Three women: an executive, a technologist, and a brand advocate. They may have unique career paths and perspectives, but what they have in common is the passion for innovation and solving the freight industry's greatest challenges.

Meet Hannah McClellan, Allison Kramer, and Rebecca Salt, leaders at Amazon Freight.

These women are among the many at Amazon demonstrating how a diverse workforce is necessary to build better teams to tackle the biggest issues in business. This is especially important in transportation where women are significantly underrepresented, holding only 24% of all jobs according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association.

Hannah McClellan: a business-minded engineer
McClellan (pronouns: she/her), Vice President of Amazon Freight, just celebrated her 12-year anniversary at Amazon, with the last few years in Amazon Transportation Services (ATS). She oversees Amazon Freight, Amazon’s Inbound Transportation Services, and Amazon Returns.

McClellan is an engineer who gravitated toward business. After she received a dual MBA and MS in systems engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she spent a year at Motorola leading supply chain activities and another year at PRTM, a consulting firm and PWC subsidiary. When her wife, Morgan, was admitted to a residency at the University of Washington, she decided to seek out a position at Amazon, where she took a job in the retail part of the business.

“I’ve always had one foot in operations, and one foot in business and tech,” McClellan says. “Throughout my time at Amazon, I’ve discovered that I really enjoy product management and working with our engineers, and I’ve loved putting those skills to work within transportation, an industry I’ve learned so much about over the past five years.”

When McClellan and her wife moved again to Atlanta, she transitioned to a position within ATS. “It was serendipitous,” she says. “I found myself in a unique position to write a business case and explore if Amazon should truly start a linehaul operation with its own equipment. Coming from a retail background, I like to say that I shifted my focus from shoppers to shippers.”

When asked what challenges she has faced because of her gender, she acknowledged that there were more men in her engineering program, but she didn’t let that phase her. “My biggest hurdle was I didn’t even know that a career in freight was an option. Transportation wasn’t an industry I had encountered in school, and it clearly hasn’t been one that seems highly accessible for many women.”

Throughout her time at Amazon, she has had mentors and looked up to executives who were both men and women. “I think the biggest learning for me was to get comfortable in my own skin. I saw leaders I admired, but it was hard to come to terms with the fact that I couldn’t lead like them. That’s someone else’s style. One of my biggest ‘aha’ moments was to understand the best thing I can do is be me.”

When asked what advice she would give to women considering a career in transportation, she says, “Have confidence in whatever you want to do, even if that means you redefine it or choose a new industry to work in.”

Allison Kramer: fearless innovator
Kramer (pronouns: they/them and she/her) is Director of Amazon Inbound Transportation and will celebrate their/her 10-year anniversary at Amazon in 2023. Kramer began their/her career in business consulting within multichannel e-commerce.

“Amazon was always the gold standard,” they/she says. “I found myself always asking ‘What would Amazon do?’” While pursuing an MBA from Carnegie Mellon, they/she had the opportunity to intern at Amazon. Flash forward a decade and Kramer recently was promoted at ATS, where they/she is fulfilled working for a crucial part of Amazon’s operations, enjoys the challenging data-driven environment, and works for McClellan.

When asked how gender has impacted their/her education and career, Kramer says “It has been a differentiator. I went to a women’s undergraduate college, surrounded by people investing in me because of my gender. There, I never felt inferior so I learned to be fearless.”

That’s also true at Amazon which Kramer describes as a progressive environment. “At Amazon, we know that innovation can come from anywhere, regardless of age, gender, or previous experience.”

Kramer also believes the industry can be an equalizer. “Transportation offers a lot of flexibility and opportunity even beyond people who enjoy working with numbers, for instance marketing and customer service. This field is a critical space that is modern and non-gendered.”

Rebecca Salt: hearing all voices
Salt (pronouns: she/her) is Director, Global Initiatives at ATS. Salt has spent her career in transportation and logistics in strategic marketing and communications roles before joining Amazon in 2015 as Director of Public Relations for Europe. In 2017, she expanded her role to the U.S., and in 2020, she moved into a strategic operational position, where she works today in addition to leading the Amazon Freight marketing team.

“One thing I really care about is sustainability and climate,” says Salt. “And the transportation industry woke me up to this. It is a critical area so I’m excited to take part in the innovation to help reduce our carbon footprint.”

Salt believes Amazon is making great strides in this area, as well as in DEI. “Successful companies will embrace DEI to make sure we are hiring, meeting, and interacting with others in a way that allows us all to show up as our authentic selves. I believe the most innovative teams are multicultural and bring together diverse perspectives around the table.”

This is an area where Amazon can continue to lead. “I was at an industry conference recently,” says Salt. “And I have to say, when I looked down the exhibition hall, I saw a lot of monotony in the representation of people. The thing about Amazon is that we’re in a great position to change that in transportation and other fields.”

When asked how she contributes to DEI in the workplace, Salt says she makes sure everyone’s voice is heard and gives them the opportunity to speak up. She also holds herself and others to the highest standards. “I hold a mirror to myself and my coworkers to make sure we’re doing enough. DEI should be a consideration in everything we do.”

McClellan, Kramer, and Salt are part of a team committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. “It’s one thing I can say about us at Amazon, we’re definitely challenging ourselves to do better—to be more inclusive—across our organization,” says McClellan.

Progress is clearly being made. Kelly Jones, the lead DEI Business Partner for Amazon Freight, works with McClellan and team to create, implement, and support DEI strategies.

“Under Hannah’s leadership, more voices from different backgrounds are being heard and now have a seat at the table,” says Jones. “While we are making notable strides, we also recognize that work still needs to be done to create a more diverse workplace. And we’re poised for the success that is possible when you lead with diversity, equity, and inclusion as a forethought.”

Learn more about Amazon’s DEI efforts.