12 local women honored for leadership skills
Years ago, Sandra López had a feeling she was underpaid but didn’t know how to prove it.
Then another company offered her more money for a similar position. When she took this information to her boss, she was told to wait two years for a “probable” promotion. She decided to leave, and on her way out, a male colleague revealed that he had been making 20% more for doing the same job.
“It was a big eye-opener,” said López, now a legislative adviser for Columbus City Council and vice chair on the board of the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio. “It made me feel more committed to bring attention to the gender pay gap.”
López is one of 12 local women who will be honored by the Westerville-based nonprofit group Women for Economic and Leadership Development (WELD) at a virtual ceremony at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Each year, WELD selects “Women WELDING the Way Honorees,” diverse, “high-impact leaders” who support the development of other women. (Prospective attendees can register at weldusa.org.) Each class of women is featured in an annual calendar, which can be purchased for $15 beginning Friday by emailing info@weldoh.org.
WELD president and CEO Barbara Smoot said the national organization was founded in 2003 to equip women with tools to grow their own businesses and achieve other career goals. WELD also aims to show companies that many women are available and qualified to be on boards and in other leadership positions.
That is why the visibility of the annual calendar is so important, Smoot said.
“This is so companies never have the excuse, ‘Well, we would (hire them) if we could find any.’”
This year’s calendar theme, “the resilient leader,” resonates with López, who is from the Dominican Republic and a volunteer with the Latina Mentoring Academy. Passionate about making cultural spaces more accessible for people of color, she also is on the board of trustees for the Columbus Museum of Art.
“If you are an immigrant, you are just made to be resilient,” said López, who lives on the East Side. “I have been afforded so many opportuni
ties. … Can I be the person that opens the door for somebody (else)?”
Attorney and WELD honoree Sachiyo Isoda Peterson also is zealous about helping minority communities. Her parents are from Japan, and she specializes in immigration law at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP, where she is a partner.
“You have this great opportunity to help people live the American dream,” said Peterson, 35, of Upper Arlington, who works with companies to administer temporary and permanent work authorization to immigrants.
As a member of the Vorys Women’s Network Council, Peterson supports other women attorneys, who are still a minority in the industry.
“There is major attrition that happens when you’re looking at the ranks of associates versus people who make partner,” she said. “On a personal level, I try to identify up-and-coming women of color at my firm and mentor them through the process as much as I can.”
Giving back is extremely important to WELD honoree Kim Carter, who even displays the written reminder, “Lead with your heart,” in her kitchen. Before she became campus dean for Strayer University, she was the multifamily hub director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, where she worked on projects in Columbus.
“Affordable housing continues to be a great need in our communities, especially in our elderly population,” said Carter, 51, of Gahanna. “I really loved being able to support (those) efforts.”
Carter said she was humbled by the recognition.
“It’s an amazing feeling.”
For WELD honoree Tara Bair, 54, who works and lives in Logan County, it was a “confidence boost.”
“(It’s like), ‘You do know what you’re doing,’ or at least someone else thinks you know what you’re doing,” said Bair, who is the president and CEO of Community Health & Wellness Partners. She founded the health center in 2014 to meet the needs of everyone, regardless of whether they had insurance.
In addition to addressing the area’s “heroin problem,” Bair said the center has responded to COVID-19 by creating a surge clinic and sick bay.
“It’s a pleasure to do,” she said. “It’s not really rocket science. It’s just taking care of the community you love and who’s taking care of you.”
Though bashful about being in the calendar, Bair said she recognized the impact by studying the confident faces of last year’s class.
“Every day you get beat up in this world,” she said. “I am just like, ‘Wow, we do persevere. We are resilient.’”
Other WELD honorees include Melissa Blount-garner, vice president of community and economic development at Fifth Third Bank; Heather Brilliant, CEO and president of Diamond Hill Capital Management; Janet Chen, CEO of Promusica Chamber Orchestra; Betty L. Collins, director at Brady Ware & Company; Joy Kouns-lewis, vice president of human resources and risk management at Children’s Hunger Alliance; Mary Mccarthy, president of Women’s Small Business Accelerator and YMT Consultants Inc.; Dr. Sophia Tolliver, clinical assistant professor for the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; and Guadalupe A. Velasquez, managing director for Welcoming City. ethompson@dispatch.com @miss_ethompson