Emergency
S fety
Solutions
S fety
Solutions
PRESS RELEASE
HOUSTON – (March 9, 2023) – Emergency Safety Solutions, Inc. (ESS), creator of the Hazard Enhanced Location Protocol (H.E.L.P.®), which revolutionizes vehicle hazard warning systems to help prevent crashes into disabled and vulnerable vehicles and their occupants, announced today that Frederiek Toney, a highly accomplished auto industry executive who most recently served as President of Ford Motor Company’s Global Customer Service Division, has joined the ESS Board of Directors.
Toney brings exceptional auto industry business acumen and a prominent track record of success to the ESS Board and leadership team. He was named a 2022 Automotive News “All-Star” for his visionary leadership and for changing customer service and after-sales for the better not only at Ford and Lincoln dealers, but throughout the industry during his tenure leading Ford’s parts and service operations – where he was responsible for more than $16 billion in annual P&L.
Prior to Ford, Toney served in a variety of executive roles at American Honda Motor Company and Caterpillar, Inc., including leadership of parts and service divisions, sales and distribution, and client operations.
In his new board role with ESS, Toney will help drive business growth by globalizing the company’s efforts to greatly increase the safety of drivers and occupants of disabled and vulnerable vehicles, and all who share the road with them. He’ll also focus on developing innovation initiatives and strategic partnerships that accelerate customer acquisition and broader adoption of the company’s lifesaving H.E.L.P. feature.
“Emergency Safety Solutions is at a very exciting and pivotal juncture in our quest to scale automaker adoption of our H.E.L.P. solution as an industry standard for safety, so we’re thrilled to add a distinguished automotive industry leader and innovator like Frederiek Toney to our Board,” said David Tucker, chairman, president and founder of ESS. “Frederiek inspires breakthrough thinking and a customer-first mindset and has an innate sense of how to simplify and execute the toughest of challenges. Just as important, he shares our passion to change the world by making our roads safer for everyone.”
“I’ve been fortunate to have a great career and have always strived to be a catalyst for positive change in every role I’ve had. In ESS I see a company of incredibly passionate people who are one hundred percent committed to solving a troubling, growing yet preventable global safety problem that can impact any of us on any given day,” said Toney. “That’s why I’m here. This company is as much a cause as it is a business, and I can think of no greater legacy than to help this team to achieve its goal to stop these preventable tragedies from happing – on a global level.”
Toney has extensive board of director and external leadership experience, including board roles at Henry Ford Health Systems, University of Alabama Huntsville Business School External Advisory Council, VP and board member of the Living Faith Church in Warren Michigan, Ford Executive Champion for United Negro College Fund, and the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering. He’s been recognized with numerous awards, including 2022 Savoy Magazine’s Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America, 2021 Automotive News “Champion of Diversity,” 2021 Rainbow Push Coalition “Living Legends” award, and Black Enterprise list of 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America (2012 and 2017) to name a few.
Toney is a graduate of the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a B.S. degree in Business Administration, and holds an MBA from the University of La Verne. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Alabama.
About Emergency Safety Solutions, Inc.
Emergency Safety Solutions is a certified minority owned enterprise whose mission is to save lives by eliminating preventable crashes involving vulnerable vehicles that are disabled and stopped on or near active roadways. This growing safety issue affects more than 72,000 people yearly in the U.S., with 15,000 injured or killed. ESS’ suite of H.E.L.P. solutions provide advanced lighting alerts and digital location-based alerts to greatly improve advance warning communications to drivers.
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Media Contact:
Craig Keller | ESS Communications | ckeller@ess-help.com | 847-476-7543
