Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce announces 2023-24 Empower cohort

September 29, 2023

The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce has named the 2023-24 Empower cohort of the region’s women business leaders. Cohort members of Empower are chosen from a cross-section of the community and represent the diversity of the region’s business and nonprofit women leaders.

In partnership with the new program sponsor, Universal 1 Credit Union, the cohort began its experience September 28, 2023, with a retreat hosted at Hotel Versailles.

Over the next nine months, the cohort will engage in leadership workshops combined with day-sessions, business coaching and an extensive network of training support to help participants identify individual leadership strengths, values and goals, develop a personal brand and eliminate barriers to professional advancement.

Through a strategic partnership with Aileron, the region’s world class leadership and training development center, Empower will provide participants with a unique blend of hands-on business coaching and group support with peers. The experience will conclude with a retreat in June 2024.

“It was hard to imagine just how impactful this program would be become when we convened the first Empower cohort over six years ago. We’ve had Empower graduates tell us that this program supported them through challenging professional transitions, providing the tools and networks they need to continue to grow and lead,” shared Stephanie Keinath, vice president of strategic initiatives at the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce. “The graduates have also shared that they’ve never felt as challenged, or as celebrated, as they have in a room full of Empower peers. We’re excited to welcome this incredibly dynamic cohort and continue to support the female leaders that are transforming our community.”

Research shows that women have made important gains in executive positions in the last six years and still remain underrepresented at the highest levels of leadership. According to a 2022 McKinsey & Company report, women make up 26 percent of C-suite roles in the U.S and Canada, a 4 percent increase from 2018. However, for every 100 men who are promoted, only 87 women are promoted. Women leaders are also facing significant barriers to their advancement. According to the same McKinsey & Company report, women leaders are twice as likely as men leaders to be mistaken for someone in a more junior role.

The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce continues to see the need for programming that will not only advance women leaders to top-level business roles, but also retain their talent in the Dayton region’s workforce. The chamber extends its gratitude to program sponsor Universal 1 Credit Union for realizing the importance of this initiative and investing in the future leaders of our community.

Members of the 2023-24 Empower cohort are:

Lindsay Ackley | Dayton Children’s

Rachel Barthel | Infinite Management Solutions

Maria Brooks | Premier Health

Heather Corbin | CityWide Development Corporation

Mandy Gambrell | Dayton Daily News/Cox First Media

Cindy   Garner | Clothes That Work

Kathryn Karmeris | JYG Innovations

Sandra Lillie-Voelker | LWC Incorporated

Michelle Lovely | The Dayton Foundation

Stephanie Marshall | Montgomery County Board of County Commissioners

Belinda Matthews-Stenson | The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce

Deb Meyer | Norwood Medical

Amber Pecoraro | B’joyed Coaching, United States Air Force

Maria Perez | EzKin Company

Sangeet Rattan | CareSource

Silvian Rosario | LexisNexis

Devon Stinson | Parallax Advanced Research

Alicia Tai | Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway

Roe Wallace | Rosie’s Vending

Carrie Webb | Fifth Third Bank

Hadley Williams | Elements IV Interiors