Women For Economic And Leadership Development

Keynote: the weld columbus chapter held a keynote in 2024. The event featured sonya medina williams, president & ceo of reach resilience and independent public company board member. She is a board member of papa johns international (nasdaq: pzza), delta apparel, (nyse: dla) and tko group holdings, inc. (nyse: tko). Her topic was "your 'why' isn't your purpose -it's your problem." corporate board conference: for over 14 years, weld has provided corporate board training and board journey preparation as one of its core offerings. Its 2024 sold-out conference featured tiffany olson, independent director: castle biosciences (nasdaq:cstl),telix pharmaceuticals (asx:tlx), mimedx group, inc. (nasdaq:mdxg) and langham logistics advisory board, and dwight smith, independent director for peoples bancorp (nasdaq: pebo), rocky brands (nasdaq: rcky), oclc and sureimpact, as its keynote dinner "fireside chat" speakers. Colleen marshall, news anchor, nbc4, wcmh-tv, moderated the session where they shared key learnings about their board journey and provided excellent strategies for executives to pursue corporate board seats. The event also included sessions with over 15 other directors. The conference included panel discussions on hot topics in the boardroom and emerging practices from the nom/gov process along with roundtable discussions on the board journey. Leadership: weld hosts an annual national leadership conference each summer to educate attendees at various stages of their careers. The 2024 conference focused on rise. Thrive. Lead. Building strong networks and allies. A wide range of educational programming addressed the diverse ways professionals can develop and apply leadership skills in both professional and civic service via making connections. There were several different career tracks. Attendees walked away with a strong sense of the urgent need to apply thought and creativity to increase the number of women in leadership positions, as well as practical skills to help achieve that goal. This conference featured dr. Melissa briggs-phillips as the opening session speaker and featured over 35 expert presenters on a variety of leadership topics. Weld had over 300 registrations, including 33 scholarship recipients. These women are striving for economic independence and are reinventing their lives after suffering extreme setbacks. They were able to learn new skill sets in a safe and supportive environment and build new community connections. Women welding the way calendar(r) reception: the weld columbus chapter launched its 21st annual women welding the way calendar. These calendars showcase the achievements of 12 women who are nominated by the community and selected by key business and community leaders. The calendar honorees are leaders in their companies and industries, have positively impacted their communities and have inspired others to strive for their career aspirations while reaching back for others. A printed calendar is created for each of these chapters that showcases the talent and contributions of these individuals. This event was held in person at the ohio statehouse. Over 200 business and community leaders registered to attend the event.

Weld holds educational programs to teach skills useful for leaders at various stages in their careers. Typically, these are a blend of in-person and virtual events. These events include the emerging professional series programs targeted to those just starting out in their careers, the leadership series programs targeted to mid-career professionals covering a wide range of topics and an executive women's series for senior leaders and c-suite executives. Weld continued to offer several programs with shrm, cpe and oh cle. Weld launched a full year of board programs/c-suite series designed to help executives obtain their first seat on a nonprofit board. The topics focused on public company financials, nonprofit financials, preparing for the board interview and other board preparation topics. Weld also conducted its annual certificate program on government boards and commissions governance skills training. Weld conducted several new member programs across its chapter base and also hosted its annual affinity groups best practices session for its corporate members. Weld also conducted cohort-based leadership programs designed to prepare and help attendees achieve their first promotion into management. In 2024, weld conducted 3 cohorts of these programs. Weld also launched one cohort of its pathway to management program for women of color attracting major grant support and delivering excellent advancement opportunities for participants. In all, weld had nearly 2,900 women and men attended our 2024 leadership and member programs and signature events. Over 160 women and men served as program speakers.