Every year since 2009, WiBN has announced its Top 25 Women to Watch: Influential Women of the Miami Valley awards.These awards recognize women in the Miami Valley who are exceptional in their roles and respected in their fields, who are causing more than just a ripple in the public arena and in their communities and who “light a spark” or make an impression. Congratulations to the class of 2019:
Amy Matney has dedicated her life and talents to the service of others. Her business, Omnicom Workforce Solutions, helps the unemployed, displaced, and the challenged workers of the area to learn skills and be better equipped for today’s employment marketplace. She is an educator and advocate for the disenfranchised, displaced and the under-utilized people of the area. She is a “Cost of Poverty Experience” (C.O.P.E.) Certified Facilitator through Think Tank, Inc. which directly exposes executives at businesses and other influencers who can make a difference to the realities of people living in poverty.
Amy’s compassion and understanding help drive the curriculum of Omnicom’s workshops given throughout the region to help workers address everything from “soft skills” like appearance and attendance, basic computer skills, and customer service, needed for nearly every job currently available. Omnicom’s efforts have led to the successful employment of possibly hundreds of workers in the region.
Ann Riegle Crichton is Dayton Metro Library’s Business Services Librarian, connecting entrepreneurs, business owners and job seekers with resources and organizations to help them succeed.
Riegle Crichton is an active member of WiBN and the Lunch and Learn Leadership team. Her efforts to support workforce development programs at Miami Valley’s Community Action Partnership resulted in DML being recognized as an Outstanding Partner in 2018. She was named Volunteer of the Quarter in 2018 by the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, and elected Chapter Chair for Dayton SCORE in 2018, the first woman to hold that position.
Riegle Crichton developed DML’s Job Seekers program, an essential piece of the Library’s workforce development initiatives. She has received national recognition from SCORE for “Insights for Women in Business,” a program sponsored by Dayton SCORE, Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and DML which connects women entrepreneurs with women business owners for mentoring and networking.
Briana Snyder s co-owner of Knack Creative, a visual content production studio based in downtown Dayton, Ohio. In over 12 years as a photographer, she has worked on a broad range of projects, and has been honored to have been asked to speak frequently on photography, marketing & business topics. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Playground Theatre Company and the YWCA Dayton, where she previously chaired the Advocacy Committee. She received her B.A. from the University of Dayton in 2009 and her M.A. in International and Comparative Policies from Wright State University in 2017.
Ann Charles is an attorney with the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl, focusing her practice on estate planning, probate and trust administration, charitable gift planning, and nonprofit law. A trusted advisor to her clients, she provides comprehensive, cost-effective solutions to meet their legal needs. In addition to end of life matters, her experience includes businesses succession planning, charitable gift negotiations, and operational and philanthropic assessments for Section 501 (c)(3) organizations.
Prior to joining Dinsmore, Ann Charles specialized in nonprofit organizational development and fundraising, working with hundreds of groups across the country, including Habitat for Humanity International, the Air Force Museum Foundation, Ohio CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and the U.S. Peace Corps. She is Harvard-educated in strategic nonprofit management and graduated first in her class from the University of Dayton School of Law. Ann Charles is fluent in Spanish and licensed to practice law in both Ohio and Florida
Beth Mann is the President of FLOC, For Love of Children which serves over 6,000 area children who are neglected, abused, in foster care or are in need of community resource. She and her husband, Doug, feel so very lucky to have been a part of the Dayton community for over 30 years now. Beth is most thankful for the generosity that is our beloved city. The children FLOC serves are most inspiring, thankful and thrive because there are so many people who care so deeply. Beth is humbled by this honor and is very grateful for the joy that FLOC brings her each and every day.
