Patty serves as Project Leader and Lead Advisor for American Kaizen, bringing 32+ years of experience leading operational excellence across Toyota locations in North America. Her journey began as a production team member in the Plastics department at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, where she quickly transitioned into an HR specialist role before rising to Group and General Manager for Toyota North America. In this capacity, she led the HRBA Unit Manufacturing, Battery Start-Up, Unit PE, Manufacturing initiatives, labor relations, and supplier support across multiple locations.
Patty’s unique career progression from the shop floor to executive leadership gives her an unparalleled understanding of both operational and human resource challenges, making her an invaluable advisor to organizations seeking to improve employee experience, leadership capability, and organizational culture.
Patty improved employee experience through focused development of Leadership and Human Resources teams, creating conditions where team members could thrive and contribute their best work. She supported the execution of company Diversity initiatives, serving as a Board member for the first Business Partnering Group women's leadership network in North America.
Patty partnered with and trained functional leadership to ensure implementation and sustainment of company policies across multiple locations. She led strategy development and execution of standard procedures and certifications for the new NA Regional Investigations Team, training and certifying TMR, Managers, and on-site VWF staff at thirteen locations across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Patty facilitated the performance management process with a focus on ensuring talent success for NA HR and Manufacturing. She led the successful implementation of many initiatives with local and regional scope, including the Toyota Track TM program, the hourly assessment and selection process, and the reduction of hourly compensation grow-in timing.
Patty led strategy with Procurement to standardize the VWF program scope, resourcing Service Providers and achieving approximately six million dollars in annual labor cost savings. She also partnered with PC to implement and communicate standard labor classification criteria for all jobs across the organization.
Patty managed six Unit and Battery Manufacturing HR Teams, PE HR Team, and NA HRBA teams across ten teams and nine locations. She collaborated closely with functional teams across NA to support successful manufacturing strategy execution, including HRT, IT, Procurement, Benefits, Legal, Payroll, PC, and A&F. She also led teams through supplier development initiatives and managed vendor partnerships supporting HR across North America.
Patty served as NA HR Business Advisor on Manufacturing for NA Headquarters, providing strategic guidance on human resources matters affecting manufacturing operations across the region.
Patty believes that sustainable operational excellence starts with developing people and creating conditions where every team member can contribute their best work. Her unique career progression from production team member to executive leadership gives her a perspective that few HR leaders possess, understanding both the shop floor experience and the strategic needs of the organization. She emphasizes the importance of leadership development, employee engagement, and creating inclusive cultures where diverse perspectives are valued.
32+ years of operational excellence and HR leadership experience | Started as a production team member at TMMK Plastics | Group / General Manager, Toyota North America | 13 locations trained and certified across the US, Canada, Mexico | $6M annual labor cost savings through VWF program standardization | 10 teams / 9 locations managed across manufacturing and HR | Board member for first BPG women’s leadership network in NA | Battery Start-Up HR leadership | Supplier development initiatives leadership | NA HR Business Advisor on Manufacturing for NA Headquarters
