Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | October 29, 2018 | wbjournal.com Your exceptional event deserves an exceptional venue. TUCKERMAN HALL MASSACHUSETTS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Corner of Salisbury & Tuckerman Streets Worcester, MA | 508.754.1234 tuckermanhall.org >>This year's judges Melanie Bonsu is the development manager for the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts. Bonsu joined the Girl Scouts in 2012 and oversees all aspects of fund develop- ment including annual giving, corporate and foundation relations, events and the alumnae association. Bonu has increased corporate, foundation and individual support of mission since joining Girl Scouts in 2012; increased attendance and money raised for two fundraising events, and was chosen to help plan the donor experience for the Girl Scouts' 53rd national convention. She was a member of Worcester Business Journal's 40 Under Forty Class of 2015. As Fallon Health's senior vice president and chief human resources officer, Jill Lebow is responsible for the functional areas of talent acquisition, talent management and total rewards. She ensures Fallon's human resources systems, functions and services are aligned to attract, engage and develop the talent necessary for Fallon to meet its growing and evolving needs. Lebow joined Fallon in 2008 as a human resources business Partner. In 2017, Lebow was honored as one of the WBJ's Outstanding Women in Business. She resides in Worcester with her family. Bert LaValley is the president and co-founder of Sustainable Comfort and one of three co-owners of Worcester restaurants deadhorse hill and simjang. At Sustainable Comfort, he and his team rehab 100-year-old triple-deckers around Worcester to make them viable for working-class people. Since its founding, the company has grown an average of 65 percent annually and now employs more than 30. For the restaurants, LaValley partnered with chef Jared Forman and drinks connoisseur Sean Woods to launch deadhorse hill in 2016 and simjang in 2018. LaValley is a 2018 WBJ 40 Under Forty honoree. I n 2009, in the very first introduction to WBJ's Outstanding Women in Business awards, then-Editor Christina H. Davis wrote: "Some might say that honoring women leaders in the business world is old-fashioned. But we see this special section profiling six outstanding female business leaders as a celebration of how far wom- en have come and a nod to future generations of women who today are sitting behind desks studying to be tomorrow's executives." In the 10 years since WBJ began honoring six high-performing wom- en annually, the world's attitude toward women in the workplace has seemingly changed back and forth thousands of times, probably because individuals' attitudes toward the issues vary greatly. When I asked our alumnae for this special milestone edition what was different about the professional world since they won the award, their answers were pessi- mistic and optimistic. Women still earn less than men and are under- represented in leadership positions, but there is recognition the prob- lems are getting better or at least need to get better. More than anything, these awards remain a celebration of women who have reached great heights in a business environment where the advan- tages still skew male. ey are role models to both those currently sit- ting in corner offices and the next generation of executives. In a world full of inequities and where 60 outstanding women feel both good and bad about where we are as a society, taking a step back to showcase and celebrate greatness feels less old-fashioned than ever. - Brad Kane, editor The past. The present. The future. F OC U S O U T S T A N D I N G W O M E N I N B U S I N E S S

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