Rivian and Ford Motor Co. announced that Alexandra Ford English will join Rivian’s board of directors effective immediately. 

The relationship between Ford Motor Co. and startup electric vehicle maker Rivian just got a little tighter as Alexandra Ford English was announced as the newest member of Rivian’s board of directors.

She is currently the director of corporate strategy at Ford — and Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr.’s daughter. Last year, the company invested $500 million in Rivian, saying it would develop a new vehicle with the EV maker.

However, just a few days ago, Ford executives scuttled a joint effort between Rivian and Lincoln to produce an EV for the company’s luxury division due to the impact of the coronavirus.

(Lincoln, Rivian scrub Lincoln EV project due to coronavirus.)

Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe and Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr.

“Alexandra and I share a deep passion for mobility and electrification, and her connection to Ford’s long family role in transportation is something special. I am looking forward to working closely with her and the perspective that she will bring to the Board,” said RJ Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO.

English’s move on to Rivian’s board seemingly signals the partnership is strong, and like many children of the Ford family, she is being given an increasing amount of responsibility.

“Our strategic partnership with Rivian plays an important role in the future of fully networked battery electric vehicles,” said Jim Hackett, Ford president and CEO. “With Alexandra’s experience in mobility and self-driving services, she will bring a unique perspective to Rivian’s board during this transformational time in our industry.”

(Lincoln and Rivian announced their SUV program in January. Here’s the original story.)

The vehicle with Rivian is in addition to Ford’s plan to develop a portfolio of battery electric vehicles as part of Ford’s previously announced $11 billion of EV investments.

Lincoln’s all-electric SUV was to have had a unique look but ride on the skateboard platform used for Rivian’s own R1S model, seen here.

English joined Ford Motor Co. in 2017. Prior to joining the corporate strategy team, she was a member of the Ford Autonomous Vehicle LLC team and a member of the City Solutions team.

Before joining Ford, she was responsible for managing profit-and-loss operations for customer-centric businesses in the merchandising divisions of Tory Burch in New York and Gap Inc. in San Francisco, the automaker noted.

(Ford investing $500M in Rivian; will use start-up’s platform for new BEV.)

English holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree from Harvard Business School.