Brandee Barker’s Post

July usually has me glued to the TV following the Tour de France -- yes, I'm happily drinking rosé on my chaise while they pound the pedals to climb the Alps and Pyranees. There was a time long, long ago that I cycled and trained for a century, so my respect goes out to the riders who conquer it with such intensity day after day after day. And it is a great delight for me this year to see our Cadillac LYRIQ as the in-race support car for EF Pro Cycling. From Florence to Nice and beyond, our PINK (YAY PINK!) EV is right beside the team AND with a custom TEN bike rack! Bonne chances les cyclistes de EF Pro! #IWorkForGM

When my son was 7 years old, the two of us did a road trip from Florida (after Disneyworld) to Montgomery, Alabama. I wanted him to learn at a young age of the dark history of this country during the time of slavery and to understand it from varying perspectives. I wanted him to to grow up knowing his ability and responsibility to change the future. And I wanted to be reminded of mine. While there, we met with Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative to learn about their work to end mass incarceration and racial inequality in our judicial system. We also spent hours in the Legacy Museum, which takes you on a path from slavery to racial oppression in many forms and documenting horrifying moments rarely seen elsewhere. We toured the National Memorial for Peace & Justice, which is a haunting and deeply moving outdoor exhibit dedicated to the victims of racial terror lynchings. We went to the home of Martin Luther King Jr. when he was pastor — and the one that was bombed during the Montgomery bus boycott. And we crossed the bridge to Selma where a peacedul march for black voting rights ended in Bloody Sunday. Today—Juneteenth—marks an incredibly important day for this country commemorating the end of slavery. As Biden said in signing for this to be a national holiday in 2021: “Great nations don’t ignore their most painful moments. They don’t ignore those moments of the past. They embrace them. Great nations don’t walk away. We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And in remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.” We still have much work to do as individuals and a society to end racism and inequality. May we honor today, but also tomorrow and all those to follow with a commitment to creating a more just world 🙏🏻

Conquer the curves with the #GMCHummerEV SUV's 4-Wheel Steer. Lombard Street doesn’t stand a chance! #IWorkForGM

I’m looking for a rockstar EA to join me and our small, but mighty tech comms team at General Motors who can be based in one of our Tech Centers—either Mountain View, CA or Warren, MI. While “support” is a key part of the role, I think of an EA as a business partner who is an integral part of the team, knows/learns our business of comms, helps guide us operationally and has an opportunity to grow his/her/their career with us. I’ve had some amazing EAs in the past — Anikka Goodman, LMFT, Tish Stenson, Kacy Ashley, and Maureen O'Hara to name a few. They’re all near and dear to my heart and left me long ago in the dust for bigger and better jobs along their impressive career paths. In fact, they were so good that some of my friends stole them from me (ahem joanne bradford!). I know first hand that no company survives without the exceptional talent of the EAs behind the scenes keeping it on track — GM is no different, thank you all🙏🏻 More here in the job description:

I have so much respect for Melinda French Gates and her ongoing investment in gender equity initiatives. And now in leaving the Gates Foundation, she is doubling down to focus on the work with $1B. Mark my words, she will be lauded in our history books as having the most impact on progress for this generation of woman and girls. I, for one, thank her!

I love nothing more than hosting an event that brings reporters in close to share in a story, see the products and meet my executives. Yesterday we did just that in our new Mountain View Technical Center — a 50K square foot facility that looks and feels just like working for a startup but within an iconic American company that is General Motors. It was so great to see so many familiar reporter friends that I’ve known for years (and years) and meet some new ones who cover tech, autos and local business. In the past, I’ve also just shown a screen with some new software or app, but demoing a fleet of brand new EVs brings the experience of hardware & software together in a whole new way. There will be more and more to come! Many thanks to Mary, Lin, Marissa, our local Software & Services leader Baris, the whole S&S team AND my small and mighty comms team, particularly Stuart Fowle & Maria Violette who led the charge. It takes a village and we have a great one!

Being a mother is the hardest job I’ve ever had, yet we are not encouraged to list the position anywhere on a resume or a site like this one. It is never considered that, while we toil away at a “day job,” the work and dedication never ends when we transition to focus on our children and family. So beyond celebrating all of you amazing women who parent a child in some way—biologically, emotionally or spiritually—let’s take a moment to list out just some of the skills it takes to deliver on what we all do: * Highly functioning operations leader for a small group of varying ages, from newborn to grown (often male) adult * Masterful at calendaring and logistics ensuring on-time arrivals, departures and coordination with other small people in need of transport * Certified safe driver trained to focus during loud music, in-car arguments, pet angst and/or mansplained directions * Reliable long distance driver often to youth sporting events between 1-4 hours both ways in traffic at 6 am, mostly all day on weekends * Adept at accounting and budgeting for timely payments to utilities, state and government entities, schools and religious institutions designed to drain savings accounts and restrict buying of anything nice for yourself * Exceptional food making skills ranging from five star chef to short order cook; service can include from 3-8 meals per day + snacks * Experienced food server, table setter and dishwasher when all other co-workers and teammates are otherwise engaged * Qualified tutor and educator of elementary/middle/high school topics learned 20+ years prior or via current YouTube videos * Sideline or on-field coach of nearly any sport or activity that can be tried; often serving dual roles as team manager and cheer squad * Planner of birthday parties, school and team events, vacations and all other celebratory occasions for others; sometimes includes planning your own party * Cleaner of dirty forks left in rooms, food wrappers shoved in drawers, backpacks piled in the hallway, smelly PE clothes and other unkept items that arise * Feeder and walker of the dog others so desperately wanted and promised to care for and don’t * Volunteer at school, church/temple, sports or whatever can be fit in between all the other things and signed up for on a spreadsheet or app * Dispensary of cash to the young and unemployed often perceived as always available at any time for any need * Disciplinarian when unbelievably stupid things transpire and a need arises for a heavy hand of guidance * Purveyor of love, support and hugs in the best of times and hardest of times I’m sure I missed countless other skills so please feel free to add on. Cheers to all you do and all that you are, moms! You are the GOAT of all GOATs — I see you and appreciate you on this day and always.

So proud of Sanaz Marbley & Mark Lubin for all the hard work they put into this event over many weeks — what a spectacular way to showcase our GM Energy products for home alongside the Chevrolet Silverado EV. You can see what living an all-electric future can and will look like right here!