Eight Greater Cincinnati women are being honored with the YWCA Greater Cincinnati's 42nd annual Career Women of Achievement award.
The award recognizes Cincinnati-area women for their leadership, vision, community service and professional success.
Because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, this year's Career Women of Achievement will be honored and profiled in a special televised and streaming broadcast at 7 p.m. on April 22.
The program will also include the presentation of the Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Scholarship Award and the Mamie Earl Sells Scholarship.
The 2021 Career Women of Achievement are:
Giovanna Alvarez, director, Su Casa Hispanic Center
Originally an attorney from Trujillo, Peru, Alvarez has held positions in Florida and then Ohio doing advocacy work for immigrants and migrant farmworkers, as well as improving access to support services for Hispanic communities.
As director of Su Casa Hispanic Center, Alvarez works to champion diversity, inclusion, social justice and human rights.
The organization serves over 5,000 people from Hispanic and other vulnerable international populations each year through emergency assistance, case management, family reunification, education and health promotion programs.
"... Professional immigrant women encounter different challenges within different structures regionally," Alvarez said in a statement. "Some people will judge us for the way we speak; some may discount our education, professional experience, and demonstrated accomplishments.
"We should not be dismayed. We should be resilient, persevere, and remember where we came from and how far we have walked."
Vanessa Freytag, president and CEO, 4C for Children
With experience in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, Freytag has been a staunch advocate for women and families locally and nationally.
Freytag was one of the first female banking senior vice presidents in the Cincinnati-area and was later appointed to the position of inaugural national director of Chase Bank's women's initiative to address the gap in access to credit and capital experience by women-owned businesses.
She founded W-Insight Inc., a company aimed at improving the ability of national financial institutions to reach woman consumers and business owners.
She also co-founded Women's Business Cincinnati, the region's first publication solely covering the accomplishments of professional women, which reached a readership of 15,000 by its second year.
In her current role with 4C for Children, Freytag heads a staff of 100 employees spread throughout 15 counties in the state. Her work has brought up the percentage of childcare providers that meet state standards from 21% to 96%.
Dr. Whitney Gaskins, assistant dean of inclusive excellence and community engagement, University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science
Being the first Black woman to receive a doctorate in biomedical engineering from UC, Gaskins knows the importance of improving access for underrepresented student populations.
"I think access is key. There are a lot of nuances in pursuing higher education or even understanding what you could possibly pursue," she told The Enquirer.
As the College of Engineering and Applied Science's dean of inclusive excellence and community, Gaskins leads the college's recruitment, support and retention of marginalized and underrepresented students.
She also founded the Gaskins Foundation, a nonprofit that works to introduce underrepresented K-12 students in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus to opportunities in STEM.
"It's nice to work with those children because hopefully, I would like to say we're giving them exposure to things that they may not have known existed," she said.
Dr. Lisa Kelly, professor of ophthalmology, and medical director, Hoxworth Eye Clinics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
As a student at Harvard Medical School, Kelly never imagined she would end up in ophthalmology, but she says it gave her "the opportunity to have a huge impact on a patient's life in a relatively short period of time."
Using her prominence in the field of ophthalmology, Kelly led a national campaign aimed at increasing the number of underrepresented minorities who practice medicine, and she also works to address health disparities.
"If nothing else, COVID has shown us that there are great disparities that exist in the healthcare system," she told The Enquirer. "And we know that underrepresented minority doctors tend to practice disproportionately in under-served areas."
She is the first Black woman to hold positions in ophthalmology departments at Stanford University, Southern Illinois University and UC.
After opening a private practice in Maryland, she eventually returned home to take care of parents who had fallen ill.
"So, that's what brought me back to Cincinnati, back to my roots. And I joined the faculty here at the College of Medicine and it has just been wonderful," she said.
Kelly Kolar-Eyman, president and founder, Kolar Design Inc. and the Kolar Experience Institute
Kolar-Eyman is originally from Detroit but came to Cincinnati to attend UC's College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.
"That was my launch into my creative field," she told The Enquirer. "So, everything I learned, everything of who I am, really came from DAAP."
She began her career working on local design projects such as the Cincinnati Bi-Centennial and Tall Stacks events and branding space at institutions like Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Much of her work revolves around "branding places for people," she said, as well as developing a better understanding of the connections between human experience and business.
Kolar-Eyman founded her company in 1990 and now works with architects, planners and designers from around the world.
"I had kind of grown up in the floors of my dad's manufacturing business and just really loved the spirit of entrepreneurship," she said.
She also teaches classes at her alma mater.
"People are what move cities forward and what move communities forward and also what move businesses forward," she said. "And I think the lifeblood of our community is really focused around the arts and our appreciation for the arts."
Tashawna Thomas Otabil, executive director, TriHealth
Otabil began her career in health care 25 years ago at Humana Inc. as a claims processing analyst.
"I wasn't originally looking forward to going into a career with health care, actually I just looked and fell into a job," she told The Enquirer. "And as I fell into that role, it presented so many different opportunities."
In her current position at TriHealth, Otabil has grown physician value-based revenue in her managed care division from $12 million to $38 million in just two years.
She's also authored several Amazon best-selling books aimed at empowering women in their personal and professional lives.
In addition to her advocacy for women, Otabil assisted in the development and launch of TriHealth's first African American employee resource group, with over 200 employees attending the first meeting in November 2020.
"I had a mentor throughout my career and I really valued that relationship, because they were able to help me through some different ways of thinking," she said. "I was inspired by the information that I was provided by them and I just wanted to be able to pour that back into someone else."
Stephanie Smith, senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Fifth Third Bank
In her position at Fifth Third, Smith is responsible for the comprehensive strategic framework of the bank's diversity and inclusion efforts.
That responsibility impacts 20,000 employees, 65 regional business resource groups, supplier diversity, workforce diversity and includes partnering with the bank's government affairs division to address legislative and regulatory issues related to diversity and inclusion.
Smith manages a $2.5 million budget and has also increased the bank's diversity budget by 900%.
Before taking her current position, Smith was the bank’s first director of supplier diversity and used that position to build the foundation for a diversity and inclusion program.
She's also served on boards of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, the Social Venture Partners and the UC Research Institute.
Amy Spiller, president, Duke Energy Ohio and Kentucky
Though never seeking the spotlight nor the C-Suite, Spiller has still managed to climb her way up the corporate ladder.
Spiller began her career as a lawyer, serving for a decade as Duke Energy's deputy general counsel, shaping the company's regulatory and strategic planning in Ohio and Kentucky.
She then served as vice president of government and community affairs, preparing her for her current position, in which relationships with customers and regional leaders are vital.
Over the past year, Spiller has been an advocate for families and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Duke Energy Foundation, along with the employee resource group Advocates for African Americans, heralded the delivery of $200,000 to 11 local nonprofits committed to social justice and racial equity across the region.
Spiller also directed funds toward an ArtsWave grant program that supports Black and Latino artists. And last summer, she was named inaugural chair of a Duke Energy engagement and inclusion council that serves over 3,000 employees across the company.
Source link