Catherine Campbell has over 25 years’ in fundraising, grant writing, marketing and communications. She is responsible for the philanthropic program at St. Mary Development Corporation. Her fundraising efforts support their St. Mary Connect program which responds to the needs of low-income seniors living in their affordable independent-living apartments. Catherine joined St. Mary’s following her role as a Campaign Director on the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s $130 million dollar campaign. Additionally she worked for St. Vincent de Paul, St. Christopher Parish, and the DAI. She has worked in the private sector for a money management firm and owned a faux painting company. Catherine is a graduate of Western Michigan University in Graphic Arts. She has received a Rotarian of the Year and a Rotary Leadership Award and is president-elect for the Oakwood Rotary. She volunteers for Dayton Children’s and is a Dayton SCORE mentor
Following Desteni Mason’s life-long passion of helping people “be better and do more than they thought they could ever do,” Desteni Mason co-founded KTL Performance Mortgage in Greenville Ohio in 2003. Desteni and her team have been helping people achieve their dreams of home ownership for over 15 years.
In 2015 and 2018, Desteni was named one of Mortgage Professional America Magazine’s “Elite Women in Mortgage,” In 2016 Desteni was awarded the honor of being named one of Mortgage Professional America Magazine’s “42 Young Guns.”
In 2017, she launched an online presence dedicated to helping women break through the perceived mental barriers that hold them back so they can realize their true power and potential and gain control over their lives. Rising Above is about making decisions, shifting your choices and creating the right plans in the right order for achieving success: www.destenimason.com.
Heather Martin has been a professional writer and editor for nearly 30 years. She started Martin Ink, an editorial services business, in 2015 and has clients in such industries as banking, real estate, health care, and technology.
Heather develops and writes thought leadership content for blogs, websites, social media, and print publications and specializes in translating subject matter expertise into accessible, concise messages.
She is the former editor and publisher of the Dayton Business Journal and the former editorial director at Innovative InterChange Associates, an organizational development firm in Dayton.
Heather has a bachelor’s degree in English from Wittenberg University and a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is a past chair of the community resource board at WYSO 91.3 FM and has served on other local boards and committees. She also performs in and designs props for community theatre productions in Dayton.
Judi MacLeod ‘88 is the director of Cuvilly (special education) at Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School. Judi has been an educator for nearly 30 years and founded the CJ special education program in 1999. She and her team in Cuvilly work with more than 100 students with a wide variety of needs each school year, providing an array of integrated experiences and activities for students. At the school, she also serves as bowling team coach and director of Hands in Harmony, an American Sign Language group that performs at concerts throughout the year. Judi earned National Board Certification in 2009 and was featured both in the 2018 spring edition of the Marianist magazine, Alive!, as well as the Making a Difference series on WHIO-TV in March 2019.
Outside of her work at Chaminade Julienne, Judi teaches religious education to four- and five-year-olds at St. Helen Catholic Church, is a Red Cross instructor, and serves as Cub Scout den leader for Pack 329 and advancement chair for Troop 329. Judi is married to Don, who also works at CJ, and is the proud parent of Jenny ‘14, Donald, IV. ‘22, David (age 13) and Daniel (age 9).
Elizabeth Koelker is a young professional with accomplishments that some may strive to achieve in an entire lifetime. With a personal philosophy to represent the heart and mind of cancer patients, she has led the charge to open two (soon to be three) new cancer centers and revitalize two more. As a strong female leader, she has a unique ability to connect with both individuals and teams, motivating them toward a shared purpose. Elizabeth has completed the Advisory Board Fellowship, an accelerated leader development experience and is a Fellow of the American College of Health Care Executives. While at Kettering Health Network, she brought the oncology service line into a single, integrated electronic medical record. Different groups were utilizing different methods, so she set a single standard that would ultimately improve collaboration and continuity of care. Under her leadership, Kettering Health Network’s oncology program received the Outstanding Achievement Award for the second consecutive time from the Commission on Cancer, a quality program by the American College of Surgeons.
