Excitement is building for Major League Baseball’s All-Star game on July 14 that will boost Greater Cincinnati’s friendly reputation and bustling economy, thanks in part to the leadership of Bob Castellini (Class 12). Leadership Cincinnati, just completing its 38th year, has generated hundreds of all-star civic initiatives to better our region. This issue of
The Leading Edge explores a balanced team of all-star projects and leaders across sports, education, health, arts, small business, retail and tourism.
By Libby Korosec (Class 32)
It has been 27 years since the All-Star
Game was last played in Cincinnati. Logically
Cincinnati would host in 2019 to celebrate the 150-year anniversary of the Cincinnati
Red Stockings being the first all-professional baseball team. But, in the eyes of Reds president/CEO and Leadership Cincinnati
Alumni Bob Castellini (Class 12), that was too long for this baseball town to wait.
So what convinced MLB to bring the game here in 2015?
According to Castellini, “It’s pretty basic, everybody involved did everything right and given the renaissance that has happened in the region, it was our turn.”
Everything right according to Castellini included the Reds hosting a league showcase event – the Civil Rights Game – in
2009 and 2010 where they highlighted their capacity and capability. And, the Cincinnati
USA Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB), the
Cincinnati Sports Commission and the Reds applied for the game twice before.
“Securing the All-Star Game was a labor of love for this community,” said Cincinnati USA
CVB president Dan Lincoln. “But we knew that the economic impact and the prestige that comes along with hosting the All-Star
Game was worth every effort that went into it.”
Elected officials wrote letters and passed resolutions. Fans sent emails and held up signs at games. Social media lit up with calls for Cincinnati to host the game. The region’s passion on the topic was clear.
Yet, Commissioner of Baseball Bud Selig was still favoring 2019.
“I finally asked dad… What is it going to take?” said Castellini’s son Phil Castellini,
COO of the Reds. “He said the decision now rested with a committee of one
– Bud Selig.”
With that, Bob Castellini redoubled his efforts to host 2015 the game. What
Castellini said to Selig and how many times he said it… we’ll never know. But, on Jan.
23, 2013, Selig stood in Great American
Ball Park and awarded the game to
Cincinnati and proclaimed, “I’ll say this for
Bob… man, he is persistent.”
Castellini gave a nod to the team effort it took to secure the game and the effort it will take to make it a success saying, “MLB could not have selected a more grateful or better community with which to partner.”
The 86th Annual Major League
Baseball All-Star Game is coming to
Cincinnati, and Leadership Cincinnati alums have been called upon to help ignite the region’s baseball spirit by donning red clothing every Friday now until through the All-Star Game on July 14.
Class 38 alums Melanie Chavez and Matt Stautberg are leading the community engagement events that include Reds Fridays. They ask LC
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Spring 2015

By Linnea Lose (Class 32)
After an impressive 28-year run,
The Leading Edge newsletter is being upgraded from a printed hard-copy format to an all-digital format, starting with the next issue. If you want to continue to receive The Leading
Edge, please submit your preferred email address to Lauren Nicholson at lnicholson@cincinnatichamber.com.
By moving to a new web-based newsletter format in July, the
Communications Committee of
Leadership Cincinnati Alumni
Association is able to bring additional resources to alumni, such as linking to in-depth white papers on current civic issues or connecting alums immediately to relevant activities.
Only a few dozen alumni do not have computer access, and will continue to receive copies of the new The
Leading Edge format via U.S. Postal
Service. For everyone else, send your email address to lnicholson@ cincinnatichamber.com.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Luxottica brands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 4
Welcomers Network. . . . . . . . . . . pg. 5
Winkler Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 6
Luminosity® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 6
Class notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 6
DHL event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . pg. 10
LCAA Networking events . . . . . . . .pg. 12
(continued from previous page) alum support in encouraging all local organizations to allow wearing red at the worksite including Reds gear (shirts, jerseys, hats, etc.), create healthy competitions among departments or peer organization and use #RedsFridays in social media promotion, and stay up-to-date on #RedsFridays and all community events leading up to the game at
.
By David Jenike (Class 36)
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is home to a number of all-star programs, people and exhibits. One of those programs is cheetah conservation.
