Terri Von Lehmden
Vice President of Human Resources
Toyota North America
Since joining Toyota in 2004, Terri Von Lehmden, vice president of human resources at Toyota North America, has been passionate about driving connections and harnessing the power of purpose, culture and career. Her goal has always been to make Toyota a place where team members can dream, do and grow.
Throughout her career at Toyota, Terri has held responsibilities across multiple functions, including organizational management, strategic planning, and diversity and inclusion management. She has also led compensation and benefits, as well as talent acquisition, training and development. A trusted advisor to the chief human resources officer, Terri has played an instrumental role in transforming the human resources organization at Toyota.
Today, she leads a team of strategic advisors who are tasked with driving transformative change that supports Toyota’s evolving business needs, overseeing HR business advisors, compensation, talent development, training, HR strategy and communications, and organizational effectiveness. Through this business-led approach, Terri and her team focus on cultivating talent and transforming the team member experience to help power Toyota’s vision of Mobility for All. This includes a commitment to building the next generation of leaders through mentoring, sponsorship and other initiatives.
As a key member of the company’s Planning Management Office, Terri helped lead Toyota’s consolidation of its U.S. affiliate operations and the relocation of its offices to a new state-of-the-art headquarters in Plano, TX — one of the most significant corporate transformations in U.S. history. In her role, she helped in the effort to establish a new collaborative, unified One Toyota culture and was instrumental in the talent transformation effort. Additionally, Terri oversaw the unprecedented hiring of 1,000 new team members to fill job positions at Toyota’s new headquarters, while continuing to fulfill regular hiring needs.
An Ohio native, Terri received a Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management and Small Business Management from the University of Findlay, as well as a Master of Business Administration from the University of Toledo. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources® leader and a member of the Society for Human Resource Management. Terri also serves on the board for the Toyota USA Foundation, a separate charitable organization dedicated to STEM education. She also serves on Toyota’s Audit Committee and Toyota’s Compliance and Risk Committee. In 2019, Automotive News selected her as one of its “Rising Stars.”