Maria Villablanca Wants You to Find Your Passion and Your Tribe

The final days of spring are numbered as we continue hurtling to the halfway point of 2024. How did we get here already? Supply Chain is no stranger to change, challenges, and yes, general chaos, but this year has been its own kind of animal charged by a strained global economy, shifting tensions across continents, and a major presidential election that could have resounding impacts across business and commerce this coming fall. According to Freight Waves, the upcoming American presidential election can shake up global supply chains in a major way, with the potential for evolution in business and market policies.

Anticipating the actual election-based outcomes on supply chains and across manufacturing and logistics arms is virtually impossible. What we do know is that presidential elections increase risk and disruptions across the chain. The actual effect of this year’s election hinges on factors like candidate and party policies, the economic climate, and the level of political polarization and resulting gridlock. Some analysts still attribute present disruptions being connected to the U.S. and China trade war. The impact of the approaching election and variables in the mix are made clear already by the striking differences across candidates and party platforms on trade agreements, tariffs, labor laws, and foreign relationships.

Political shifts generally lead to variations in the cost and flow of goods. But at Let’s Talk Supply Chain we still think the best is yet to come. And while that tagline might sound cliché, we mean it because we continue to see the growth of women in executive roles across logistics and the supply chain. That’s important because organizations employing more women in leadership outrank competitors in profitability and customer satisfaction due to diversity in thought, new approaches, more effective communication, and higher resulting levels of collaboration. Closing the gender gap isn’t just good for business, it can help the world economy.

At Let’s Talk Supply Chain we’re proud to feature Women In Supply Chain™ who are redefining their roles across logistics and manufacturing. The numbers show Women In Supply Chain™ drive stronger moves forward—sooner.

Women In Supply Chain™ change our way of thinking about limitations in the workplace. These new influencers and seasoned leaders continue finding novel approaches to respond effectively to the latest logistics and Ops challenges with greater performance outcomes.

Let’s Talk Supply Chain’s Women In Supply Chain™ program, and our blog and podcast series share the value in investing in gender diversity including women and our nonbinary counterparts. We hope our Women In Supply Chain™ blog series motivates you to look past traditional gender norms to the impact you envision making in the industry.

We’re thrilled to feature Maria Villablanca this month, host of the Transform Talk podcast and Gartner Peer Community Ambassador officially ranked among the 100 Most Influential Women Supply Chain Leaders. Maria is the Co-Founder and CEO of Future Insights Network—an organization dedicated to connection, content, and collaboration among senior industry professionals in Supply Chain, Manufacturing, and Digital Transformation. She has nearly three decades of supply-chain-specific experience across manufacturing and logistics and a global business acumen fueled by her BA in Political Science and Government.