The Angel Fund, created by Cathryn Hilker in 1992, has allowed the Zoo to become a leader in captive cheetah breeding – resulting in more than 40 successful cheetah cub births at the zoo’s offsite breeding facility in Clermont
County.
For 12 years, Hilker worked with a cheetah named Angel. The Angel Fund was established in her memory to support cheetah conservation projects both in captivity and in the wild. The affiliated Cat Ambassador Program educates more than 150,000 people each year about cheetahs and other wild cats.
Before she began focusing on cheetahs, Hilker started the zoo’s first school outreach program.
“Cathryn Hilker’s leadership in education and conservation are legendary at the Cincinnati Zoo,” according to Zoo director Thane Maynard (Class 17).
“Thousands of Cincinnati school children and Zoo patrons, supporters and volunteers have benefited from what she started four decades ago.” For her work, Cathryn Hilker was honored as a Great Living Cincinnatian in 2010.
The Cincinnati Zoo is one of nine institutions accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums that participate in a cheetah Breeding Center Coalition
(BCC). Working closely with the Cheetah Species Survival Plan, the BCC’s goal is to create a sustainable cheetah population that will prevent extinction of the world’s fastest land animal.
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By Dianne Bohmer McGoron (Class 23)
Graeter’s ice cream has been part of the palatepleasing heritage of Cincinnati since Louis Graeter began selling it at neighborhood markets in 1868. The ice cream has found its way into our hearts and bellies ever since. Recently, this local all-star has joined the big leagues, selling in 6,000 grocery and 40 retail stores in
46 states, with 300,000 pints filling mail orders annually.
In 2004, when the fourth generation – Bob, Chip and
Richard – took the reins it was more than a changing of hands. It was a changing of vision. Where would this generation take the iconic brand?
“We knew that what we did better than anyone else was make ice cream in a very unique way,” noted Richard
Graeter, a member of this year’s Leadership Cincinnati
Class 38. “We decided to do more of that and sell it more places.”
They devoted the first few months to bringing more efficient operations to their Mt. Auburn plant for more capacity. They rethought their process of equipment maintenance, created a highly performing staff and a culture that encouraged quality and service.
“A relationship with Kroger spurred our growth,” said
Richard. Kroger began carrying Graeter’s in select local stores. Robust sales led to more Kroger outlets locally and eventually to the grocery chain’s Denver locations.
Dallas, Houston and Atlanta were next. Soon plans began for building a new plant, a process that took two-anda-half years from vision to completion of the Bond Hill facility in 2010.
Today, Graeter’s can be found in nearly every state either in a grocery store or a Graeter’s retail store. Publix,
Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Giant Eagle and Dorothy
Lane Market are just some of the national chains and boutique markets carrying the ice cream. A new retail store is opening in Chicago this spring and with plans to open three stores a year, expansion in Cleveland,
Nashville, Charlotte and St. Louis is possible.
Spreading the word when Graeter’s enters new marketplaces is organic.
“People have a strong connection to our ice cream, so people who have lived in or visited Cincinnati or have friends or family here get the word out. We do a lot of social media, but advertising, particularly in major markets, is too costly.”
Mention of Graeter’s by Oprah, George Clooney, Warren
Buffett and other notables doesn’t hurt.
The Leading Edge
“We’ve grown and modernized, but our ice cream is still made in French pot freezers, just twoand-a-half gallons at a time. But instead of the four pots when I was a kid, we now have
32, operating day and night,” says
Richard.
By John Young (Class 17)
There is certainly an all-star lineup in Lower Price
Hill. The lineup has been in place for decades. It has enabled the Oyler School to show year-to-year outstanding progress related to academic achievement.
The Leadership Cincinnati Alumni Association Education
Committee played a pivotal role in improvements.
The committee had become alarmed about the dropout rate for students in our urban schools. We wanted to make a difference for students somewhere. We were introduced to Darlene Kamine, who educated us about the community school movement that was showing improved results elsewhere in the country. She introduced us to Craig Hockenberry, then-principal of
Oyler School. We met wonderful and wildly enthusiastic leaders in the neighborhood.
