Ternium highlights five women who have demonstrated their strength and high-performance capacity in Latin America.
From the operational to the administrative area, Ternium has women who are an example to follow and highlight.
The company continuously works to reduce gender gaps and continue to provide opportunities and spaces in an equitable manner, in an industry that has traditionally been led by men.
Maribel Cala, is passionate about studying circuits
Maribel is the only electrical maintenance inspector at the Ternium Palmar Industrial Center in Varela, Colombia.
When she came to the company almost three years ago, she never imagined that her job would lead her to face challenges such as putting on a harness and climbing 12 meters high on a crane every day to do her maintenance work, a risky job that requires a lot of concentration. in the task and precision in the execution.
She is in charge of the equipment inspections and predictive maintenance of eight cranes, the water treatment that is the heart of the plant, the transformers, and the main substation, a task that ranges from checking motors to inspecting that each electrical circuit works correctly.
“It is a job of great responsibility because with the inspections I can prevent the operation from stopping or a failure in any equipment and even avoid accidents”, said Maribel.
She came to this position because she was passionate about numbers. From a very young age she dedicated herself to studying, she began as a technician and technologist in electromechanics, then she graduated in Mechatronics Engineering and was not satisfied with what she knew, she is currently finishing Electrical Engineering.
For her, study and constant learning are vital to aspire to new opportunities and to grow personally and professionally.
“I like that Ternium contributes to inclusion, to the fact that there is no labor bias and that we can work in positions that are normally carried out by men. I am used to working with men because since I started studying there were few women who chose this career”, she said.
“I feel that here in the company there are no differentiation and colleagues are very respectful.”
Cristina Rodríguez, a leader in vaccination
In April 2021 Ternium and Hospital Clínica Nova installed a COVID-19 vaccination module, in support of Mexican federal, state, and municipal authorities in this stage of the pandemic, Cristina, nursing supervisor at Hospital Clínica Nova, and coordinator of this Vaccination Center, has been in charge of managing all the community support sessions that are held at this vaccination point located in San Nicolás de los Garza.
“The success of this module has been thanks to all the teamwork behind it, between the medical, administrative, and nursing management of the hospital, as well as with all the corresponding authorities. All of this is transmitted to the staff, which helps us resolve any situation that may arise,” explained Cristina, who graduated as a general nurse from the University of Monterrey and who has more than 23 years of experience at the Hospital Clínica Nova.
Cristina added that values such as leadership, empathy, responsibility, and perseverance have been essential to see the great progress of this project.
“It gives me great pleasure to see mixed teams in the different jobs. I am convinced that this is not about gender, but about ability and knowing how to work as a team”, she emphasized.
Up to now, this center has been a success, as it has administered more than 260,000 doses, to the point of becoming a fixed point of vaccination, that is, anyone can go to apply the dose from Monday to Friday on the day and time of your choice, from February 22 to March 31.
Empathy has been the key to success for Virginia Pérez
Virginia is an industrial engineer and works as Supply Chain and Operations Coordinator at Ternium Nicaragua; she is another living example that female disruption is widespread in Ternium Central America, and she has not felt gender barriers at work since she started as Analyst Order Manager on June 14, 2017.
Virginia claimed to be open to change; “I really like to fulfill the challenges that are given to me”, she said that she is passionate about her work and is sure of her abilities. “Women are multifaceted, and we can achieve anything we set our minds to.”
He also likes to work directly with people and seek empathy.
“I relate very well to all people, and I think that has been part of my success”, he said.
Fernanda Figueredo, Motherhood in the Industrial Field
Construction engineer Fernanda Figueredo led the project for the construction of the women's locker room and the lactation room at the Sidercrom Plant in Argentina when she was pregnant. On November 11, 2021, Lautaro was born, and as a current user of the same room at the Savio Plant, she recognizes the advantage of having these spaces to promote the continuity of breastfeeding and attend to her work schedule at the Plant. Her boss Germán Catalá, Director of Construction, regularly participated in the mentoring sessions.
Figueredo highlighted that one of the advantages of having participated in Ternium's Maternity Mentoring program was finding a space for reflection, in which to capture scenarios that would have been difficult to identify on a day-to-day basis and an opportunity to reinvent oneself as a professional. In addition, this process allowed him to know and become aware of the areas for improvement to overcome them upon return.
“Both the leadership and my work team played a fundamental role in accompanying me on my return, for example, attending to my need to use the lactation room twice a day”, she assured.
“These facilities allow my son to continue to feed on breast milk, which was key for me.”
Livia Santoro, an example to follow
Livia has worked at Ternium Brazil since 2008. She was hired as an assistant when the plant was just in the design phase, in a temporary position. She studied accounting and in an internal recruitment process, he applied for a vacancy as an analyst. Since then, Livia has developed a career in the accounting area and is currently the coordinator of the Reporting area.
The opportunity for the coordinator position came just two weeks before her maternity leave, in July 2021. “It's great to set an example for other women and see how Ternium cares about the mothers who work here”, she said.
Livia also commented on the importance of not distinguishing between men and women in the workplace.
“The focus is much more on being recognized as a professional, regardless of whether you are a mother or a woman”, she highlighted.
She participated in Ternium's Maternity Mentoring Program, which develops people from the mentoring experience, turning experiences into learning.
“The feeling I have is one of empowerment. Today I can say that I am a woman, I am a mother, I am a professional, and that the company has appreciated me. I am very happy to be here and to be able to share this experience with other women”, she highlighted.
With these stories, today March 8, International Women's Day, we highlight 5 women leaders and empowered, in order to continue contributing to a present and future of equality for all.