Youth activist becomes McLaren’s CEO for a day to celebrate International Day of the Girl

Maisy, a 17-year-old youth activist, has become McLaren’s CEO for the day to celebrate International Day of the Girl and encourage young people, and particularly young women, into science and engineering careers.

The luxury supercar maker has been a supporter of Plan International — a development and humanitarian organization — to inspire and encourage young people to take up careers in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM).

Maisy from Wales took over the reins from McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt, as part of McLaren Automotive’s long-term partnership with global children’s rights charity Plan International.

She started the day with a handover from CEO Mike Flewitt, where he presented her with CEO business cards and her McLaren CEO access pass.

“My day as CEO of McLaren Automotive was full of incredible moments but being part of building a supercar was amazing, and that’s not something many people can say,” commented McLaren’s CEO for the day, Maisy.

She adds, “Plan International is about smashing stereotypes, changing attitudes, and unlearning lessons because a lot of girls think they should be playing with dolls and not cars, and that’s not right. This partnership between McLaren Automotive and Plan International is inspiring young women to consider STEM careers and achieve their full potential.”

Maisy also met brand ambassador Amanda McLaren, daughter of company founder Bruce McLaren, at a new “McLaren: Driven by Design” exhibition at Brooklands Museum which features a full-scale Lego 720S supercar, before having a CEO preview of some of McLaren’s top-secret future supercar designs and a passenger test run in a McLaren GT.

“Having Maisy take over as CEO of McLaren for the day to celebrate International Day of the Girl has been both an enjoyable and valuable experience for me and the whole McLaren team. Her ideas, insights, and intelligence — as well as clear passion — will help us move forward even faster on our efforts to achieve even greater diversity and inclusion,” said McLaren Automotive CEO Mike Flewitt.

“Our work with Plan International is for the long-term and I’m delighted that one of the key decisions Maisy led on as CEO was our pledge to work with Plan International on McLaren’s commitment to holding workshops with 100 girls over the next 12 months, scaling up to 1,000 globally by 2025 to encourage greater take-up of STEM careers. That is a legacy Maisy and everyone at McLaren can be very proud of.”

Photos from McLaren Automotive

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McLaren Automotive, Plan International partner for children's rights and equality for girls