Susan Brennan Leadership
Guiding and shaping tomorrow’s technology leaders and organizations today.
Experienced Leader
Strategic Thinker
Engaging Visionary
A career automotive and energy professional, Susan is expert at driving results when obstacles abound, building resilient teams, scanning the market and having the vision to see and execute on future trends.
Susan Brennan
Advising Founders, CEO’s, COO’s and CTO’s on how to take an idea of merit and bring it to the market place with scale.
Areas of Expertise
Supply Chain and Operational Management
Strategic Growth Leadership
Sustainability Management
Turnaround and Restructuring Leadership
Capital Investment
Quality and Reliability Improvement
Labor Relations
Leadership in Scaling Challenging Technologies
As a manufacturing practitioner, she has always been a strong proponent of sustainability. Until late 2022, she was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Romeo Power, leading Romeo’s mission of advancing and commercializing high-density battery technology for heavy-duty commercial vehicles. In the past, she served as Chief Operations Officer of Bloom Energy, scaling the technology, ultimately to IPO, by applying strategies and tactics from automotive, aerospace and semiconductor industries. She led Nissan’s launch of the all-electric Nissan Leaf in Smyrna, Tennessee and led the transformation of the facility to a sustainable future. She led many New Product Introduction for Ford Motor Company, with quality and speed. Her first career sustainability achievement includes creating the programs that earned her factory the State of Iowa’s first-ever Waste Minimization Award recipient in the 1990’s.
Susan is currently advising founders, CTO’s, CEO’s and venture capitalists on implementation of emerging technologies as well as where to focus precious investment dollars with the multitude of emerging opportunities requesting capital. Brennan has the ability based on experience and confidence to “see where the puck is going” and offer advice based on her broad range of career accomplishments and misses.
Building and Leading High Performance Teams
In today’s world, the lines between technology and infrastructure are overlapping. Susan has the ability to consult and advise on both strategy and tactics and is an expert at the inflection point of electrification and clean energy. She has the chops to be respected on the production floor while also advising CEO’s on strategic decisions and market focus.
Susan has 20th Century Operational knowledge and has repeatedly applied this knowledge to the dynamic world of energy, electrification and data analysis.
Susan has a hands on style that and is straight forward in communication and advise. She is a clear communicator and will give straight feedback to C suite members and founders as well as boards and investors.
A Leader in the Automotive Industry
Susan was one of the first women to hold an executive manufacturing position at a leading Japanese corporation and brought the Nissan Leaf to the North American market. As the Vice-President of manufacturing, Susan ran the Nissan Smyrna, TN plant that produced more than $10 billion dollars per year in revenue under her leadership.
At Ford Motor Company, Susan ran the global business office for the assembly, power train and stamping plants on six continents with more than 105 operating facilities equating to more than $160 billion in revenue. She was a key member of the global planning team that reorganized Ford under its “Way Forward” program, which reduced the company’s fixed costs in North America by an estimated $5 billion and is credited with the company’s success today.
Read Susan's book STILL STANDING
Read Susan’s inspiring story of overcoming poverty and abuse to rise above to claim her own power and become a force in the world of automotive and energy technology.
“An inspiring journey of redemption and hope”.
What People Are Saying
“I have worked with Susan for more than ten years as she has advanced from one executive leadership position to another – from major legacy auto companies to a young, high tech energy company. In every position I have watched her deftly navigate difficult business challenges.
Susan is the consummate team builder. She understands how to engender trust and engage the skill and support needed to accomplish complex goals. I believe her greatest gift is the capacity to move easily from strategy to operational excellence”
Lynda Ronie, Partner & Senior Consultant, The Leadership Group, LLC.
“Bluntly, Susan has a great BS meter. This is crazy important in today’s start-up world. So many IPOs cannot scale or launch and end up failing – you need someone with Susan’s experience and “gravitas” to ensure you aren’t in that league. She brings confidence and real-world knowledge to make it happen”
Darlene Deane, Quality Expert – Former Ford Motor Company, Rivian Electric Adventure Vehicles.