Jennifer Baker is a Business Banker with Huntington Bank where her passion is advising local businesses on how to achieve their financial goals by using her unique industry knowledge to help identify their risks and industry trends. Jennifer has been with Huntington Bank since 2008 and when not promoting small business growth in Dayton, Jennifer spends her time volunteering in the Community as a member of the Junior League of Dayton. Jennifer is a graduate of Greenville High School and Sinclair Community College where she obtained an Associate’s Degree in Business Management. Jennifer resides in Darke County with her Husband Brian, three Children (Jackson, Miles and Ruby) and black lab Bentley.
Julie Cannon is the Experiential Marketing Manager at Dayton Children’s Hospital. I have lived in Dayton for most of my life, and have worked in fundraising and event planning for the past 10 years. I’ve planned everything from small dinners to large community events, but my favorite events to plan are weddings and galas. I’ve been an active volunteer in the community, serving on several board and in my local school district.
She’s been married for almost 25 years and have three kids, a son at Indiana University, a daughter at Transylvania University and a son in high school. My children are third generation graduates of Oakwood High School. In my free time, I love to read, work in the garden, watch sports and walk.
Kim Vesey is a mom, grandma and has been a hospice nurse for 35 years. She has an adult son Patrick, her grandson Warren and her yorkie, Sally. Kim has been certified as a hospice and palliative care nurse since 1997. She has a bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration. She spent 12 years caring for hospice patients prior to getting into hospice management roles.
Kim’s responsibilities as Chief Mission Officer at Ohio’s Hospice includes: faith community outreach, managing the business development teams, as well as the referral and admission teams, for all 9 of Ohio’s Hospices affiliate programs. Kim has spoken at state and national hospice conferences and has also given a TED talk which can be found on You-tube. You can search by her name or the title of the presentation “First Breath, Final Breath”. She is currently in the process of having four children’s books about grief published.
Melissa Dodd is the City Manager for the City of Bellbrook. She was hired in April of 2018 as the third manager and the first female to serve in this position. She previously worked for the Village of Yellow Springs as their Assistant Village Manager and Finance Director for four and a half years. Wright State University is where she started her career in the public realm as an Office Assistant and worked her way up to a Manager of Business Operations and Support Services in her 12 years of service there. While working at Wright State, she earned Bachelors in Fine Arts and a Master’s in Public Administration. She is the first in her family to not only attend college, but also graduate. Since coming to Bellbrook, she has already demonstrated measured success with a number of initiatives such as creating a downtown beautification fund and a solidifying a renewed commitment to revitalizing the downtown.
Missy Mae Walters serves has served as the Director of Community Relations for McAfee Heating & Air and the McAfee Foundation for Children & Youth since July 2015. Previously, she worked as the Senior Associate of Campaigns and Public Affairs for JSN Associates of Dayton.
Originally moving to the Dayton area from Texas, her 20-year career has focused on marketing, PR, public affairs, fundraising, communications and community relations. Missy Mae is a graduate of Abilene Christian University with an undergraduate degree in political science and a Masters in Organizational Human Resource Development. She also graduated from Wright State University with her MPA in 2010 and is currently working on a Masters in Counseling.
Her leadership/community activities for the past decade in the Dayton-region have included: Kettering Leadership Academy; Leadership Warren County; Kettering Holiday at Home, President and Board Chair; Beavercreek Women’s League, President; Junior League of Dayton, Community VP; and Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, Ambassador.
Kylene Terhune is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, Autoimmune Protocol Coach, Wife, Mom, and foodie. A former opera singer who struggled with her own health challenges, Kylene now works with women across the country using functional lab testing to help them uncover the hidden stressors making them feel sick.
Her main focus is healing the gut because it’s the foundation of health and an incredible avenue to facilitate healing in many other areas of the body. By using the lab results and incorporating personalized nutrition, lifestyle and supplemental protocols, her clients see results like weight loss and management, more energy, better sleep, improved digestion, balanced hormones, and even managing or reversing autoimmune symptoms.
Kylene’s mission is to empower women to become their own health advocates for themselves and their families so they can continue to make healthy lifestyle changes that allow them to feel beautiful and fully engaged in life!