They were clear that Oyler was the hub of the community neighborhood, and they took great pride in “our school.” However, virtually no eighth-grade graduates completed high school. The community was convinced that if they had a high school, their students would no longer drop out. We went to bat for that purpose. The community told the story. A neighborhood business leader, Bill Burwinkel (Class 31), refined the pitch. Members of the committee worked with the
Cincinnatus Association’s Education Panel to advocate with decision makers and other community leaders to make the case. Then-superintendent for Cincinnati Public
Schools (CPS), Rosa Blackwell (Class 14), was an early and strong supporter of the idea. In 2006, Oyler High
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by Linnea Lose (Class 32)
It couldn’t be easier to join
Leadership Cincinnati Alumni
Association for the first time or to renew. Just visit tinyurl.com/duesdue to sign up or pay online. Dues remain the same as last year at $65. The only thing increasing is the number of activities.
LCAA just finished rousing behindthe-scenes visits to DHL and the
Art Museum, and has plenty more exciting events planned. Your dues give you special access to the ever-popular wine-tasting May 7, volunteer staffing of the central tourist information desk for the MLB
All-Star Game in July a new Call-to-
Leadership Banquet in September and a tour of the spectacular new dunnhumby building in November.
Your 2015 LCAA dues also support access to Leadership
Cincinnati for community leaders who might otherwise be unable to afford this program. The Myron L.
Dale (Class 14) Leadership Fund provides scholarships to ensure no voice is excluded when our classes are selected.
Visit tinyurl.com/duesdue for reminders about diverse educational and networking programs that connect you to current civic issues and great friendships.
(continues from page 3)
School opened.
Very quickly – and in some cases, simultaneously – a model community learning center was established. The community came into the school – now pre-K to 12 – to provide health, mental health, day care, recreational and many other services for students, their families and neighbors. The school is open before sunrise and well into the evening almost seven days a week.
Current CPS Superintendent Mary Ronan has championed community learning centers as supportive of strengthening neighborhoods while enhancing student achievement.
Four years later, more than 45 graduates and their families assembled for graduation ceremonies. It was said often that day that the graduates were the first in their family going back generations to graduate ftom high school. A recent class of almost 60 graduating students saw nearly every member continuing their education the following year or entering the military.
Go to bat. Open a high school. Score 60 runs year in and year out. The key to the victory was listening to the leaders of that neighborhood. They knew the score all along.
John Young is former chair of the Leadership Cincinnati Alumni Association
Education Committee.
By Janet Callif (Class 25)
Luxottica Retail is home to the largest family of optical retail brands in North
America, accounting for approximately 5,000 stores and 40,000 associates. Each brand is as unique as its audience and products, but the Luxottica associates who work in the stores and support them from the Mason headquarters share a common vision: helping people see and look their best.
Luxottica is more than brands, fashion and business – it is also the proud sponsor of the global charity, OneSight. OneSight, originally developed by
LensCrafters associates in Blue Ash as the Gift of Sight Program, has expanded
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Spring 2015

over the years and now delivers free vision care, eyewear and sunglasses to millions in need around the world. Independent doctors, store associates and lens technicians regularly volunteer to serve patients during international and domestic OneSight vision clinics. Since its inception 25 years ago, OneSight has provided vision care access to 8.5 million people in 40 countries.
You can learn more about OneSight and how this
Mason-based company is helping people in the United
States and around the world at onesight.org.
Janet Callif is former senior vice president of
Merchandising and Lenses at Luxottica Retail.
By Tamara Sullivan (Class 30)
The Welcomers Community Volunteer Network, launched in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in 2013, has quickly become one of the nation’s largest local collaborations of volunteers for arts, cultural and special events. Based on the enormous success of the 2012
World Choir Games, Shannon Carter (Class 19) and
Louise Hughes (Class 21) created the Network as a turnkey volunteer system to support the needs of local events, while helping to attract and host large-scale events to enhance the region’s economy.
Since launching, the Network now has 14 active local partner organizations, more than 4,000 experienced volunteers collectively and 24 experienced volunteer managers. Serving as the cornerstone to the Network’s success, each volunteer manager is affiliated with a local arts or cultural partner institution or organization hosting a special event and trained to use the Welcomers common technology platform.
