Yvette Zhang’s road to the automotive industry wasn’t mapped out from the beginning—quite the opposite, in fact. “I’d say it was entirely serendipitous,” she laughs. “I might be one of the very few in my group who doesn't hold an engineering background! My bachelor degree is economics. I just love solving problems.”
Yvette’s career started in her hometown of Shanghai, where she completed her undergraduate degree. She eventually set her sights on getting her MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, telling her parents that their only child needed a couple of years to see something of the world. “I'll have enough of it, and then I’ll come home,” Yvette, who now calls New York City her home base, remembers saying. “But then after two years, I told them, oh, the world is too big!”
Yvette next transitioned to internal consulting roles at automotive suppliers, which prepared her for her current position at AlixPartners, where she’s found her niche. “I'm really passionate about the overlaps between traditional manufacturing and the high-tech industry,” she explains. Yvette co-leads the autonomous-mobility segment for the Automotive and Industrial team.
A sought-after speaker, Yvette recently delivered a keynote speech at the Women Automotive Summit in Detroit, where her message of “Be brave” resonated strongly with the audience. Drawing on the AlixPartners Disruption Index, she encouraged women in the industry to seize opportunities in the face of industry disruptions. “The data tells us that women, compared to the male leaders, may be more open and adaptive to changes,” she says—a message she emphasized in her speech. “Embrace the change and take the opportunity to be great.”
After her speech, conference goers said her data-driven approach was particularly appreciated. “Sometimes with women, there’s a misconception or the stereotype that we’re too emotional, not rational enough. They said, yeah, we need to see the data. I was like, great, because consultants love data!”
Yvette's impact extends far beyond her client work. She has recently been recognized as an Automotive News “Champion of Diversity” and an AlixPartners culture carrier for 2024, an honor that reflects her dedication to fostering and improving the company's diverse and inclusive culture. “It's really an honor to get recognized like that,” she says. As the global leader of AlixPartners’ Asian Leadership, Insights & Growth Network (ALIGN) ERG for nearly three years, Yvette spearheaded initiatives like the Asian Insight Series, a series of global events highlighting the work and culture of AlixPartners’ Asian offices—just one example of how she boldly creates the change she wants to see.
One of her most impactful initiatives was the development of a micro-invalidation series. This program, created in collaboration with other ERGs, addresses subtle forms of discrimination and cultural misunderstandings in the workplace.
Yvette reports that the initiative was well-received and subsequently incorporated into AlixPartners' core training.
“I feel really empowered by the company,” she says. “They listen to us and help us to make things happen. We can start and develop some of the initiatives and really make them meaningful, and the firm will recognize that and include it in our daily cultural life.”
Outside of work, Yvette is an avid traveler, often combining business trips with personal adventures. She shares, “One of the reasons why I still enjoy consulting is I love traveling. So even the cross-continental travels, whatever, it’s not painful to me at all.” She’s also a marathon runner and an enthusiastic scuba diver. She laughs that one Austrian client, who loves golf and beer, joked that she was boring because she liked neither. He changed his mind when she told him, “I'm took a vacation during Christmas to Australia for scuba diving with sharks!”
Throughout her career, Yvette has remained grateful for the opportunities and recognition she has received. She reflects, “I'm really grateful to be recognized for the things I’m doing because I’m passionate about our ERGs, not just for myself, but for people like me. I'm also passionate about my day job as a consultant—all this new technology in a traditional industry. I'm grateful that I have a platform, a team that will help me grow, and a firm that gives me opportunities I love. I feel really empowered. I love that word in American culture!”
