Mike Tinskey, Global Director of Vehicle Electrification & Infrastructure

Mike Tinskey is the first to admit that his job title is a mouthful. But as Ford’s global director of vehicle electrification and infrastructure, his ambition is even bigger than the wording on his business card. “This group has the potential to improve our planet and change the world.”

It’s a long way from his first job at Ford, as a high school intern. But as a fourth-generation employee, Mike saw that Ford recognized and rewarded good ideas. He drew on his training as an electrical engineer to take on some of the automotive industry’s most exciting emerging challenges, from electrification to mobility and connectivity, and build his career.

Now Mike is embracing a global role that’s as likely to have him presenting to a crowd of thousands at a consumer electronics show as discussing parts standardization with teams in China and Germany. He sees this flexibility as vital to his team’s ability to lead Ford into a cleaner, more sustainable future. “Because the technologies we’re looking at are so new, we’re not necessarily looking for people with experience in specific technologies,” he notes. “We’re looking for people who can evolve and adapt, and can navigate in a quick-moving, fluid environment.”

The impact of this flexible, results-driven approach is now becoming clear. Ford recently passed more than 400 million all-electric miles, and is adding to that total at the rate of more than 1 million miles per day, 30 percent of which are charged from carbon-free renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power.

Those miles represent real people on the road in real driving conditions. But for Mike, the people he works with as part of the Ford family are an equally important part of the equation. “Your legacy isn't going to be determined just by what you create, but also how you created it. When facing big challenges I always say to handle them with grace, and you and your team will come out better.”