As a kid, Tyrone Ellis didn’t know his love for science and math could lead to a successful career in engineering. It wasn’t until a Black engineer visited his school that the spark to pursue an engineering career was ignited in Tyrone. Since then, and throughout his successful engineering career, he has committed to continuously giving back to his community. He’s especially passionate about exposing young children to STEM and enabling experiences that encourage curiosity and propel them into STEM careers.

As a member of the Black Employee Network (BEN), Tyrone and the BEN have activated community volunteerism with multiple engineering-related nonprofit organizations around the country. director of engineering excellence by day, champion of diversity and inclusion and committed community advocate always. These are just a few of Tyrone’s dimensions of diversity.

Q&A with Tyrone

Why are employee resource groups (ERGs) important?

Our Employee Resource Groups serve a critical role in the company by creating a “comfortable environment” for dialogue, support, mentorship, and involvement that increase engagement levels for the members of the ERG and thus for the overall company.

Why do you show up every day?

I show up every day because the vision, mission, and values of the company align with my personal “why”. I am motivated by our global focus on sustainability, operational excellence, and diversity in everything that we do for our customers and in the global markets that we serve.

Who is your role model?

I have a few role models. My mother because of her perseverance, my paternal grandfather because of his faithfulness, my maternal grandmother because of her character and my father-in-law because of his business savvy. I also admire Dr. Stephen Covey’s leadership and Dr. Tony Evans as a pastor, speaker and author.

What impact do you want to have at work?

The impact that I want to have at work is to know every day that I am developing strategies/solutions that positively impact our customers, employees, and stakeholders. This includes key initiatives around reducing complexity, promoting diversity, and serving the communities where we have a presence as a company.

Best advice you have to give?

Give thanks through all circumstances and constantly ask yourself, “What are you doing for others?”

Tell us about your family

We are definitely a STEM family – my wife is my college sweetheart and an environmental health scientist and Engineer. Our three kids - Jameson, 24; Jaelyn, 20; Justin, 17 – are all immersed in some aspect of STEM. Jameson graduated from The Citadel in 2018 in a STEM career field and serves our country in the Air Force National Guard; Jaelyn is a junior at Florida State University in a STEM career field with a 3.96 GPA and was recently inducted into the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. And Justin is a high school honor student and an aspiring Computer Engineer or Scientist with plans to attend Clemson University, following in the footsteps of his parents. Together, we spend a substantial amount of our free time as a family supporting our community, we especially enjoy introducing underserved families and youth to opportunities in STEM that we’ve been blessed to experience. We also enjoy traveling and spending time outdoors.

Ready to make a difference and inspire others? At Trane Technologies, we boldly go. Explore our opportunities and open jobs.