27 May Melissa Blount-Garner Honored as WELD 2021 Woman WELDing the Way
Women for Economic and Leadership Development has selected 12 women to feature in a 2021 calendar because of their leadership roles, their impact on the community, and their mentorship of other women.
A dozen central Ohio women are being honored as strong leaders who have made a difference in their community and their organizations.
The Westerville-based Women for Economic and Leadership Development will honor the women at a reception Nov. 5 in the Ohio Statehouse atrium. They also will be featured in a 2021 calendar.
“Several years ago, when WELD was started, the founders looked at the leadership landscape in central Ohio and didn’t see a lot of women,” said Barb Smoot, WELD’S president and CEO. “The reason they were given was, ‘We would have more women in leadership if we could find more qualified candidates.’”
The annual calendar is a way of saying “here they are,” she said.
To be selected as an honoree a woman must be a strong leader, give back to her community, and mentor and inspire other women, Smoot said.
Dr. Kim Carter, campus dean for Strayer University, felt her trailblazing career was one of the biggest reasons she was selected.
Carter was the first black woman to hold the position of multifamily hub director for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“It means the world to me that someone thought enough of me to nominate me,” she said.
She oversees charitable giving and volunteer opportunities, and provides financial education to women and minorities, she said.
“I am so fortunate and blessed to be in a role in community and economic development,” Blount-Garner said.
Other nominees are Tara D. Bair, president and CEO of Community Health & Wellness Partners; Heather Brilliant, chief executive officer and president of Diamond Hill Capital Management; Janet Chen, CEO of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra; Betty L. Collins, CPA and director of Brady Ware & Company; Sandra R. López, legislative adviser for the Columbus City Council; Mary McCarthy, president of the Women’s Small Business Accelerator; Sachiyo Isoda Peterson, partner with Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease; Dr. Sophia Tolliver, clinical assistant professor for the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center; and Guadalupe A. Velasquez, managing director of Welcoming City.