By being a part of the Network, partner organizations can reach all 4,000 Welcomers volunteers with insider information about events and opportunities to get involved. The Network gives those volunteers one-stop access to information related to the entire gamut of volunteering options available throughout the Network.
“Finding local volunteers is a time-consuming task for event organizers,” Carter said. “Welcomers makes their job easier, and our region more attractive as a venue, by providing turnkey support for large-scale, one-time, national and international arts, cultural and special events.”
“The Welcomers Network is providing a common technology platform for participating local arts and cultural partners and promises to provide continuity that has been elusive in the past,” Hughes said.
The Welcomer’s database includes people who enrolled through partner organizations and others who have helped host large-scale events, such as the annual
International Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory.
Upcoming volunteer opportunities include the Cincy
USA Tourism Ambassadors Program, Spirit of Cicinnati community events leading up to and surrounding MLB
All-Star Week, River Grill before the Big Chill in October and more. The Welcomers uses Volunteer Impact
Enterprise Edition software provided by Better Impact, an international volunteer management software firm.
“Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky have a strong culture of volunteerism. One in four adults volunteers.
People take pride in using their skills and experience to give back to the communities where they live and work,” noted Hughes.
Interested partner organizations and volunteers can learn more about the Welcomers Network and identify opportunities at the Network’s web site: www.volunteerwelcomers.com.
The Leading Edge www.leadershipcincinnati.com
Spring 2015
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By Marianne F. Ivey (Class 33)
Are you sometimes surprised by Cincinnati’s treasures of which you were previously unaware?
Maybe a beautiful architectural example in one of our city’s buildings, a painting, piece of music or story of significant contributions by one of the area’s native or adopted daughters or sons perhaps?
To me, the Henry Winkler Center for the History of the
Health Professions is one of those treasures.
The Winkler Center is on the University of Cincinnati
Medical campus, in the Health Sciences Library.
The center is an archival repository, an exhibit area, an education and research resource, and a meeting place.
The center’s vision statement also includes partnering with K-12 schools and employers to encourage STEM careers. It is all these things to honor contributions of health care.
Physically the center consists of the Stanley Lucas board room, rooms for archival activities, historical texts and documents, video interviews and equipment showing medical progress made possible by researchers, educators and/or organizations of the Cincinnati health care community.
Collections of the center include a digitized archive of Albert Sabin’s papers (remember “Sabin on Sunday” when the early use of the Sabin’s Oral Polio vaccine was provided to the U.S. public?), oral histories of physicians and pharmacists, an iron lung and old orthopedic surgery equipment, to name just a few.
The beautiful and climate-controlled physical space and programs of the center are all made possible through private individual contributions and those of foundations.
See the center by attending the Cecil Striker lecture which is held each spring on the medical center campus. Or arrange to tour the center and see the beautiful replicas of 15th century Italian apothecary jars which were in the
1899 Paris International Exposition.
We are thankful to the passionate leadership of former
UC President, Henry Winkler, and the late Stanley Troup,
MD, both of whose advocacy of the importance of the center at a time when its existence was challenged were responsible for its continued presence here in Cincinnati.
Their leadership is a model for all of the current members of the advisory board as to the importance of passion and advocacy for a part of our history. Our own Dan Hurley serves as a member of the Henry Winkler Center for the
History of the Health Professions current advisory board and I’m honored to be its chair.
Ivey is chair of the Henry Winkler Center for the History of the Health Professions advisory board.
Dr. Sabin dispenses the first oral vaccine to children.
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Spring 2015

by Sherri Prentiss, (Class 36)
In 2013, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) pulled together a committee of influential community leaders and tastemakers to help develop ideas on how best to launch the orchestra’s new music director, Louis
Langrée, into our community.
That is how LUMENOCITY was born.
LUMENOCITY launched in August 2013 over two nights in Washington Park to 35,000 enthusiastic fans who turned out to see what this experiment was all about.
For years, Disney applied the technique of architectural mapping at the Magic Kingdom, but LUMENOCITY was the first time on this continent that 3-D projection-mapped visuals were synched with a live symphony orchestra.
