Former president of the National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD), Sheila Vaden- Williams, died on Sunday at the age of 55. She will be remembered for her impeccable work while at National Association of Minority Automobile Dealers (NAMAD) as well as the changes that she brought to the association.
She joined NAMAD back in 1995 as the association’s executive director and was appointed as the president of the association in 2001, a position that she would hold for a period of five years before leaving the association in 2006.
During her tenure, Sheila became the public face of the minority dealer group and she was at the forefront of the group’s effort in placing minority entrepreneurs at the head of dealerships, more so in import brand and luxury stores.
She also conducted a series of training with employees of Jaguar North America, BMW North America, Mercedes-Benz USA, Volkswagen of America Inc, Audi of America Inc and Volvo cars of North America. The trainings were focused on diversity awareness as well as sensitivity while still working with NAMAD. In addition to that, Williams also provided diversity training to the employees of the National Automobile Dealers Association during the association’s annual conference. She offered the same services to employees of the Automotive Trade Association Executives.
Back in 200 and 2005, Vade-Williams, a Harvard trained lawyer, made it in the list of 100 leading women in North America auto industry. The list is usually prepared by Automotive News.
