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Lizabeth Ardisana Committed to state's diverse talent
If eclecticism has a role model, it is Lizabeth Ardisana.This successful Latina has turned her varied life experiences into a source of strength that enables her to maintain a highly respected career and an admirable life, and keeps her grounded. While her love of fast cars inspired the launch of her own auto racing team, she personally drives a Ford Focus. As she talks about planning her next mountain climbing venture -- she's scaled peaks from India to Utah -- she casually mentions that she happens to be a breast cancer survivor. Though she recalls her upbringing as being "just another military brat" who moved from one U.S. Air Force base to another, her father, Bernard Ardisana, ended his career as a brigadier general and deputy director of the National Security Agency. No matter what angle you come at Ardisana -- whether you know from her community activism or her business acumen -- she is a person of many interesting facets. "You're never smart enough to stop learning. You're never big enough to not keep growing," she says, trying to sum up her wide-ranging life. "Beth" is CEO of ASG Renaissance, which she co-founded 20 years ago with Greg Rouke, whom she later married. The Dearborn firm is as multifaceted as Ardisana. It started as a technical company that helped Ford fix its ambulance vehicles that were facing recall. Today, ASG provides marketing, consulting and staffing to automotive and nonautomotive clients. Those clients include Jaguar, Land Rover and, of course, Ford. They also include the city of Detroit, pharmaceutical giants and once the People's Republic of Bangladesh, whom she advised on how to curb air pollution. ASG has offices in five states and another in Vancouver, B.C. It earned $20 million in sales in 2006 and employs 225 people; 45 percent are women and 20 percent are people of color. She could choose to relocate to one of those other states. "I choose to stay here because I truly believe there is too much talent here to leave," she explains. "She uses her eclectic background to understand what entreprenuers have to do," says Armando Ojeda, director of Ford's Supplier Diversity Development. "She's also quite charming." Her commitment to diversity doesn't stop at the office. She spends up to three nights a week serving on various boards. She's on the boards of Kettering University, Citizens Bank, Ford Hispanic Supplier Council and Focus: HOPE. And she's heavily involved in fundraising for University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she earned a master's degree. She also happens to be the first woman chair of the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "I'm not ambitious," Ardisana says. "I can't imagine -- I hope it never happens -- never being curious."
Louis Aguilar
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Maggie Allesee