This year’s theme, “Writing our Future Together,” reflects the power of collective leadership and recognizes that lasting change is built through collaboration, shared vision and courageous action.
The women will be honored at the organization’s 2026 Women of Influence luncheon on March 1, at the Dayton Convention Center. Five local women are being honored as Women of Influence while a sixth will be receiving the Betsey Whitney Lifetime Achievement Award.
Here are the honorees:
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Debbie Blunden Diggs, CEO and artistic director, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company
Q: Tell us about your efforts in your industry or field for which you were nominated.
My efforts in the field of dance have always been centered on creating art (da1nce) that transcends. Creating space where artists can grow and be nurtured. Having an experience of creative conversation through movement. To create a dialogue with our audiences and communities that challenge, soothe and celebrate a collective culture. through the African American lens, using dance as the vehicle for delivery.
Q: What inspires you about the Dayton community and why do you think it’s important to contribute?
What inspires me about Dayton is that there is so much untapped potential here. We are surrounded by creativity. It is important to contribute to a community that has the potential to be unique in who we are. I believe as a staple in the community we have an obligation to be selfless and open to internal and external growth that will allow us to reach that potential.
Q: What are your hopes for your organization and impact in the future?
My hopes for DCDC in the future is that we become a household name that people rally around and support. That we become an important source in our community both on and off the stage. That we garner national and international success proudly carrying the DAYTON name and heritage wherever we go.
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Myla Cardona Jones, CEO Brunner Literacy Center; executive director, Kettering Backpack Program
Q: Tell us about your efforts in your industry or field for which you were nominated
The work we do centers on advancing literacy, food equity, and educational access for families across the Dayton region. In my role, I focus on building strong community partnerships, expanding volunteer engagement, and advocating for systems that reduce barriers for underserved learners. At the core of this work is the belief that literacy and basic needs are foundational to dignity and opportunity.
Q: What inspires you about the Dayton community and why do you think it’s important to contribute?
Dayton inspires me because it is a community that shows up for one another, especially in moments of challenge. There is a deep sense of resilience, collaboration, and pride here that fuels meaningful change. Contributing matters because when we invest locally, we strengthen not just programs, but people and futures.
Q: What are your hopes for your organization and impact in the future?
Both organizations hope to continue growing programs that expand literacy access, address basic needs, and create long-term pathways to success for families. My goal is to deepen partnerships, elevate community voices, and advocate for systemic change that lasts beyond any one organization. Ultimately, I want our impact to be measured by stronger, more equitable outcomes for the people we serve.
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Robyn Lightcap, executive director, Preschool Promise
Q: Tell us about your efforts in your industry or field for which you were nominated.
My work is focused on making sure every child in our region can have the experiences they need. Children do better in school and life when children have rich learning environments at home and at school, and when parents get the support, they need to work while also helping their children grow and develop. When we invest in early childhood, everyone wins - it’s good for the child, the family and the community.
Q. What inspires you about the Dayton community and why do you think it’s important to contribute?
Dayton is an amazing place to live and work. We are large enough to have access to resources that many small cities don’t have and yet mid-sized enough that we have genuine collaboration. Everyone can make an impact in whatever area they are most passionate about - whether it’s the performing arts with great organizations like Dayton Performing Arts Alliance, Muse Machine, Dayton Live; education - with great higher ed institutions; Art and Science with organizations like Dayton Art Institute, Boonshoft - the list goes on and on! We have so many great nonprofits and assets in our community.
Q. What are your hopes for your organization and impact in the future?
I imagine the day when every young child has access to high-quality childcare and preschool, no matter what the income of the parent. I imagine that their teachers are paid the respectable salaries and benefits they deserve doing this important work. I imagine that parents have access to support as they navigate the challenges of parenting. When we make this happen in our community, our state, and our country, we all will benefit!
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Heather Salazar, president and CEO, Pink Ribbon Good
Q: Tell us about your efforts in your industry or field for which you were nominated.
