Joe Matthews joined Gentex in 2010 as a Purchasing Manager. In 2013, he was promoted to Purchasing Director with additional responsibilities for supply chain management. His team was responsible for all direct and indirect material goods and services, logistics spend as well as customs compliance and supplier diversity. In 2014, Joe was promoted to Vice President of Purchasing and in 2015, he reported as the head of the global sourcing function to the CEO. In 2018, he was appointed as Gentex’s first Diversity Officer with continuing responsibilities for purchasing and supplier diversity. In 2022, he became Vice-President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the company.
Joe is a native of Gary, Indiana. He started his career at Delphi in Kokomo, Indiana in 1991. Joe’s experiences there include IC design, operations, manufacturing engineering, and roles of increasing responsibility in supply management. In 2003, Joe became part of the North American Region sourcing management team for Whirlpool Corporation in Michigan. In addition, he held leadership positions for the pre-integration sourcing planning for the Maytag acquisition, Indirect, and Supply Chain. In 2009, Joe worked for Management Engineers (now PwC Strategy&) to expand their presence into the United States.
Joe graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology where he was a Lugar and GM Scholar. In addition, he has a Master of Engineering, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, and a Master of Business Administration both cum laude from Cornell University where he was a GM Fellow.
Joe lives near Grand Rapids, Michigan with his wife and has 3 adult children. He currently serves on the boards for Institute of Supply Management, Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates, Fund for Hoosier Excellence and the Momentum Center as well as the board of governors for MEMA Diversity & Inclusion Council. In addition, he is on Corewell Health’s Zeeland Hospital Community Board. He is also co-managing partner of African Investment Holdings, LLC.
