Our Story.
The idea for WEVs is born.
From left: Amy Hillman, Emmaline Pohnl, Julie Peacock, & Ashley Horvat
March 2013: Rum Club - Portland, Oregon
It all started when…
Founded in March 2013, by four women in the EV industry, Women of Electric Vehicles (WEVs) thrives today as a female-led organization made up of a diverse array of women throughout the world who are working in the EV space. The idea behind WEVs developed in Portland, Oregon, by founders, Ashley Horvat, Amy Hillman, Emmaline Pohnl, and Julie Peacock. These women bonded together to commit to establishing a space to support each other in their careers while working to carry other women while they climbed.
The idea picked up momentum, and soon, the group began to coalesce around a goal that aimed to foster an environment in the EV industry where women could lead and grow EV adoption rapidly, with minimal barriers to entry. Within a couple years, more women leading in the Pacific NW EV space (Tonia Buell, Kimberley Cline, Andrea Pratt, Ingrid Fish, and Angela Song) joined the founding WEVs and together they launched the first WEVs Annual Event in July 2015, establishing the tradition as the launching pad of the Roadmap conference in Portland every year since.
Since the group’s founding, it has evolved and grown rapidly to a worldwide network of 700+ women leading the EV industry. As EV influencers from Seattle to Japan, Ohio, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark and beyond, this cohort of women continue to embody and carry the mantle to “lift while she leads.”
WEV members have been offered new job positions at events, mentorship, developed public-private partnerships, built market opportunities, exchanged tactics for negotiation and leadership, and created friendships that cross corporate boundary lines leading to increased collaboration over competition.
The EV market manifests at the convergence of the auto, utility, transportation and energy industries, which have historically been male-dominated, producing a critical opportunity for women to provide their expertise, unique skills, and energy to ensure the EV market is powered by diverse thinking that can lead to rapid change and innovation.
Women who are interested in learning more about our growing community:
Request to join our LinkedIn Group!