Posts in Education
What is a School Board?

Election season has arrived! There are many choices on your ballot – from city council candidates, to issues, levies, and more it can be overwhelming. If you live in the Cincinnati Public School District, you will also be tasked with electing a new school board this election cycle. Not exactly sure what a school board does? Have no fear! Our Women of Cincy Residents have taken the time to break it all down for you. Happy reading and forget to VOTE on or before November 7. Find your polling place here.

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Dr. Kara Ayers on Disability, Connection, and Empathy

Dr. Kara Ayers knows the importance of empathy to change hearts, minds, and actions. From navigating a disability, finding community support, expanding her research and prolific career, lobbying policymakers, and raising her family, empathy underscores Dr. Ayers’ life. The summer sun poured into her brightly colored office at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital as we talked about why community connections change lives, what’s missing when we talk about disability, and how we can do better in caring for each other.

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Shabana Shakir-Ahmed: Living and Sharing Her Faith

The Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati campus sits in a suburban neighborhood about 25 minutes from where I grew up and now live – something I didn’t know until Shabana Shakir-Ahmed suggested we meet there. During the time we spent talking and touring the center, I learned there was a lot Shabana and I shared, and even more that I did not know about the Muslim religion and the center.

Like me, Shabana is a mother of three, spent time at the University of Chicago, and is active in the Cincinnati non-profit scene. But unlike me, she battles harsh and unfair misconceptions about who she is – a Muslim woman. Shabana opened up about how she’s working to combat Islamophobia by living authentically and sharing her faith. 

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Ruth Anne Wolfe and the Coffee Cup that Changed a Neighborhood

Along Montgomery Road in Pleasant Ridge sits a charming gray house that, more often than not, is bustling with activity. In this building, countless conversations have occurred between neighbors and friends over steaming hot cups of coffee, cocoa, and tea. This is the home of Community Happens Here, a local nonprofit on a mission to connect people. Its founder, Ruth Anne Wolfe, spoke with us about how Community Happens Here started, the power of conversation, and why she’s adamant about saying, “Hello.”

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Whitney Gaskins: See it, Be it – Breaking the Barriers of STEM

Women of Cincy sat down with Dr. Whitney Gaskins in the cutting-edge new Digital Futures building at the University of Cincinnati. With research labs, drone rooms, and contemporary architecture as the backdrop for our conversation, it was impossible to not be inspired and uplifted by all the hard work and advocacy Dr. Gaskins pours into her work every day, making sure everyone has a fair shot at a career in STEM.

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Robin Walker: Building Futures in Technology

Late last summer, we met up with entrepreneur, former technology manager, and nonprofit leader Robin Walker at her business space in Springdale. In two adjacent storefronts in a shopping plaza, Walker runs a suite of organizations: one a technology support company (Technology Tailor Made) and one a nonprofit that aims to build careers in technology for minority youth (Camp BYOC). That nonprofit started as a short summer program for a handful of teenagers – as “Build Your Own Computer Camp” – and has expanded to become a wider range of programs including coding, multimedia, and robotics. 

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Artist Cynthia Lockhart on Art, Passion, and Using Your Gifts

It only takes a few milliseconds to feel the sparking energy that radiates from Cynthia Lockhart—it’s the kind of glittering comfort you want to bottle up and drink when you’re having a low day. She exudes confidence through a contagious smile, fabulous wardrobe, and lively charisma; her words travel with passion and leave a residual feeling of encouragement.

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Annie Ruth: Learning with Art

The best way to describe Annie Ruth is as a bright ray of sunlight on a foggy, hazy day. When she walks into a room, her spirit is a reminder of hope and positivity. She brings her authentic self forward and hopes to inspire others to do the same. Not only is Annie a talented artist and educator, but she's full of compassion and wisdom, and her enthusiasm for life is truly contagious. Even after many difficult obstacles in her path, she’s living proof that strength and determination can move mountains.

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Lauren White on Building Community Connections and the Dark Side of the Moon

Huddled in Clifton’s Sitwells Coffeehouse, we sat down with author and community leader, Lauren White. The coffee shop is just a short drive from the University of Cincinnati (U.C.), where Lauren received her bachelor’s degree, is working on her master’s, and is a current employee. She’s made the most of the opportunities U.C. provides to create change for students and youth across Cincinnati. A published poet, Lauren wrote a book of poetry sharing the untold stories of Black women that she hopes will help encourage and inspire anyone who reads it.