Mindy Waldren is Vice President of Contracts & Pricing for Peerless Technologies Corporation. Ms. Waldren’s group encompasses contract administration, purchasing, and pricing, overseeing a portfolio of government contracts worth more than $1 billion.
A longtime contracts professional, Ms. Waldren has managed contracts for the Department of Defense, Air Force, Army, Navy, the National Institutes of Health, the General Services Administration, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as well as commercial contracts.
Ms. Waldren – a Certified Federal Contracts Manager – has over 20 years’ experience in contract management, program control and support, human resources and change management for the government and the private sector. In 2018, she was elected as a Fellow in the National Contract Management Association in recognition of her significant contributions to the contracting field.
Myla Cardona-Jones is faculty and the Career Community Coordinator in the Law and Public Safety Department at Sinclair Community College.
Myla also serves as the Site Administrator for the Law & Leadership Institute in Cincinnati, a 4-year nonprofit leadership and legal education program providing resources and opportunities to inner-city youth.
Myla holds two bachelor’s degrees: one in chemistry and one in applied management as well as an associate’s degree in Paralegal Studies. She will complete her Juris Doctorate degree in July of 2019.
Myla and her family started a domestic nonprofit in January 2018, 1Love LLC. They go out into the community and commit to kind acts and aim to tackle and address the many issues plaguing the Dayton community.
Myla also serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (Ohio Valley Chapter), Board of Directors for Agape For Youth, Inc. and is Membership V.P. for the Junior League of Dayton.
Myla has been married for 9 years and she and her husband have a 7-year old Son. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and recently visited Havana, Cuba.
Nancy Pook is Vice-President of Emergency Medicine Specialists and Medical Director of Network Emergency Services and Network Operations Command Center for Kettering Health Network. As a practicing physician, she’s driven by saving the lives that arrive in the emergency department and by creating strong integrated networks for population health management.
Author, educator and keynote speaker, Dr. Pook wrote the PAUSE protocol to provide alternatives to opioid therapy for the community. She collaborates with regional COAT teams, the Ohio Hospital Association, and provides clinical expertise to the One Fifteen partners to tackle substance use disorder and help build frameworks for successful living.
Honored as a 2017 Best Doctor of Dayton, Dr. Pook also provides media outreach for medical crisis situations and educates a broad group of clinicians to contemporary operational advantage. She is a mentor to and cheerleader of many.
As a native of upstate New York, favorite hiking locations include the rich gorges of New York, the mountains of Alaska, and the Great Wall of China. Best hiking buddies include 3 daughters, one son, and Charlotte, the pug.
Rachel Goodspeed has served as the Community Relations Manager of Vectren, now a CenterPoint Energy Company, since 2014. In this role, she is the company’s community liaison in Ohio and Indiana, working with nonprofits, community organizations, and local and state officials to craft and implement community engagement strategies, and guide Vectren Foundation grantmaking. In 2018, the foundation provided nearly $5 million to over 400 organizations across Ohio and Indiana, and more than 1,500 Vectren employees volunteered over 53,500 hours of the their time to local nonprofits. Rachel has served on numerous boards and committees across the region.
Rachel is a Leadership Dayton graduate and was named one of Dayton’s Forty Under 40 in 2016. She holds a bachelor’s in English from Texas A&M University and a master’s in Communications from Ellis University. She has resided in Dayton since 2012 with her husband, Ross, and two children.
Judy Brinegar is President and CEO of B63 Line, a certified woman-owned digital marketing firm. Judy’s career has spanned more than 30 years of marketing, supporting entrepreneurial startups, driving community outreach, financial management, and business operational roles. Judy excels in applying visionary leadership to implement digital strategies, lead business change initiatives, and encourage cross-functional teams to achieve long-term goals.
