As we embark upon Women’s History Month, ASCM celebrates the countless contributions of women to our diverse supply chain community. People who once didn’t have a voice in business — and who admittedly sometimes still have a quieter voice — bring unique perspectives, experiences and solutions.
Ensuring everyone is heard is, in fact, the mission of Danielle Malave, performance and execution manager for Boeing Distribution Services. Last year, Malave won the ASCM Award of Excellence — Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion. In her nomination, her colleague Ester Franco described how Malave makes conscious, extraordinary efforts to ensure each team member is represented: “Danielle fosters a space where people feel empowered to engage and bring ideas forward, and they trust that she will be there to support them and remove roadblocks along the way.”
Malave urges others to listen to and aim to understand each other. She educates different teams and functions across Boeing about cultural differences, conscious and unconscious biases, and abilities awareness. She has championed engaging conversations and activities and encourages others to help lead these activities. This creates the added bonus of giving professionals at different points in their careers opportunities to grow and develop their own leadership skills.
To help her colleagues learn about DEI through experience, Malave encourages participation in a variety of community service activities, including collecting food, toiletries, clothing, toys and school supplies for a variety of charitable organizations, including Showering Love, a local food pantry, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and Neighbors 4 Neighbors.
Learning by listening
Malave also understands that cross-functional operations are most successful when team members understand what other functions do. She created the Walk a Day in My Shoes program for members to shadow other functions and understand the priorities and opportunities they balance each day. This initiative has given team members insight into how the company functions and increased their understanding of the complexities of other roles. This leads to a better experience for cross-functional teams and better outcomes for end-users and customers who benefit from cohesive team support.
For Malave, listening is not the first or last step of any process, but a never-ending part of the journey. Through her listening, proactive team and one-on-one engagements, and a permeating view of collective success, she inspires her team to perform at their best. She also often spends time walking the floor and meeting the people around her, thanking them for their effort, understanding their needs and working to drive process improvement.
Malave’s dedication to cross-functional teamwork, engaging team events and an environment of inclusivity help people of all backgrounds feel welcome and comfortable at Boeing Distribution Services. By encouraging employees to network with others to understand different departments better and empowering them to take on new roles, she also helps them to grow professionally. Malave’s leaders confirm that she and her DEI efforts are a key differentiator for the organization.
Do you know a strong advocate for DEI or another supply chain professional or organization deserving of recognition? Nominate them — or yourself — for an ASCM Award of Excellence. The 2024 call for entries is open now. Be sure to submit your applications by May 20.
