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Issues

Hunter
Jun 28, 2022

JENNIFER HUNTER

Education and mentorship are important to Jennifer Hunter. “If you want to create change and create opportunities … you’ve got to bring people to the table,” she says. “And that means supporting folks, equipping them, preparing them and then pulling them to the table with you.” Outside of mentoring others, she wa[...]

Agee
Jun 28, 2022

NANCY HOWELL AGEE

NANCY HOWELL AGEE President and CEO, Carilion Clinic, Roanoke Nancy Howell Agee calls herself “a bit of a unicorn” because, as a woman and a nurse, the odds of her ever heading a health care system were poor. When asked about obstacles she faced along the way to becoming CEO and president of Carilion Clinic […]

GILMER
Jun 28, 2022

MARY ANN GILMER

Workforce development and community betterment are key goals of Roanoke-based Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. And Mary Ann Gilmer, the nonprofit’s chief strategy and people officer, is furthering its mission through GoodCare, a medical workforce training program. The program connects Roanoke Valley residents to workforce t[...]

Underwood
Jun 28, 2022

CATHY UNDERWOOD

Cathy Underwood says her greatest strength is her ability to build relationships in the construction industry. She’s done that while working her entire 22-year career for Branch Builds, a subsidiary of The Branch Group, a Roanoke-based construction company. As president, Underwood leads Branch Builds’ commercial construction[...]

EILAND
Jun 28, 2022

JOANIE EILAND

Joanie Eiland recalls wishing she had a woman mentor in the early days of her career — so she became one. “I think we process things differently and experience things differently. And there’s nobody to talk to,” Eiland says. On mentoring others, she calls it a joy “to be there for the firsts — whether […]

Jessica Butterworth. Photo courtesy Colliers International
Jun 28, 2022

JESSICA BUTTERWORTH

There are male-dominated industries, and then there’s Jessica Butterworth’s office, where she is in charge of 145 engineering workers for Colliers’ Real Estate Management Services (REMS). Every last one is male. “It’s very different to be a female lead of engineering,” Butterworth says, in a gentle understatement. He[...]

MADRY-SMITH
Jun 28, 2022

NAKIA MADRY-SMITH

Few people can say they sing in a choir with Pharrell Williams. Or that they’ve performed on Netflix, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Good Morning America” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” But Nakia Madry-Smith has done all those things. Yet, she still finds time to connect with the community, representing Old Domin[...]

Photo by James Lee and Lindsey Windett
Jun 28, 2022

Taking the reins

To quote the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” In Year Two of our Virginia Business Women in Leadership Awards, we received more than 300 nominations — exceeding last year’s nominations by m[...]

WAKEFIELD
Jun 28, 2022

JENNIFER WAKEFIELD

Jennifer Wakefield is on a mission to turn the greater Richmond area into the top midsize region in the U.S. for business. To accomplish her goal, she is laser-focused on persuading companies to relocate to the area. She aims to create enough jobs to encourage youth to stay, instead of moving to other cities to […]

McHALE
Jun 28, 2022

REBECCA McHALE

Some job applicants might have been intimidated by the opportunity to integrate three information systems into one due to a massive merger of Perspecta Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp.’s federal IT and mission support services and Peraton, a national security contractor. Not Rebecca McHale. Helping Peraton, which is set to move to[...]

Jun 28, 2022

FOR THE RECORD

Central Virginia  The state’s fiscal 2023-24 budget, approved June 1, contains funding that will benefit future redevelopment of the Central Virginia Training Center site in Madison Heights. Republican Sen. Steve Newman requested $25 million in state money to annul outstanding bonds associated with CVTC, a former state facility for people with intellectual disabilities that closed […]

GULLICKSON
Jun 28, 2022

JANET GULLICKSON

Janet Gullickson initially didn’t think much about the importance of being named the first woman president of Germanna Community College in 2017, after having worked in higher education in Colorado, Minnesota and Washington state. “I just thought, ‘Well, women should be in these positions,’” she says. “It shouldn’t[...]

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