Elena Anne Ford-Niarchos (néeFord; born May 25, 1966) is an American businesswoman. She is the Chief Customer Experience Officer at Ford Motor Company and the first woman in the Ford family to hold an executive position at the company.[1]
Elena is the great-great-granddaughter of company founder Henry Ford, and granddaughter of longtime Ford Motor Company president Henry Ford II.[7] Elena was close to her maternal grandfather, Henry Ford II, once referring to him as her best friend. Henry taught Elena to drive a stick shift in his F-100Ford pick-up truck insisting she learned to drive a manual and not an automatic.[8]
Ford worked in advertising as a senior account executive at Wells, Rich Greene Advertising in New York City.[10] In 1995, she joined Ford Motor Company as a marketing executive.[11] She was later named the company's director of global marketing and was responsible for marketing, product management, and sales support activities. During this time, she marketed the company's development into mobility services.[12]
In 2012, Elena was assigned to lead the global Dealer and Consumer Experience group. She was responsible for standardizing the way dealerships interact with customers around the world and oversaw global dealer strategy, planning, training and consumer experience.[7]
In 2013, Elena became vice president, Customer Experience and Global Dealer, making her one of thirty-eight officers running the company and the first female Ford family member to hold an executive leadership position.[13]
In October 2018, Elena Ford was announced as the company's first Chief Customer Experience Officer. In this role, she leads the organization in creating a world-class customer experience for all Ford customers.[14]
In 2019, she spearheaded the launch of a 500-person call center in Houston, Texas, providing support for Ford truck owners and dealers experiencing technical issues. She also launched Ford's “Own the Call” initiative.[15]
Personal life
In 1991, she firstly married Stanley Jozef Olender (1960–2016),[16] the owner of Stanley O's, an estate maintenance service in Southampton, New York.[17] They had one daughter:
Charlotte "Little Charlotte" Ford
On June 2, 1996, Ford married Joseph Daniel Rippolone, a plumber and mechanic, originally from Long Island. They had two children:
Alessandro Ford Rippolone
Annabelle Ford Rippolone
In 2008, Ford and Rippolone divorced by mutual agreement.[18] Elena Ford married Mitchell Seldin on July 30, 2022.
