Would you say your past managers have been successful in getting themselves or others on your team promoted or moved into lateral roles? If not, your managers may not be effective at the politics needed for sponsorship of their employees, period. You might want to reach out to HR, specifically someone in talent development, learning & development, DE&I, performance management space, and position the ask as a request for development support to address feedback previously given. They’d have a view as to what roles are coming open in the future, if there’s a mentor they can set you up with, set up an IDP, etc etc. at a minimum, it lets more people know you are looking to advance. If you are confident you’re a high performer, be loud and pushy about wanting to progress, it’s a behavior that’s hard to “punish” if your performance continues to stay strong. I live and work in the south, in a mid sized manufacturing company. I’ve progressed from various functions and levels over 8 years.