly, have a positive and powerful give back to the community.
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Maria is the mother of four beautiful children; one son and three daughters. She holds a bachelor’s in Business Administration, a Master’s in Business with a concentration in Leadership and Development along with a Human Resources Certification.
Cachet Colvard is currently serving as the Associate Administrator for the Emergency Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. Most recently, she completed an Administrative Fellowship at Cleveland Clinic in June 2018.
Cachet received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan where she majored in Asian Studies, with a concentration in Chinese Language and Culture. In 2017, Cachet graduated with a Master of Health Services Administration degree from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and will graduate with a Master of Business Administration from the UM-Dearborn College of Business next year. During her time in graduate school, Cachet completed an Administrative Internship at Detroit Medical Center in the system-level Project Management office. She had the opportunity to work on projects for each of the 7 hospitals centered around developing system-ness, process improvement, patient experience, and healthcare quality. Throughout graduate school, she served as president of Women in Health Leadership and held a board position with the Midwest Chapter of the American College of Healthcare Executives. She currently serves a board position with the National Association of Health Services Executives as the Early Careerist Liaison.
As an emerging leader in healthcare, Cachet wants to build a community rooted in equity, respect, and integrity. With her training she aspires to provide high quality care to those in my community and beyond. Cachet believe that access to care is the right of every human being regardless of their gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. Ultimately, she want to help create a larger platform for women and minorities in healthcare to achieve success and leadership within their organizations. To learn more about Cachet, please visit her website at CachetColvard.com!
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My natural curiosity and openness to new cultures drove me to ultimately major in East Asian Studies and move to Ghana to study the psychosocial factors that affect birth outcomes in urban Ghanaian women. After living in Accra for 4 months working with the community and assisting in hospitals I realized very quickly that healthcare is where I want to be. So it is no surprise that I am excited to apply the knowledge I am gaining through my graduate work to improve the delivery of quality healthcare.