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Proud of How Far We’ve Come: Zoey Peach on LGBTQ Rights and HIV Prevention

Zoey Peach is, as her name implies, a real peach, with a bubbly personality and excitement behind her glistening eyes. The health educator and outreach maven invited us into the newly re-opened offices at Caracole, a nonprofit AIDS service organization serving the tri-state area in the fight against HIV/AIDS through prevention, housing, and care. Zoey shared stories of the amazing people she’s learned from and how she’s using that knowledge to fight discrimination in the tri-state area.

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Esther Maria Claros Berlioz, Ph.D., on the Ways Cincinnati's Immigrant Community Weaves a 'Tapestry of Beauty'

Esther Maria Claros Berlioz, Ph.D., is an integral part of the Latinx community in Cincinnati, welcoming and supporting the immigrant community – especially the children, who she lovingly dotes on. In her work with these children, art has become a communal language, with color and scenes representing unique journeys that are understood through shared humanity, history, and dreams.

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Connecting the Dots: Architectural Designer and Affordable Housing Advocate Priyanka Sen

I studied art history as an undergraduate at Boston University, and I kind of fell into architecture. They had a fantastic professor, an architecture historian, who became my mentor, and I studied architectural history and art history and then got the design bug. I love learning the history and theory of these things. What if I used my skills differently? I think I always loved watching buildings go up. Thinking about how we build community and society’s fabric – that’s what led me many years later to design school at the University of Cincinnati.

I wanted architecture to be more than it currently is. I wanted it to imprint more on community and society, and how we think about each other and spaces. Since I’ve graduated, I’ve focused my efforts on thinking about that, changing how I think about teaching. With everything that is going on in the world, I’ve been thinking more deeply about how we need to impact future generations and our earth. I would like to leave more of a legacy, getting my students to think about projects more deeply.

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Wendy Calaway: Finding Hope and Fighting for a Safer, More Just Society

Wendy Calaway, professor and criminal defense attorney, grew up in Williamsburg, Ohio, just east of Cincinnati. She studied both political science and law at the University of Cincinnati. It’s there, in law school, where she found her passion for justice. We sat down via video conference to learn more about bail reform, overturning wrongful convictions, and what it’s really going to take for everyone to truly receive equal protection under the law.

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This Is Entrepreneurship: Christine Fisher on Managing a Start-Up Through COVID-19

We talked with Christine in late April about what it’s like to manage a company through a crisis (or two) with two young boys, a husband, and a dog in her immediate space. With characteristic candor and compassion, we learned not only about the struggles she and her colleagues are facing, but she talks first-hand about the struggles of the families, teachers, and school systems who are Possip users.

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The Cincinnati Symphony’s Ixi Chen: Creating Harmony from the Classroom to concert:nova

I would say that I’m a supporter. First of all, I play second clarinet in the Cincinnati Symphony. That’s been my position since 2001. I never wanted to be the star and have all the solos and glory. I was much more interested in creating harmony, playing chamber music, helping other voices shine, and being the sideman, like in a band. 

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Home Away from Home: Zvisinei Dzepasi Mamutse

Zia is humble, but don’t let that fool you: She has fierce ambition. The world she lives in now is quite different from the life she knew in her native Zimbabwe, and I’m looking forward to uncovering her story. She offers us fruit and water before we settle in to talk.

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Living Lightly on Earth: Earth Connection’s Sister Caroljean Willie

Sister Caroljean (C.j.) Willie is the program director at Earth Connection, an environmental center affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and adjacent to Mount St. Joseph University in Western Hills. Sister C.j. brings to Earth Connection her years of multicultural work experience from working with teachers in developing countries such as East Cebal, Uganda, Guatemala, and Mexico, her Peace Corps service on the island of Saint Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean, and her work for eight years at the United Nations as the N.G.O. representative of the Sisters of Charity Federation which includes 14 congregations working in 26 countries. As an educator, Sister C.j. quoted a teacher who said, “Everything you teach has to have hooks on it that attach to something else in someone’s experience,” which has influenced her environmental sustainability efforts to encourage communities to work together.

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