Recognized as both a top CFO and COO, Judy instills strong business practices for clients, and on the advisory boards she serves on, such as Wright State University’s Raj Soin School of Business. She is a long-time advocate for encouraging and promoting women-owned businesses in the Dayton region, currently serving as the Dayton Region Co-chair for the Ohio River Valley Women’s Business Council. Judy earned her B.S. degree in Accounting from Miami University and her MBA from Wright State University.
Phillitia Charlton is a wife, mother, educator, leader, author, playwright, life coach, and survivor. From seven foster care placements, to becoming the first principal of a dropout recovery alternative school to be named a National Urban School of Excellence before age 40, Phillitia has always been resilient and determined to make every moment count. She is the co-founder and CEO of Charlton Charlton & Associates, and the creator of The Death of a Lie Empowerment Program. Phillitia’s popular workshops, trainings, blogs and articles have helped CEO’s and business leaders skip the learning curve and dive into addressing personal issues that are hindering professional growth and productivity. She’s a passionate life-long learner. Phillitia’s over 18 years in Educational Leadership and Administration has made her the go-to girl when it comes to programming, leadership, empowerment, and accountability. Phillitia has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Relations and a Master of Arts Degree in Project Management. She is also a certified teacher and administration evaluator. Her work spans across several school districts and multiple universities. Phillitia’s work has been recognized by the Rotary Club of Dayton, the National Center for Urban School Transformation, the Ohio Auditor of the State, and the National Urban League.
Shari Cooper is a strong advocate for everyone who lives with a disability, and her resume proves it. In her position as Public Relations Assistant for Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley, Shari is their “blogger-in-chief.” She’s also a columnist for the Dayton Daily News Editorial pages, and an award-winning speaker. This year, she served as the official emcee for DD Statehouse Advocacy Day, introducing advocates as well as the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the Director of the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities and other speakers. She gave a TED talk at TEDx Dayton in 2014 called “Are you OK with yourself?” But the role she cherishes most is that of disability awareness advocate.
Shari’s impact as an advocate is far-reaching. She has served on the Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities for the State of Ohio, and on the Ohio Secretary of State’s Americans with Disabilities Council. In 2008, she was elected to the Board of Directors for the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities. She’s served on the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Disability Foundation.
After decades of success and service in the business world, Marilyn Caporini has made her mark in Southwest Ohio as a tireless advocate for good health and vitality through proper hydration. Her concern for the topic led her several years ago to study with the Japan-based company Enagic international as well as top doctors in Tokyo and Okinawa, Japan. After learning about the power of water to support preventative health, she followed her passion, opening the Dayton water store which provides “Kangen Water Ionizers.“ Her goal is to provide a place in which to educate and inform the public on the benefits of proper hydration through electrolyzed reduced water. Now a senior certified trainer with Enagic USA. she is asked to speak nationally and internationally.
Marilyn is committed to serving people-and especially women-in the Dayton community.
She’s a board member and ambassador for women in business networking and is currently serving as co-chair for the lunch and learns. She served on a volunteer action committee of the Dayton area Chamber of Commerce for eight years. She was awarded the Ambassador of the year for Dayton Chamber of Commerce in 2010 and Ambassador of the year for women in business networking in 2018 she is also a current board member of the women’s health initiatives foundation, new Hope for cancer, raising funds for cancer research.
Wendy Larson currently serves as the 88th Air Base Wing’s Inspector General (Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio). She is a 28-year Air Force Veteran, retiring from active duty in 2015.
Post retirement, she pursued business interests and became active within the Women in Business Networking (WiBN). WiBN awarded Wendy with their Leadership Award in 2018. The camaraderie of a team working toward a common goal and greater purpose drew her back to the government sector in April 2019.
She is well respected for servant leadership and genuine compassion for people – regardless of rank or status. A Michigan farm girl born and raised, her values and work ethic are well seated and very evident to those with whom she interacts. Wendy lives in Dayton Ohio, with her husband Rocky. In November of 2019, they will celebrate 30 years of marriage. They have three sons who make their lives complete – Joshua, James and Joel.
