AFLA’s WIFM Expands Mentorship and Leadership Development Across Fleet Industry

A mentorship network that began with about 20 participants in 2018 now includes nearly 170 mentor-mentee pairs. For the Automotive Fleet Leasing Association’s Women in Fleet Management initiative, that growth reflects a wider effort to make professional development part of the fleet industry’s regular work, says task force chair Lori Olson.

WIFM’s programming now reaches beyond AFLA events, with sessions at NTEA Work Truck Week and the NAFA Institute & Expo over the past two years. Its focus includes helping professionals explain their experience, speak up for their work and build leadership skills. The initiative welcomes men and women, and Olson says its purpose extends to leadership and inclusion across the industry.

Photo: AFLA/WIFM’s Lori Olson

Programming built around participation

WIFM’s current theme, “Confident by Choice,” treats confidence as a skill people can develop through action. Olson says participants are encouraged to choose growth over comfort and take steps they might otherwise avoid. The emphasis on self advocacy gives fleet professionals a practical focus: making their contributions visible and communicating where they want their careers to go.

Bringing sessions to established industry gatherings gives the initiative opportunities to meet professionals where they already connect with peers. The program has also made representation in AFLA speakers, panels and leadership positions a priority. Olson describes that visibility as a way to help people see a place for themselves in the association and in fleet management.

A mentoring network with a new framework

The mentorship program is one of WIFM’s clearest measures of scale. Nearly 170 pairs now take part, compared with about 20 when the program started in 2018. Olson credits the growth to volunteer leaders who have contributed over time. She links the work directly to succession planning: developing people through mentoring can help prepare them for future responsibilities in the industry.

WIFM’s MOVE framework organizes resources around four areas:

• Mentorship
• Opportunities
• Voice
• Empowerment

The digital roadmap is intended to help participants get more from mentoring relationships and strengthen their leadership skills. That structure gives pairs a shared set of topics to work through, while keeping the focus on participants’ development and professional goals.

Community and career growth

Olson says mentoring can help people recognize strengths they may not yet see in themselves. She describes mentors as mirrors, reflecting potential and offering support as mentees take on new challenges. In her view, professionals do not have to work through career questions alone.

Olson says participation in the mentoring program has contributed to increased AFLA membership and higher attendance by women at the association’s annual conference. She recalls that attendance a decade ago was predominantly male; today, she says, it is more balanced, and women hold many leadership roles within AFLA.

Her own experience follows a similar path. Olson first attended an AFLA conference nearly 15 years ago, knowing few people. Relationships built through the association led to committee assignments, board service and leadership opportunities. She says those experiences helped her grow professionally and become more confident. The connections gave her a community she had not realized she was missing.

Broadening access and voice

WIFM’s approach is to shape the environment it wants to see, Olson says. That includes welcoming allies, making room for different viewpoints and inviting leaders from outside fleet to share their experiences. Future conference programming is expected to continue focusing on mentoring, leadership and inclusion for people at different stages of their careers.

Olson encourages professionals to identify their strengths, advocate for themselves and state their career goals clearly. She acknowledges that barriers can exist, while stressing that individuals have an active role in shaping their careers. WIFM aims to offer a place to raise difficult questions, receive support and develop without fear of judgment.

For fleet employers and association leaders, the model described by Olson combines organized mentoring with visible opportunities to contribute. Participants can build relationships, practice self advocacy and encounter peers and leaders whose experiences broaden their view of possible career paths. The program’s reach across AFLA, NTEA and NAFA gatherings also brings its message to professionals beyond a single association event.

Keeping development part of fleet work

Olson hopes mentorship, collaboration and leadership development become routine across fleet organizations. Her account suggests the effort depends on more than a conference session: it relies on sustained relationships, volunteers, opportunities to participate and a structure that supports mentoring conversations.

WIFM’s continued growth offers one measure of that work, while the program’s broader reach and MOVE roadmap show how it is being organized. Olson sees today’s momentum as preparation for the next generation of fleet leaders. The practical test will be whether mentoring and development remain available to professionals as they move through their careers.

Learn more about AFLA’s Women in Fleet Management.