Hundreds attend Women Shaping Our Region event
CRANBERRY TWP — Service, decision-making and work-life balance were among the subjects highlighted at a panel discussion Friday, Oct. 16, featuring five women leaders from the Pittsburgh region.
The dialogue, moderated by WPXI-TV news anchor Lisa Sylvester, was part of the seventh annual Women Shaping Our Region event.
Organized by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce and Pittsburgh Business Exchange, the networking event brought together 825 attendees at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh.
Panelists included female pioneers in five business sectors: transportation, healthcare, philanthropy, human services and tourism.
Ethan Nicholas, president of Pittsburgh Business Exchange, said the event was “our most successful event to date with a sellout and a waiting list.”
Panelists offered perspectives on what the path to their current positions were and what moving on to those roles taught them.
Elizabeth Wild, president of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, noted the extra effort required to lead and the challenges to getting your efforts noticed in what she described as “imperfect meritocracies.”
“Sometimes, you can't allow your work to speak for you,” Wild said. “You need to speak for your work.”
Sylvia Fields, president emerita of the Eden Hall Foundation, said when she entered the philanthropy field, she was not looked at for serious input right away and urged attendees to “invite yourself.”
“And as time went by, they started including me in these meetings,” she said.
Amy Pack, president of Experience Butler, spoke about viewing hurdles as challenges rather than risks.
“I always took every challenge as an exciting thing, and the confidence came along with each step,” she said.
Katharine Kelleman, CEO of Pittsburgh Regional Transit, said weighing pros and cons and taking financial considerations and human impact into account are a part of tough decisions.
“To me, a tough decision is something that gives you two different versions of who you think you should be and you have to figure out which is the right one,” Kelleman said.
Wild noted the decisions that positively affect people and business operations sometimes go hand-in-hand.
“In healthcare, business decisions really are human decisions,” she said. “When you do the right thing for patients and their families, that tends to align with your organizational priorities.”
Pack said women are sometimes underestimated as leaders because they get pulled in many different directions, from managing a business to running a household.
“We’re all here proving that you can do everything you want to do and keep all those balls in the air,” said Pack. “But I think sometimes you are judged by trying to juggle too many things.”
Sister Linda Yankoski, president emerita and director of mission integration for the Holy Family Institute, stressed the importance of seeing through differences. Yankoski said faith in not just God, but in the innate goodness of people despite differences offers great value.
Kelleman stressed the importance of perseverance, saying, “Don’t give up.”
Lyla Broaded was awarded the first Student of Distinction honor at the event. Broaded took action when her mother suffered a seizure while driving, bringing the vehicle to safety and saving both of their lives.
The student ambassador at the event was 16-year-old Sienna Weber from Shady Side Academy. Weber started a student organization at Shady Side dedicated to empowering young women. The group has already grown to 30 members.
“As a young woman, it is inspiring to be surrounded by so many accomplished leaders who demonstrate what's possible through hard work, courage, determination and a willingness to make a difference,” she said of the event.
What is now a gathering of hundreds started much smaller, Nicholas said.
“When this whole program got started, the vision was to bring together remarkable women to share experiences and their challenges and lessons that they learned along the way,” Nicholas said. “The speaker lineup just keeps getting better and better. Every panelist who speaks is tasked with picking a speaker for the future. We’re happy to get those personal recommendations, and then we have a pool of others that we go after.”
Sylvester said the event is one of her favorites.
“This is what real life looks like,” she said. “It's not the stuff that you see when you attend a business meeting. It is people connecting on a very real and human level.”
As part of the event, Diehl Toyota of Butler raffled off a 12-month lease on a 2027 Toyota Corolla, or an alternative $4,000 cash prize. Attendees to the event were given raffle tickets for free.
