People and careers

Meet Chantelle Smith, the perfect poster woman for bold leadership at ArcelorMittal.

A steelworker at our Vanderbijlpark works in South Africa, Chantelle believes that being bold is important in her line of work.

“I never considered myself a natural leader, because leadership is made, not something you’re just born with. But you have the choice to stand out or stand in the crowd, and I choose to stand out”.

When starting out in the steel industry, Chantelle was told that blast furnaces are no place for women, but she soon put that straight.

“For me, working at a blast furnace, especially as a female, is an honour. Guys always think a female won’t be able to work here because of the physical hard work, but I say there is no such thing.

“A good leader will never tell you how it’s done – they will show you how it’s done. And I believe I’ve shown people that anyone can work here”.

Boldness, Chantelle believes, is ultimately about following your heart: “Working at ArcelorMittal was never just a job – it’s my whole career. This was what I want to do”.

This is Alan Knight, general manager, corporate responsibility at ArcelorMittal, accepting a Clinton Global Citizen award from President Clinton.

At ArcelorMittal, we know the success of our company depends on having inspiring, creative leaders at all levels of the business. And this leadership does not go unnoticed. We were recently recognised by the Clinton Global Initiative for our swift, collaborative and effective response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa.

Recognising the power of collaboration, our people knew the company’s response to Ebola would be more powerful through joint action. To that end, we founded the Ebola Private Sector Mobilisation Group (EPSMG) – a platform which quickly grew to include international advocacy for a global response to the Ebola outbreak, and the mobilisation of in-country resources to support humanitarian and healthcare first responders.

Alan, who was chairman of the EPSMG, said: “Together, we unlocked the incredible value of partnership and proved that diverse sectors of society can work together to solve the most complex challenges”.

Leadership at ArcelorMittal is not only about pushing boundaries within the company. Our people are helping us to transform the wider industry and the world in which we operate.

Armando Corrêa de Araujo, head of research and development at ArcelorMittal Mining, is a great example of how our people are pushing boundaries. He was recently recognised for his valuable contribution to the development of metallurgy in Brazil – by the board of the Brazilian Association for Metallurgy, Materials and Mining (ABM).

Speaking of his award, Armanda said such recognition is important since it acts as a reminder “that the work you do matters to others”.

Armando joined the company in 2009. Over the years, he has contributed numerous technical and research papers and taught a short course on iron ore.

Who better to illustrate passionate people at ArcelorMittal than Wing? Wing is an ecologist for ArcelorMittal Liberia with an infectious enthusiasm for her subject.

Passionate about balancing the relationship between mining and the environment, Wing has built strong links with local communities, NGOs, and government agencies.

By proof of the esteem in which her peers hold her, she’s even had a newly-discovered butterfly named after – a rare honour in the scientific world.

The butterfly – Wing’s Epitola—Cephetola wingae – bears Wing’s name in recognition of her significant contribution to ArcelorMittal Liberia’s biodiversity conservation programme, which aims to prevent or compensate for the long-term impact of iron ore mining operations on the environment.

Szabolcs Sáfián, who discovered the butterfly, said: “The species is named after Wing-Yunn Crawley, biodiversity programme coordinator for ArcelorMittal Liberia. Wing is among the most enthusiastic conservationists I have ever worked with.

“Without her commitments, the East Nimba Nature Reserve and the Liberian Nimbas would not have received their well-deserved attention and care from conservation organisations and researchers”.

Our people are passionate about what they do. Take Greg Ludkovsky, for example, who is vice president of global research and development (R&D) at ArcelorMittal.

Greg is enthusiastic about breaking new ground with our company: “Today, we are actually exhausting the frontiers of conventional metallurgical technology. We are creating new science.

“If you were to visit any of our research centres around the world, they would look like space centres to you. That is because the complexity – the level of depth we have to go to – requires these types of facilities.

“And the fact we are able to keep up with this demand is exciting. It is a fun time to be in research”.

Our “solidarity holidays” initiative offers employees the chance to spend one week out of their annual leave volunteering overseas in a community project. Every year we are overwhelmed with interest from staff.

Here are a few words from some of those who have got involved:

“The 10 of us came from completely different cultural backgrounds, yet we ended up as a united team, helping to put together a successful community project and hopefully making a difference to transform the community. It was a truly memorable and remarkable experience!”
– Barry Felton

“This trip has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I was able to spend the week working with other ArcelorMittal employees from all over the world, make a difference in 1,200 children’s lives, as well as make a difference in the local community”.
– Megan Mayer

Our people are passionate about making a difference in the communities in which we operate.

It’s thanks to our passionate people that ArcelorMittal has been recognised as an “outstanding corporation” with a philanthropy award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals—Indiana Chapter.

“ArcelorMittal is a great example of the philanthropic work that businesses are doing in their communities and we are happy to be able to highlight that special and generous work”.

– Nathan Hand, AFP-IC President.

“ArcelorMittal is beyond proud to be recognised as an outstanding corporation. We take very seriously our commitment to our communities through our community investment and sustainability initiatives”.

– Marcy Twete, division manager of corporate responsibility for ArcelorMittal Americas