Due to a historic New Orleans snowstorm and continued travel delays surrounding NADA Show 2025, the Women Driving Auto Retail event was unfortunately cancelled this year. In addition to exciting programming and education, this event was supposed to include the announcement of the 2025 Women Driving Auto Retail Award winners, sponsored by RouteOne. 

We cannot let these incredible women and their stories go unrecognized! 

After a public call for nominations, NADA received over 750 recommendations from people across the industry – ATAEs, supervisors, peers, customers, and even self-nominations. All the stories were inspiring, and a voting committee of NADA leadership and board directors had the difficult task of selecting the winners. 

Rising Star Award

This award recognizes a woman early in her dealership career who is driving her path in auto retail and serving as a role model and champion for her female peers in the industry.

Meet Alicea Chiong, a technician at Toyota of Portland in Portland, Ore. Ever since she was a little girl, Alicea’s passion was to work in the automotive industry, and now she is well on her way to becoming a Master Technician. Alicea graduated college with high honors in automotive and applied technology, but her work ethic shows that the learning never stops. She continues to attend seminars and other learning opportunities – both to advance her own skills and to bring ideas to her dealership to recruit and retain more female technicians. 

In addition to her ongoing training, Alicea has stepped up to teach the younger technicians. She has a female apprentice who she mentors with warmth. She strives to show other women they belong in the dealership, especially in the service bays.

Accelerator Award

This mid-career level woman has demonstrated success not just in advancing her own career but in accelerating the careers of women around her. 

Fabiola Maese Mathis has made it her mission to not only excel personally but to advocate for other women’s success. Her goal is to give other women the same opportunities she has benefitted from, showing them they can achieve financial independence, stability and passion in an industry that often seems inaccessible.

Fabiola has been in the automotive business for over a decade, working in six dealerships, a media company as the automotive specialist, and an automotive after-market company. Now general manager of Mercedes Benz of Midland in Midland, Texas, part of the Cavender Auto Family, she has found a dealership home where her skills, knowledge and passion are recognized and nurtured. 

Fabiola has promoted and hired 17 women into leadership roles in the past year alone. She understands the value of diversity and inclusion—not just for her dealership’s staff, but for their customers, too. Learning from her family of Mexican immigrants the importance of determination and hard work, Fabiola has pushed through personal and professional obstacles, including a cancer diagnosis, two pregnancies and financially supporting her family.

Ally Award

This pinnacle award recognizes an individual with a career track record in hiring, training, mentoring, and championing women in auto retail.

Ann Perry, CEO of Weelborg Auto Group in New Ulm, Minn., has doubled female leadership in the group’s three dealerships in her four-year tenure. Ann joined the Weelborg Group as its first Human Resources Director, then transitioned to Operations Director and finally CEO. In her HR role, Ann partnered with hiring managers to assess roles, identify gaps, conduct compliance training and fill roles strategically. 

Beyond the dealership, Ann works within community schools to help students identify career paths and regularly serves on leadership panels to activate local youth. She was selected for the River Valley Women’s LET’S GO! Issue, which spotlights women in the automotive/travel industry. In another community event, Ann created a task force centered on highlighting females in the automotive industry. The team created an informational movie, which highlighted careers for women. It was unveiled at the “Stand Tall Heels & All” women’s networking event, and the video received accolades and resounding response from the community.

Last year, the Women Driving Auto Retail initiative announced three inaugural awards. (Read more about last year’s winners here.) NADA’s Women Driving Auto Retail initiative aims to empower women working in the auto and truck retail industries and encourage more women to join the industry by highlighting the many unique career paths of women before them. 

RouteOne has been a consistent supporter of the initiative and sponsored the 2024 and 2025 awards. 

“When RouteOne had an opportunity to sponsor this event, we jumped at it. RouteOne has always been committed to empowering women leaders who drive innovation and excellence and believes that fostering an inclusive environment allows us to maximize our own contributions and helps to shape a stronger, more dynamic future in auto finance,” said Amanda George, Chief Product Officer at RouteOne. “We’re excited to support these awards to highlight the many accomplishments of the talented women in our industry. This year's nominees and winners are impressive examples of automotive professionals who make our industry better on a daily basis.”