Finalist Profile: Cummins Black Network
Finalist: Cummins Black Network – Interviews with co-leaders Teejay Momoh and Rachel Quisenberry
Award: Employee Resource Group
Day Job: Teejay Momoh, Systems Engineering Excellence Leader, and Rachel Quisenberry, Talent Acquisition Quality Champion
Connect with Teejay and Rachel on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/teejay-momoh-b6b31227/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-quisenberry-31037828/
Celebrating their 20th anniversary, Cummins Black Network is a volunteer-based Employee Resource Group that creates meaningful professional development and community engagement opportunities for all employees of Black, African and Caribbean descent. In partnership with friends and supporters, Cummins Black Network aims to demonstrate member talents and contributions to Cummins Inc.’s business goals. By the end of 2020, the Cummins Black Network had become the most important ERG within the company. Before the emergence of COVID19, the Cummins Black Network launched the C3 framework (career, community and connection) to help direct all activities to be focused on three critical elements around Black employees.
Q: If you were meeting a new neighbor for the first time, let’s say a 20-something just moving to Indianapolis from the east (or west) coast, how would you explain to them the community and how Cummins Black Network fits within the Central Indiana community?
RQ: The first thing I would do is find out their story about how they came to Indiana and what and who came with them. Because I think it is important to understand that a person is not just an individual but a family and their circumstance. I would then ask them what interests them and what is important to them. Cummins Black Network was founded to help to start a sense of community and help them get connected to the community. There are all kinds of way to do that. Whether it is for career, community or around their children or sports events, we would use that network to connect them and make them feel at home. When you relocate, it is very easy to feel isolated.
Q: What is your vision for Central Indiana?
TM: My vision for Central Indiana is that it becomes a long-term career destination for young professionals around the world. It becomes a place that is sought out by everyone, but especially young professionals who don’t make an exit plan right after they arrive. I want to see Central Indiana continue to improve in all aspects like tech, the arts, income per capita, education system, tolerance, et cetera.
Q: Finish this sentence “Being a great leader means to me…”
TM: Being a great leader means using whatever resource and platform that you have been blessed with to help others around realize their potential and achieve their dreams. It is about enriching the lives of everyone that you are lucky to meet, and it is about making each sunrise count by having an overall impact on humanity for the better.
RQ: Being a great leader means being a servant leader. It means putting first the people you lead and advocate for. It is your responsibility to be their voice when they do not have a voice and to see to their interest.
Q: What have you learned about yourself during the pandemic and how has it affected your job, volunteering, et cetera.?
TM: The pandemic has revealed many things. I’ve learned that I rely on separations in my life to be effective in a holistic manner. I’ve learned that I am not as good at catching and identifying my emotions in real time. My mood and daily drive are influenced by how I am dressed (more than i care to admit).
Time for some favorites:
East Coast or West Cost?
TM: West Coast
RQ: East Coast
Q: Mountains or Beach?
TM: Beach
RQ: Mountains
Q: Favorite vacation songs?
TM: “Cloud 9” by Lyrikal and “Fast Wine” by Machel Montano (both are Soca music that takes me back to a very specific spot on the Caribbean Sea)
Q: Where will you travel to once it is safe to do so?
TM: Anywhere in the Caribbean Islands
RQ: Any soccer ID camp my son has signed up for.
Q: Favorite book?
TM: “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman
RQ: “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston
Join Cummins Black Network at ELEVATE and don’t forget to RSVP, today!