In The News
Finalists Named for the 2018 Influential Woman in Trucking award
PLOVER, Wis. — Women In Trucking Association and Freightliner Trucks have named three finalists for the 2018 Influential Woman in Trucking award.
This is the eighth year for the award, which was developed in 2010 as a way to honor female leaders and to attract and advance women within the trucking industry.
The award highlights the achievements of female role models and trailblazers in the trucking industry.
The nominees for the award included women from all over the industry in various roles.
The finalists include:
- Angela Eliacostas, founder and CEO, AGT Global Logistics of Glen Ellyn, Illinois
- Nozuko Mayeza, managing director, Tulsawiz Logistics of Johannesburg, South Africa.
- Brooke Willey, vice president of human resources, CRST International of Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Eliacostas has more than 30 years of experience in transportation, working her way from the ground up. Following generations of relatives with expertise in the transportation industry, she made the natural transition to her own career by learning the processes at trucking companies to running third-party logistics. Eliacostas is an industry leader in expediting shipments and serves as a liaison between carriers and companies. She has grown a reputation in the energy and power logistics space. Angela has been recognized for making AGT Global Logistics one of the top 50 in Illinois and top 1000 woman-owned businesses in the United States.
Mayeza is a passionate truck business owner who hails from South Africa. Through her passion, she has managed to make inroads into a male dominated sector for over seven years. She is the finalist for Women in Africa awards 2018 and the chairperson of the Black Business Council subcommittee on Commercial and public transport. Nozuko is a mentor to females in trucking both in South Africa and Ghana.
Willey leads the human resources function for CRST International as Vice President of Human Resources, a $1.7 billion transportation company comprised of seven operating companies with 9,500-plus employees and driving partners/owner operators. Her passion is building strong leaders and leadership teams and has been publicly recognized for those efforts. Under her leadership development efforts, in 2016 CRST was named a “Top-10 Best Private Company for Leaders” by Chief Executive magazine. In 2017 CRST was named a “Workforce Leader in Training” by the Corridor Business Journal and Kirkwood Community College. Willey is also actively involved with non-profit organizations in her community, most recently a board member for United Way and Young Parents Network.
“With the outstanding nominations submitted, it was extremely difficult for the judges to narrow it down to the finalists,” said Ellen Voie, president and CEO of WIT.
The judges for the 2018 award are Voie; Dave Nemo, talk show host, Sirius XM Radio; and Daphne Jefferson, principal and executive coach, Jefferson Consulting Group, who was the 2017 Influential Woman in Trucking award recipient.
All three finalists have been asked to participate on a panel at the WIT Accelerate! Conference & Expo held in Dallas November 12-14. The winner will be announced at the general session panel discussion, “Hard-Won Lessons from Trailblazing Women” on Tuesday, November 13 from 8:45 a.m. – 10:00 am. The panel will be facilitated by Joann Lublin, news editor, The Wall Street Journal.