Girls Inc. of the Berkshires Celebration Evening

Beth A Mitchell is a Senior Program Manager on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program at General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Her current role is to align all subcontractors in support of the current LCS being built in Mobile, Alabama. In addition, she will lead the transition of the design to manufacturing process which encompasses on-time procurement of all material for ten additional ships – a responsibility worth more than $800M.

Mitchell began her career in engineering at General Electric (GE) Defense Systems in 1984, as a summer intern from Boston University (BU) College of Engineering. In 1986, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from BU, she joined GE full time on the Manufacturing Management Program (MMP). In 1988, Mitchell graduated as an MMP and took a permanent position in Pittsfield, Mitchell held numerous positions over her 21 year career as GE transitioned to Martin Marietta, Lockheed Martin and finally General Dynamics. The positions included Manufacturing Technical Team Lead, Senior Producibility Engineer, Manager of Drafting and Documentation Standards, Manager of Configuration and Data Management, Director of Systems Engineering, Director of Quality, Director of Systems Integration and Support, and Littoral Combat Senior Program Manager of Operations. At this time in her career, she branched out to the Precast / Prestress industry. She was the Vice President of Design, Engineering and Quality at Unistress Corporation for four years until she returned to General Dynamics in September of 2010 in her current role.

In addition to advancing her career, Mitchell continues to obtain advanced training. She has completed the GE New Management Development Course, has been trained in the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and led the effort to get numerous General Dynamics sites approved as a CMMI level 5 organization, obtained her Six Sigma Black Belt through the Juran Institute and is a certified Program Management Professional. Recently she added Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP), a green building rating system, to her repertoire of certifications.

Mitchell is actively involved in the community. She has served on the Board of Girls Incorporated of the Berkshires and was also very active in the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce and the Central Berkshire County Development Corporation on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for the past five years, including her year as the Chair in 2007. In addition, Mitchell has served and led many committees at the Chamber including but not limited to Legislative, Nominating and Tiered Dues Committees. Mitchell has served and continues to serve on the Board for the Berkshire Applied Technology Council (BATC), as well as supporting events such as the Robotics Competition. She has been an active Board Member and Communication Subcommittee Chairperson for 1 Berkshire. Recently Mitchell has joined a Strategy committee at the Boys and Girls Club and as Board and Executive Committee Member for the Pittsfield Catholic Schools.

Advocating young women developing into strong individuals has been a passion for Mitchell through her volunteerism with organizations like Girls Incorporated and initiatives like Women on TechPath, and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) conferences and Television Broadcasts aimed at middle and high school. She has been a member of Miss Hall’s Visitor’s Board for four years and continues to serve on a Berkshire Untied Way Committee to Reduce Teen Pregnancy in Berkshire County. Mitchell also volunteers at schools, Habitat for Humanity, Rotary Events and as a mentor to young adults wanting to enter STEM fields.