UC Women Lead s First Class Celebrates Success, New Leadership Skills

A diverse group of women learned to lead and innovate during the first year of UC Women Lead, an initiative aimed at training and supporting women leaders in higher education.

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the first-ever UC Women Lead cohort celebrated a successful 2014-15 academic year together at a year-end celebration Friday.

Twenty University of Cincinnati women faculty and staff, selected from the largest group of applicants ever to apply for the University’s Executive Leadership Development Program, spent the academic year building and fine-tuning their leadership skills.

Formerly known as Women’s Initiative for Leadership Development (WILD), the program offered new opportunities for participants this year, including career coaching, a service-learning project, op-ed writing instruction and a one-day retreat.

Women in the program not only learned from session leaders, they created bonds that cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries. Those connections, leaders said, can offer an extra layer of support and encouragement when it comes to challenges and opportunities.

“I am so proud of the talented women who led and who participated in UC Women Lead,” said Provost Beverly Davenport, who created a similar professional development initiative at Purdue University. “Now I’m looking forward to seeing these female leaders stay connected and step up as opportunities arise for them to take on new roles across the university and the community.”

As the year wound to a close, the group reflected on what they learned throughout the year and pledged to continue their work to push their careers forward.

The UC Women Lead cohort has a message for all women at UC: “Don’t play small. The university needs women to invest in their work and lead with enthusiasm and intelligence.”

Robin Martin, UC’s associate provost for special initiatives, co-directed the program with Donna Chrobot-Mason, associate professor of psychology and director of the Center for Organizational Leadership.

“This year’s UC Women Lead cohort exemplified the true essence of this great institution,” Martin said. “For eight months, participants displayed intellectual rigor, an enormous capacity to serve others, and built a lasting community of other strong women. It was truly an honor to co-direct the program this year.”

2014-2015 UC Women Lead Participants include:

Faculty:

•    Cindy Damschroder (ProPEL)

•    Dawn Kleindorfer (College of Medicine)

•    Brenda Refaei (UC Blue Ash, Communication)

•    Florence Rothenberg (College of Medicine)

•    Sadhna Verma (Radiology)

•    Rina Williams (College of Arts & Sciences, Politcal Science)

•    Angie Woods (UC Blue Ash, Spanish)

•    Lilit Yeghiazarian-Nistor (CEAS)

•    Mari Robertson (College of Business)

•    Page Beethem (UC Clermont)

•    Debbie Tenofsky (UC Libraries)

Staff:

•    Amy Abafo (UC Clermont, Learning Center)

•    Thembi Carr (RED)

•    Jane Combs (UC IT)

•    Andrea Fitzgerald (Enrollment)

•    Kelly Lyle (UC Health Center)

•    Nicole Mayo (Leadership and Engagement)

•    Josephine Rogers (Academic Studies)

•    Tracy Kilfoil (Business Manager)

•    Caroline Alikonis (Graduate School)