Congratulations to Angela Barbee-Hatter for starting a new position as Vice President-Engineering and New Product Development, Global Faucets at Kohler Co.

A onetime chair of the Women of Color STEM Conference Committee, Angela voted to determine nominees in every award category from Community Service to Professional Achievement and Technical Innovation, as well as Leadership.

“Angela’s certainly that example of leadership, starting with General Motors,” said Tyrone Taborn, host of the Women of Color Webinar and founder of Women of Color magazine and the Women of Color STEM Conference.

“Over 20 years, she’s been a leader with us,” Taborn said. “Angela’s been a chairperson with the nomination committee looking at a lot of packages to make sure standards are met.”

Defining leadership for underrepresented people in leadership positions, here's what Angela said in a 2015 WOC Radio Webinar leading up to the annual Women of Color STEM Conference.

“Some of the ‘first-offs’ that come to mind: being able to make sure we see beyond the problem, and willing to be accountable for resolving whatever those issues are. To your point, when I first got involved in Women of Color, and even Black Engineer of the Year, I was amazed at the amount of women, things they were doing, and weren’t getting recognized for.

“There are all kinds of leaders,” Angela continued. “Servant leaders, people who lead from behind and those who come in front, coaching, etcetera. So it’s important for us to recognize the benefits of all those different types and the different things they bring. Because there are different types of people who need to be led differently.”

Listen on demand to the WOC Radio webinar here.

Barbee-Hatter served as director of Global Design Business Operations at General Motors, where she was responsible for creative digital imaging, visualization, talent acquisition, facilities, and budget for GM’s North America Design Center. She was the global lead for Europe, China, Korea, Australia, and South America Design Operations.

She has been featured in the publication “DRIVEN: A Tribute to African American Achievements in the Auto Industry” and in the “Engineering Our Future” exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

She is a 2004 winner of the Black Engineer of the Year-Corporate Promotion of Education Award and was inducted into the Career Communications Group Hall of Fame in 2012 for her continued contribution to Science Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).

When Barbee-Hatter won a 2004 BEYA, she told the US Black Engineer magazine that she fell in love with engineering in a middle school INROADS pre-college program. Since then, she has made outstanding contributions to science, technology, engineering, and math.

She won a GM Distinguished Fellowship to Purdue University and became the first Black female to graduate with a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the Herrick Laboratories, School of Mechanical Engineering, and Purdue University.

Later, she returned as adjunct professor in GM’s Engineer-in-Residence program, where she taught engineering courses and managed research projects. She was also instrumental in arranging a gift to the university for computer-aided design software and equipment worth $116 million from the Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE).