Vice-President- China Strategic Development General Motors Corporation – Detroit, Michigan
Shirley Young was elected Vice President for China Strategic Development and Counselor for Asia Pacific Operations on April 1, 1996. Prior to this, she was Vice President, Consumer Market Development for General Motors Corporation, since June 1, 1988. For the previous five years, she had been a Marketing Consultant to GM, consulting across the GM operating Divisions and Staffs. Prior to that, she spent over 25 years at Grey Advertising. Her work involved strategic marketing and communications for a broad spectrum of companies in a wide range of fields, including food and beverage, drugs and household products, cosmetics and fashion, automotive, appliances, airlines, retail and the U.S. Government. Having started in marketing research, Ms. Young built her reputation on understanding consumer motivations and behavior. Moving through various marketing positions, Ms. Young was Executive Vice President and a member of the Agency Policy Council, and in 1983, became President of Grey Strategic Marketing. Ms. Young serves, or has served, on the boards of many prominent corporate, educational, and cultural organizations, both in the United States and in her native China. Ms. Young has received many awards for outstanding efforts in marketing and advertising. She was named Advertising Woman of the Year by the American Advertising Federation, and received the Women’s Equity Action Award for Achievement in Advertising. She received the Catalyst Award for Outstanding Corporate Director, was named 1987 Woman of the Year by the Chinese American Planning Council and received a 1989 Director’s Choice Award from the National Women’s Economic Alliance. Ms. Young is a founding member of the Committee of 200, an international organization of leading businesswomen. “It is essential that we respect the differences of perspective in every place that we work. In other words, we have to make sure that we are not always convinced that our way is the only way.”