In 2014, the CSO expanded the event, adding
LUMENOCITY Village. The festival drew more than 42,000 fans, with an additional 135,000-plus watching via webcast, “live site” simulcasts or on TV as the highestrated program in its time slot. To help ensure broad access, the CSO distributed 10 percent of tickets through human service organizations in and around Over-the-
Rhine (OTR).
The dramatic popularity of LUMENOCITY in its first two years has also yielded safety concerns with the size of the crowds. A new fee will be charged to reduce attendance and also to encourage the enthusiastic public to help sustain this kind of exciting public forum.
The success of LUMENOCITY – a festival celebrating music and community in a formerly dilapidated park in the heart of the urban core – is a signal that something exciting is happening here. The Cincinnati Enquirer described the inaugural event as “a tipping point” for
OTR. Word of LUMENOCITY garnered national attention, as well. The Huffington Post noted that “…the Cincinnati
Symphony Orchestra…is playing…an explicit and central role in shaping a neighborhood’s social, physical and economic future.”
Both the CSO and creative partner Brave Berlin have been contacted by several organizations outside of
Cincinnati. In particular, the CSO has received calls from orchestras who have been awed by the coverage and hope to replicate a similar event in their communities. The
CSO is taking a leadership role in exploring the marriage
Two of the many faces of the CSO’s Luminocity of music and light in a pioneering way in and outside of our market.
We are a city inspired.
Sherry Prentiss is vice president of Marketing,
Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and May
Festival (Class 36)
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Spring 2015
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Luminocity showcases the work of local illustrator and internationally renowned Charlie Harper on the facade of Cincinnati Music Hall.
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www.leadershipcincinnati.com
Spring 2015

Tony Aretz (Class 33) , president of Mount St. Joseph
University, will resign at the conclusion of the current academic year. Aretz has served as president of the institution since 2008.
Laura A. Carr (Class 26 and WE Lead Class 5) has been recognized as a Who’s Who in Black Cincinnati and as a Venue Magazine 2014 Woman of Influence Honoree.
Phil Collins (Class 30) received the Distinguished
Service Award from The UC Carl H. Linder College of Business at the 30th Annual Cincinnati Business
Achievement Awards.
Thomas M. Cooney (Class 35) and Crystal L. Faulkner
(Class 27) recently received the designation of Certified Exit
Planner (CExP). After completing extensive coursework and preparation through the Business Enterprise Institute (BEI), the two have joined an elite group of business advisors who have earned this certification. There are fewer than 300 professionals who hold this designation in the United States.
Terry Garcia Cruz (Class 36) has been hired by the U.S.
Department of Transportation as the regional administrator for the Federal Transit Administration for Region 3. This region covers Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Delaware,
Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
Vincent Demasi (Class 31) is now the police chief of Mt.
Healthy, Ohio.
Susan Dorward (Class 21) has been named the director of development of the Mercy Health Foundation.
Leslie Dye (Class 30) became editor-in-chief of point of care content for Elsevier publishing in June and became president of the American College of Medical Toxicology in October.
Kristen Erwin (Class 37) and the Greater Cincinnati Film
Commission have been selected to receive the Over-the
Rhine’s Chamber of Commerce 2015 Community Impact
Star Award.
Dan Geeding (Class 3) will be leaving Interact for
Health after 17 years of monitoring and nurturing Interact’s financial resources. Geeding started his association with The
Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati as a member of The
Choice Care Board of Directors from 1989-1997 and played a key role in the creation of this valuable community resource.
David Goodwin (Class 38) was named the 2015 Medical
Mutual Nonprofit Board Executive of the Year. The award was presented at the Pillar Awards banquet at Duke Energy
Convention Center.
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Relax, unwind and join the graduates of
Leadership Cincinnati for an evening of great wine and conversation 5:30-7:30 p.m., May 7. Hosts are Marianne (Class 33) and Tom Ivey at their beautiful Hyde Park home, which was designed by innovative Cincinnati architect James Gilmore.
Gilmore challenged the Victorian conventions of the
19th century and embraced 20th century Modernism with a distinctly Prairie influence. In 1935, Judge Frank
E. Wood purchased the home. Two generations of Woods
(including Robin and Bo) lived in the house until they sold it to the Iveys in 1995.
