Business Editor: Symposium focuses on women in leadership

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By Arundi Venkayya Cox, Business Editor 11:26 PM Saturday, January 16, 2010

A lack of opportunity and mentoring keep women from becoming business leaders, said Barbara Johnson, vice president for operations at Miami Valley Hospital.

Johnson and several other local women will serve as panelists during the Women in Leadership Symposium, a program of the National Diversity Council, on Feb. 18 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton.

Johnson agreed to serve as a panelist after speaking at an Ohio Diversity and Leadership conference. Following that conference, she was asked to participate in the Dayton symposium.

“We don’t network as well as our male counterparts and there’s that issue of balancing career and family life,” Johnson said.

Women also may struggle with finding the right mentor, she said.

“Mentoring is time-consuming,” she said. “Women already are stressed with demands and sometimes there isn’t even the appropriate amount of time to interact with your mentor. It’s important. It is critical ... to identify a mentor who is good at mentoring.”

Jason DeGroot, director of administration for the Texas Diversity and National Diversity Council, said that the symposiums were started to address issues with women in leadership positions.

“We want people to hear from executives who have made it to the top — from women leaders who have been successful in their careers.”

The format of the program will include a panel discussion and a question and answer session, DeGroot said. He said he hopes about 100 to 150 women will attend the Dayton session.

The symposiums, he said, “Are to give women a voice and to level the playing field because there is still a long way to go.”

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