Our Women In EVA Global series continues this week, as we highlight female leadership here inside the company, to better understand what inspires and drives our colleagues through their journey, and to build a more inclusive world that helps better shape our workplace.
This week we had a chance to speak with Ginevra Foglia Balmet, our France team leader within EVA Global. She is known on the team in her passion for speaking four different languages, French, Spanish, English, and Italian. She is a champion for embracing change and set-by-example leadership. Here are some thoughts on her experiences in eMobility management.
What inspired you to join EVA Global?
In a word, its mission. I like to consider myself an environmentally friendly person, and being able to work in the eMobility industry means I can contribute to an environmentally friendly mission now and for
In management, we need the ability to solve complex challenges, how do you approach obstacles or difficult challenges?
Challenges come up every day, and it's easy to fall into the "I can't do it" loop. However, when you start seeing problems as opportunities, this is where attitudes can change, and as a consequence, the problem doesn't become an obstacle anymore but rather an opportunity to grow. What I can say about my immediate team, is we need diversity of thought to solve new challenges.
In just two years at EVA, I feel like I have grown a lot on a personal level, also, thanks to the support of my colleagues and my team, having each other's back is not something I take for granted. As they say, alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.
What is leadership in the workplace to you, and why is it essential for more women to be better represented in the EV industry?
As women, we need to work our way up more than men. Together, we need to ensure that women’s participation in innovation companies is not the exception but becomes the norm. In my opinion, leadership means encouraging people to be their best version, while building an environment that promotes acceptance, diversity, and self-growth.
For example, I find it inspiring that the management team of EVA Global has strong women representation, not to mention our CEO herself, Niina. Being in the automotive industry, a sector historically run by male figures, I believe that women can bring a fresh new perspective to the business, and at the same time, help break gender stereotypes. My hope is that in the future we won't be talking anymore about "female employees” in the EV industry, but rather just "employees," as the gender hopefully won't matter anymore. Overall, I believe that to be a great team leader, you need to make people comfortable, whatever their background or ethnicity is, by being accepted they will individually contribute, ultimately allowing the team more growth.