Cost for the event is $45. RSVP at tinyurl.com/lcaawine.
The Leading Edge www.leadershipcincinnati.com
Spring 2015
9

By Ian Budd (Class 32)
Imagine the NASA control room, as seen in movies and on television. The DHL Express Inc. North American operations room looked a bit like that. Leadership
Cincinnati alumni who participated in the DHL tour
March 11 saw that space and more, including one of
DHL’s planes and the sorting facility.
Since the main activity at DHL occurs overnight, there was only minimal activity going on. It was easy to imagine what a hive of activity the place is overnight when the planes fly in and out, allowing only a short window to handle thousands of shipments.
The purpose of the tour was to illustrate to alumni the significant role DHL plays at the airport and how important it is for Cincinnati that we have the leading
North American international parcel shipper right here in Cincinnati. That is a major draw for companies that depend on shipping by air.
The DHL facility in Erlanger is the command center for North America and one of four centers in the world.
Jeffrey Hinebaugh (Class 32) has been elected to the board of directors of Dinsmore & Shohl.
Daniel Hoffheimer (Class 13) has been elected to the board of directors of Linton Music, one of the country’s premier chamber music organizations under the artistic leadership of internationally acclaimed musicians Jaime Laredo and Sharon
Robinson.
Lee Hoffheimer (Class 27) resigned as the vice president of
Institutional Advancement at the Cincinnati Museum Center
Margaret Hulbert (Class 11) was named a 2015 “Woman of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts of Western Ohio.
Ron Jackson (Class 37) , professor of communications at the University of Cincinnati, was elected to be the 2015 second vice president of the National Professors of Communication.
Adrienne James (Class 35) will retire as superintendent of the Sycamore School District as of June 30. James has worked in education for 36 years including 32 years in the
Sycamore District.
Michael Keating (Class 14) , the president/CEO of The
Christ Hospital Health Network, joined the board of trustees of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
John Marrocco (Class 35) has been named president of the Cincinnati Market of Key Bank. He had served as commercial sales executive and senior vice president at Fifth
Third Bank. He replaces Tom Schlehuber (Class 37).
Pam McClain (Class 23) , a long–time leader at Talbert
House, passed away in late March following a battle with cancer.
Byron McCauley (Class 35) is now a content coach for
Community Press and Community Recorder at Enquirer Media.
Candace McGraw (Class 34) , the CEO of the Greater
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, was named a winner of the 2015 Outstanding Women of Northern
Kentucky for 2015.
Ryan Messer (Class 38) was named one of “Seven to Watch” by Cincy Magazine in its Power 100 issue. The editors noted Ryan’s roles as president of the Over the Rhine
Community Council and as the leader of the effort to save the streetcar.
Peg Moertl (Class 23) has been promoted to senior vice president, operations manager, Community Development
Banking for PNC Bank.
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Spring 2015

Valerie Newell (Class 10) , the chair and managing director of RiverPoint Capital Management, was named by the Financial Times as one of the Top 100 U.S. Women
Financial Advisers in 2014.
Pat O’Connor (Class 24) , the executive vice president and chief operating officer of Interact for Health, announced her retirement after more than 17 years of leading the strategic grant-making process of the organization. Over that time, O’Connor was responsible for the selection and oversight of $185 million in grants.
Julia Poston (Class 34) , the managing partner of
Ernst & Young, was named 2015 chair of the Cincinnati
USA Regional Chamber by the board of trustees. Poston was publicly installed at the annual dinner Feb. 26. She succeeds outgoing chair Mel Gravely (Class 19) .
Thomas Schleuber (Class 37) left the position as president of Key Bank in the Cincinnati region. Schleuber plans to stay in Cincinnati and look for other opportunities.
Jim Scott (Class 4) retired as the morning drive time host for WLW radio after more than three decades. He began his professional career in 1968 on WSAI-AM. Scott won the 2002 Marconi Award for Large Market Radio
Personality of the Year.
Tamara Sullivan (Class 30) was appointed by Gov. John
R. Kasich to the Ohio Chemical Dependency Professionals
Board, serving as a public member on the board. In prior years, she has served as the executive director for the
Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati (now Prevention
First), assistant vice president for PRIDE and the public information officer for the former Ohio Department of
Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.