As the President and CEO of Pink Ribbon Good, I’m devoted to providing practical support to those battling breast and gynecological cancer right here in Dayton and in 7 other regions of the country from San Francisco, California to Buffalo, New York. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31, I had a whole army rallying around me to make sure my family was fed, that I had rides to treatment and my house was clean. It’s now my privilege to make sure thousands of women who hear those three dreaded words, “you have cancer” each year are wrapped in support the same way the Dayton community cared for me and my family.
Q. What inspires you about the Dayton community and why do you think it’s important to contribute?
I am so proud to be from Dayton. We’re known as the city of innovation, and thanks to the way people in Dayton show up for one another, this dream of providing real support, right now for people diagnosed with cancer, is spreading across the nation. What started in Dayton is truly changing cancer care in America.
Q. What are your hopes for your organization and impact in the future?
One of our National Board members who lives in Dayton put it best, “Every patient, everywhere.” As long as there are people hearing, “you have cancer,” Pink Ribbon Good will be there to make sure there’s dinner on the table and that there’s a ride to treatment so those newly diagnosed can simply focus on the fight.
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Lisa Wagner, executive director, Levitt Pavilion
Q: Tell us about your efforts in your industry or field for which you were nominated.
I would like to believe that the work we are doing by bringing our community together through the language and vibration of music we are creating and strengthening connections and inspiring joy by bridging the gaps that we believe exist, only to find that when we have a shared humanity. Together we are creating a safe space where everyone belongs and where everyone is seen.
Q. What inspires you about the Dayton community and why do you think it’s important to contribute? We live in a very special community where we really are only separated by one degree of separation and if you need help you are only one call away from that support. We need to continue that legacy of kindness and generosity to lift one another up.
Q. What are your hopes for your organization and impact in the future? I hope that we will continue to strengthen the social fabric of our community while also contributing to the social determinants of health through connections as we face the epidemic of isolation and loneliness facing us. If we can make our little corner of the world a better and loving place it is my hope that it will ripple to have broader impact. We hope to continue to add to the vibrancy of the urban core and making great, live music accessible for all.
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Credit: Knack Video + Photo
Vicki Edwards Giambrone, partner, CBD Advisors – Betsy Whitney Lifetime Achievement winner
Q: Tell us about your efforts in your industry or field for which you were nominated.
I’ve spent my career translating between worlds that don’t always speak the same language—systems, policy, and lived experience. As a three-time cancer survivor, I learned early what it means to depend on systems—and what happens when they fall short. That experience shaped a career focused on turning intention into action.
Across 24 years at Dayton Children’s Hospital, in my current and past roles, I’ve worked to build strategies, systems and programs that meet the need and create lasting change. Today, that commitment continues with the development of a new Boys & Girls Club in West Dayton—focused on safety, opportunity, and belonging. Success isn’t about a title; it’s about impact that lasts.
Q: What inspires you about the Dayton community and why do you think it’s important to contribute?
Dayton doesn’t look away when things get hard, we rebuild, we organize, and we show up. I’ve seen this city face unbelievable challenges and crisis, with grit and compassion.
Contributing to Dayton matters because this is where change becomes real—where policy meets people, and where investment in children reshapes entire neighborhoods. When we commit to Dayton, our neighbors, and to our kids - who deserve more than survival - we make a statement about the future we believe in. Dayton understands that lifting children lifts the whole community—and that is worth fighting for.
Q: What are your hopes for your organization and impact in the future?
My life has taught me that survival creates purpose—and real connection is how we turn that purpose into lasting change for kids, families, and communities. My hope is to keep building networks that give more than they take—connecting leaders, institutions, and communities to identify opportunities and drive bold, measurable change for children and families. I want to continue sponsoring women who are ready to lead but may not yet see their own power.
For me, this amazing lifetime achievement award isn’t a finish line, it’s fuel. There is still work to do, and I’m just getting started.
Visit ywcadayton.org to learn more about the YWCA’s mission.
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