
Women Breaking the Mold
Plastics News has been highlighting women in the industry with its Women Breaking the Mold special report since 2015. We've profiled presidents and plant managers to founders and engineers — all with unique experiences and stories to tell. We published the 2024 WBTM in July.
We will honor a new class of Women Breaking the Mold in our Monday, July 28, 2025 issue. Nominations will be due Monday, July 7, 2025. Check back later for a survey link.
Previous classes of Women Breaking the Mold:
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020
Women Breaking the Mold
At the Women Breaking the Mold Forum, Mercedes Landazuri and Lynzie Nebel used Taylor Swift’s eras to teach workplace strategies for women. They emphasized resilience, self-advocacy, and storytelling, while addressing challenges like bias and fostering collaboration.
Michelle Boven is honest about who she is and what she wants to achieve. And as she pursues success, she keeps a small reminder on her desk: a picture with six words that, to her, mean a thousand: "Be bold, be brave, be courageous."
Here's the thing about mentorships: They require the mentee to exhibit leadership, to engage and learn by asking questions.
The road to a successful career isn't straight. In fact, sometimes you have to step aside to move ahead, says Engel Americas' Vanessa Malena.
The 2024 Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum featured speakers who provided actionable insights for women at all stages of their careers. Here are a few takeaways from this year's event.
Plastics News has been publishing its Women Breaking the Mold special report since 2015, and the number and quality of nominees has grown over time. When we put out a call for nominations, I think, "There's no way we can top last year. There's no way we could receive more nominations than previous years." (But we do.)
HPC was named a top workplace in 2021, Caldwell's "first major, concrete career goal" that she set and achieved.
Boerboom was a key player on the team that worked to remove per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from CNG's portfolio.
Bankston graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor's degree in communication.
Arlati is responsible for "leading a group of service laboratories to develop color solutions for plastic applications" and "efficiently using all required resources to develop new colors for the customers."
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