Ellen van der Horst (Class 21) has joined the board of trustees of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation.
Sallie Westheimer (Class 6) announced her retirement as president and CEO of 4C for Children as of June 30.
Westheimer began as an original board member of 4C in 1972 and has served as its executive leader for more than 35 years. Under her leadership, 4C has grown from a small agency that provided training and planning services to local child care centers to become the region’s leader in educating and supporting the adults who care for children at home and in child care centers, preschools and family child care homes in 40 counties in Ohio and Kentucky.
Julie Zimmerman (Class 38) has joined Management
Partners as chief knowledge officer. The company helps local governments across the country improve their performance.
Kathryn Haines (Class 32) has been elected as board chair for Cincinnati Union Bethel for the next two years.
The board includes Barbara Howard (Class 14) , Myron
Hughes (Class 32) and Cheryl Ladd (Class 33) as well as four graduates of C-Change. Steve MacConnell (Class
17) is the CEO and Mary Carol Melton (Class 32) is the executive vice president.
Three alums of Leadership Cincinnati will be recognized as YWCA Career Women of Achievement. They include
Kelley Downing (Class 27) , the president and CEO of
Bartlett and Co.; Candace McGraw (Class 34), CEO of
Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport; and Liza
Smitherman (Class 36) , vice president for Professional
Development of Jostin Construction.
The Cincinnati Enquirer included two Leadership
Cincinnati graduates in its 2015 Women of the Year:
Kathyrne Gardette (Class 21) , a creative idealist and community activist who lives in Walnut Hills, and Kelley
Downing (Class 27) , president and CEO of Bartlett & Co.
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Spring 2015
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Presort Standard
Middletown, OH
2187 Grandin Road, Cincinnati OH 45208
May 7 • 5:30 – 7:30 PM
June 17 • 5:30 – 7:30 PM
June 10 – 14 plus possibly
1 to 2 more days
September 3 after Call to Leadership Class 39
September 17 • 4:00 - 6:00 PM
October 27 • 5:30 - 7:30 PM
November 11 • 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Dan Hurley, Director, Leadership Cincinnati
Lauren Nicholson, Program Administrator, Leadership Programs
The Leading Edge is published four times a year and reported by your alumn.
Send Class Notes to Dan Hurley (dhurley@cincinnatichamber.com).
Class Notes are prepared by Stacy Wessels and Dan Hurley.
The Leading Edge is a quarterly publication of Leadership Cincinnati USA Alumni and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
© Leadership Cincinnati USA Alumni 2015. All rights rerserved.
The views expressed in The Leading Edge are those of the contributing authors of the Leadership Cincinnati Alumni Association and do not necessarily reflect those of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
2015 Officers
Sandy Berlin Walker 30................................
2015 LCAA Board
Elsa Abruzzo 35
Van Ackerman 30
Raymond Brokamp 3
Cindy Combs 34
Ron T. DeLyons 35
Steve Drefahl 26
Cate Fopma Reinert 14
Myron Hughes 32
Howard Kaplan 32
Valerie Landell 34
Nancy Lawson 10
Byron McCauley 35
President
Rosemary Schlachter 24.........
Immediate Past President
Howard Kaplan 32................
Treasurer/President Elect
Mary Carol Melton 32
Mark Neikirk 26
Lori Powers 30
Elvia Price 32
Lori Powers 30
Patsy Ragio 30
James Saporita 36
Rosemary Schlachter 24
Mike Selker 37
Paul Silva 36
Elaine Suess 34
Tamara Sullivan 30
Derek van Amerongen 29
Communications Committee:
Carol Aquino 25
Beth Reiter 32
Paul Bernheimer 10
Suzy Dorward 21
Sallie Hilvers 33
Libby Korosec 32
Linnea Lose (Chair) 32
Byron McCauley 35
Dianne Bohmer McGoron 28
Michael Perry 36
Jackie Reau 37
Nancy Strassel 34
Tamie Sullivan 30
Stacy Wessels (Akron Transfer)
Sandy Berlin Walker 30
Larry Williams 24