2022 GMiS Luminary Honorees

Gabriela Sánchez-Sorondo is an industrial engineering & ergonomics manager at General Motors’ Romulus Powertrain Operations. She leads a team of engineers supporting the production of V6 engines and 10-speed transmissions.  Ms. Sanchez is specifically charged with innovating operating plans for the manufacturing facility, and she’s credited with productivity improvements and operational excellence that resulted in $8 million in productivity savings in 2021, making both Romulus and GM more competitive in the process.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Ms. Sánchez distinguished herself as part of GM’s “Uptime Olympics,” an initiative that required her to engage GM’s production, maintenance, and engineering teams to improve equipment performance.  Thanks in large part to her leadership, the initiative resulted in average uptime improvement of 3% in 2021 and encouraged management to start adapting the concept across other GM sites.

A devoted mentor to, and advocate for, the young engineers coming up behind her, Ms. Sánchez leads programs for professional development and recruiting – both within GM through employee resource groups, and outside through the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers.

Ms. Sánchez is active in broader community service efforts as well.  She led fundraising campaigns for breast cancer research and generated $15,000 in donations from GM employees for the American Cancer Society.  When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, she helped mobilize a network of GM employees from both the University of Puerto Rico and the University of Michigan, collecting 12 tons of donated supplies that were sent to the island.