The new girls’ network?

Is there a moment of convergence here in Cincinnati? There are an amazing number of activities affecting businesswomen that have cropped up in the past 12 months, including:

• The Urban League and UC have teamed up to run a leadership collaborative which is addressing the issues of getting women to a reasonable level of parity in top positions.

• United Way has more than 150 women each giving $10,000 annually to UW and through that focus has launched an effort to increase the number of women on for-profit corporate boards.

• And in April, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber’s launch of a major women’s agenda including a brand-new women’s leadership program, an annual awards event and regular women’s roundtables.

In addition, women are popping up in major roles everywhere – Nancy Zimpher runs the largest employer in town; Margaret Buchanan runs the biggest media outlet in town; Karen Bankston is running the “new” Drake; Ellen van der Horst is the first woman ever to run the biggest chamber in town; for the first time a woman, Trish Smitson, is running one of the major law firms … and the list goes on.

I’ve got to say that after 18 years in Cincinnati I am feeling pretty optimistic. I’ve never heard the level of excitement – and more importantly seen the commitment of resources – that we hear and see right now.

Am I a dreamer? Do you think the time has finally come for Cincinnati to move forward as far as women are concerned? Are these just exceptions to the “business-as-usual” rule?

Vanessa Freytag, WBC co-publisher