
Member Spotlight: Erica Baird
Erica Baird is the Executive Director of Global Sales and Services at Cummins, a company that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines for a wide variety of machinery that powers the world. Erica is a leader in driving global business transformation, guiding top companies in the highly complex and regulated automotive, construction equipment, and mining industries to strategic functional and operational excellence. She oversees multi-billion-dollar P&Ls, spearheads profitable bottom-line revenue, and ensures value-added governance. Erica is a strong advocate for women in her company, dedicated to calling out biases and microaggressions that hinder women’s career advancement. Outside of work, Erica is a foster mom and loves to write and perform poetry. Erica has been a C200 Member since 2024.
Eva Glassman: Tell me about your role at Cummins.
Erica Baird: As the Executive Director of Global Sales and Services at Cummins, a $48B company that builds engines for a variety of industries, I lead the centralized, global center of excellence that supports Cummins’ growth, profitability, and distribution operational excellence. My team partners across the business to drive excellence in the areas of aftermarket engineering, support, sales and service capabilities, business processes, and strategic company-wide sales and service initiatives.
EG: What do you love the most about your job?
EB: I love knowing that Cummins powers so many machines that make the world go round—Navy vessels, power generators at hospitals, tugboats that deliver gas to gas stations. There is undeniable pride in knowing my team truly makes an impact in “everyday” people’s lives.
I’m also the executive sponsor for the Cummins Black Network and the National Society of Black Engineers. I love opening doors for women, African Americans, and for all people to have a seat at the table. Everyone has a voice at Cummins. I am proud that my company built its legacy of leading the charge in this space, dating back to our CEO, J. Irwin Miller, working with Martin Luther King to organize the March on Washington.
And I’m energized to see so many women in power at Cummins. My CEO, Jen Rumsey, is considered the most powerful woman in the industrial industry. My boss is also a remarkable woman. That is three women at the top of the command chain. It is unprecedented. Transparently, I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime.
EG: When you reflect on growing up and the early days of your career, did you think you would land in this type of transformation role? Tell me a bit more about your career journey.
EB: My mother always wanted to be an engineer. She was my idol; so, I was determined to be an engineer! Engineering opened the door for me to work in technical sales. From there, I have worked in manufacturing operations, dealer operations, functions, and managed multibillion dollar P&Ls.
I am very process oriented. I’m energized by solving problems and driving global business transformation. Driving business results and directly affecting the company’s growth and customer experience drives me. It’s energizing, challenging, and fun!
I work best when challenged with big strategic, complex goals—goals that require changes in thinking, in collaborating, in doing. For example, as Cummins moves towards its zero emissions goals, my team and I are looking at what the company will need to win when we get there. We’re evaluating it all, from what skills we will need, to how we work, how we take care of our customers, how we look at future business opportunities. And, ultimately, how we’ll drive a world-class customer experience.
EG: What is your hope for the next generation of women leaders?
EB: While we see an increase in women and minorities in the C-Suite and boardrooms, we still need more.
It was HARD climbing the corporate ladder in my career—but I am kicking that ladder down to build elevators. No woman or minority should have to go through what I went through to get to where I am today. It is not a glass ceiling for Black women; it is concrete. I can still name every single person who got out a jackhammer and drilled through that concrete with me and for me.
My way of saying “Thank you” is being successful and producing results in every role and then doing for others what people have done for me. There is not a person breathing who got to where they are by themselves. I live and breathe helping others succeed. I joined C200 because it is a group of influential women who are doing the same.
EG: Reflecting on your career, what support did you have along the way to help propel you to success?
EB: When I was first starting out, all my mentors and sponsors were men— and very few of them were Black. However, all these men saw that I had potential, and they believed in change.
Women mentors crossed my path later into my career. For example, part of the reason I’m at Cummins is because of a woman mentor. We worked together at another company, and I followed her to Cummins.
What I appreciate most about all my mentors is the honest feedback they gave me, so I could continue to hone my skills and grow within the company. They also looked out for me when I was not in the room. They moved barriers. They guided me so I could do my part, and when I had done everything in my power to achieve everything I could possibly achieve, they used their collateral and did what only they could do.
EG: What can be done to support women at work?
EB: I was a single mom for many years coming up through the ranks. Because I know what it’s like, I have helped remove barriers for women and men in similar situations. In my own career, I wasn’t offered certain opportunities because of a set of false assumptions about me, so today I am very intentional about calling out microaggressions against women. I talk to the women on my team to ensure they’re being treated fairly. I try to know their stories, so that if I’m in the room and someone misrepresents their truth, I speak up. I am a proud Black woman. I earned my seat at the table. So, when I’m at the table, I’m not silent. I am what I needed.
EG: Outside of work, how do you spend your time?
EB: I love open mic poetry. Growing up, as a Black woman in a man’s industry (I have been the first Black woman in every role I have taken), I felt so much pressure to perform and achieve. If I failed, I felt I would be failing for all women or Blacks. The weight of that load was immense, and writing became a very healing space for me.
I often speak on leadership, global business transformation, talent development, helping women break through barriers. There’s nothing I enjoy more than pouring my insights and wisdom back into people and watching them shine.
Something about me you probably didn’t know is that I’ve raised over 20 children. As a foster mom, I specialized in teenage girls of severe sexual abuse. I have a big heart for abused girls and abandoned boys.
I am involved in my church. I volunteer there and at the homeless shelter with my husband. I will never forget growing up poor and the people who cared for me. Paying it forward is my way of honoring God and those who were there for me.
EG: What advice can you share for aspiring leaders?
EB: Find your people. We all need people who will tell us the truth and support us. Sometimes, as women, we can let imposter syndrome and others’ bias change us. I remember once receiving feedback from a man that I was too direct. I challenged him and said, “I noticed that “John” is direct, “Tom” is direct, and you are direct. I have never heard this mentioned about any of you, so help me understand—is the problem directness or is the problem directness from a woman? Because that is a different conversation”. He paused, and said, “You’re absolutely right. I have unconscious bias.” He appreciated my pushback and became an advocate for me and other women going forward. A little courage turned a blind spot into a bright spot.
Also, you will need different mentors at different times in your career. I didn’t have P&L responsibilities when I first became a GM. When I started managing P&Ls, I went to one of my peers in finance for coaching and class recommendations to develop the skills I needed.
And never stop learning. If I hear my boss, my CEO, or anyone I admire is reading a book, I’ll read the book. It’s important to continue to learn and grow.