Jennyfer Darling - Deployment Specialist
Jennyfer not only loves to build cars but also loves to help make the world a better place.
Jennyfer not only loves to build cars but also loves to help make the world a better place.
Jennyfer Darling has found exactly what she was looking for in her career: some twists, some turns and some opportunities to do more. Jennyfer is currently in her second year of the Ford College Graduate (FCG) program – Ford’s rotational program that enables participants to explore different career paths – as a deployment specialist responsible for deploying software upgrades to Ford’s assembly plant networks around the world. She now works with the Next Generation Automated Vehicle System (NextGen AVS), which schedules and controls the builds of vehicles throughout assembly plants across the globe – a huge responsibility that she embraces.
“My favorite part is knowing how important it is,” she says. “It can be nerve-wracking sometimes knowing that a click of a button could shut down a plant for a while … the plant is a big hub of different applications, different machines, and different people working together towards a common goal. And NextGen AVS is the glue that keeps it all together.”
What really drew Jennyfer to Ford was her love of volunteering. Her mother, a registered nurse, ingrained helping others into her at an early age. “I was that kid pushing wheelchairs at the county fair.” As a result, Jennyfer has sought opportunities to volunteer in every job she’s had. “My first job was at the nursing home my mom worked at,” she says. “I try to do things that help show people that there are people in the world who care. That’s what I strive toward every day.”
“Ford has time and time again shown me that they care about the community, about their employees and about the vehicles they produce. It’s something that I’m proud to say. And I’m proud to advocate for Ford because I know that I’m doing great work here and I know that Ford is doing great work as well.”
Ford offers its employees 16-paid volunteer hours, as well as the Ford Volunteer Corp, a division of Ford that works with more than 600 nonprofit organizations. “Ford has time and time again shown me that they care about the community, about their employees and about the vehicles they produce. It’s something that I’m proud to say. And I’m proud to advocate for Ford because I know that I’m doing great work here and I know that Ford is doing great work as well.”
Jennyfer has also distinguished herself at Ford by being accepted into Ford’s “Thirty Under 30” corporate leadership program centered around philanthropy and civic engagment. Through this opportunity, she connected with the United Way and worked with them to design a strategy to engage millennials. “The Thirty Under 30 Program has allowed me to bring volunteering to people who may not have known about it before,” she says. “The program has shed light on the 30 of us and shown how important volunteering is and what volunteering really means to Ford."