Angela Ayers
Print
EmailAngela Ayers manages public policy for Ford Motor Company as part of the Government Relations team.
My dad was a hunter and fisherman, and my family took camping trips throughout Michigan, which fueled my love of the environment.
In high school I joined a group called SEA, which stood for Students for Environmental Awareness, where we helped to arrange environment-related volunteer activities for our fellow students.
Interacting with other MSU students who also had a passion for the environment helped me to hone in on my own passion in urban forestry, by fostering my love of the forest and connecting it to my love of cities. It wasn’t until the end of my freshman year that I chose forestry as my major, as I was extremely interested in how urban forestry could be used as green infrastructure in cities.
I worked for the Executive Office of Governor Rick Snyder, starting as the Special Advisor on the Environment and moving to Director of Policy. Working for a Governor fueled my love for public service, as I was able to work with many state departments, and be a part of so many projects, that directly improved people’s lives.
At my current job as Government Policy Initiatives Manager at Ford Motor Company, I especially love working on big, complex policy issues – like greenhouse gas reduction and transitioning to electrification. I enjoy learning about the issues from our subject matter experts, making connections on ideas between teams, and organizing structures to implement solutions. I’m a process person, and sometimes big policies and ideas can take years to come to fruition, but when they do, it’s incredibly rewarding to see them being implemented and impacting people in everyday life.
My Advice
Follow your passion. Passion pays off. Sometimes it’s difficult to imagine where you’ll be when you’re first beginning. When I declared Forestry as my major, my family, who grew up in the suburbs of Southeast Michigan, asked me if I was going to be Smokey the Bear. They had a limited view of the forestry world, and I had only a glimpse, but I strongly felt that this is the direction I wanted to go. And it led me to so many places I couldn’t have ever dreamed of.
