Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1491476
wbjournal.com | February 6, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 3 and inclusion remains central to WBJ's cov- erage of the Central Massachusetts econo- my, and you will see that throughout all our editions and on WBJournal.com. – Brad Kane, editor I n 2018, WBJ published a six-part investigation called e Boardroom Gap about the lack of gender diversi- ty in Central Massachusetts business leadership, which showed the region lagged behind both state and national averages in having women in executive leadership and board seats. e findings were so shocking and well read, the next year WBJ launched its annual Women in Leadership edition, with an update to e Boardroom Gap as the centerpiece. For five years, WBJ published its annual e Boardroom Gap report, meant to hold to account the business community's com- mitment to diversity by researching the gender of more than 1,600 leaders at 75 of the region's most prominent organizations. Last year's report showed Central Massa- chusetts was making slow progress toward more inclusive leadership, with 37% of the positions filled by women, but still a far cry from equal representation. is year, I decided this Women in Leadership edition would be the first without e Boardroom Gap investigation attached to it. is was a very difficult decision to not pursue this report for at least one year, aer it had become so meaningful to the Central Massachusetts business community, particularly efforts toward diversity and inclusion. Yet, this was the right call. e storytelling around e Boardroom Gap numbers had gotten stale, and as a newsroom we struggled to add meaning and context to the findings of the investigation, beyond just publishing a large chart focused on numbers. For the last two years, the main stories of the Women in Leadership issue were developed almost en- tirely independently from the investigation, and we shoehorned in the findings aer the first article dras were written. I want to see if we can find a better way. is doesn't mean we won't pursue stories large and small related to diversity and inclusion. is edition is full of features on powerful women and female-led organi- zations making changes in industry and society. Staff Writer Isabel Tehan, who covers the diversity and inclusion beat, did a mini version of e Boardroom Gap investigation looking strictly at major public company CEOs, and the findings are in her story "Climbing their own ladder" on page 10. More than just this one edition, diversity Hitting pause on e Boardroom Gap W I N T H I S I S S U E Editor, Brad Kane, bkane@wbjournal.com Staff Writers Timothy Doyle tdoyle@wbjournal.com (Real estate, higher education) Kevin Koczwara kkoczwara@wbjournal.com (Manufacturing, energy & environment) Isabel Tehan, itehan@wbjournal.com (Health care, diversity & inclusion) Contributors Giselle Rivera-Flores, Laura Finaldi, Monica Benevides, Alan Earls, Susan Shalhoub, Livia Gershon Photgraphers Matt Wright, Edd Cote Research Director, Stephanie Meagher, smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com Research Assistant, Heide Martin, hmartin@nebusinessmedia.com Production Director, Kira Beaudoin, kbeaudoin@wbjournal.com Art Director, Mitchell Hayes, mhayes@wbjournal.com Senior Accounts Manager Christine Juetten, cjuetten@wbjournal.com Senior Special Accounts Manager Mary Lynn Bosiak, mlbosiak@wbjournal.com Senior Account Executive Yasmin Nasrullah, ynasrullah@wbjournal.com Marketing & Events Manager Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com Human Resources Manager, Tracy Rodwill, trodwill@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Manager, Sara Ward, sward@nebusinessmedia.com Accounting Assistant, Rae Rogers, rrogers@nebusinessmedia.com Account Receivable Specialist, Patty Harris, pharris@ nebusinessmedia.com Audience Development Manager, Leah Allen, lallen@nebusinessmedia.com Business Office Assistant, Nicole Dunn, ndunn@nebusinessmedia.com Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton pstanton@nebusinessmedia.com Associate Publisher, Mark Murray mmurray@wbjournal.com President, Tom Curtin tcurtin@hartfordbusinessjournal.com Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is published bi-weekly, 24x per year, including 4 special issues in May, September, October, and December by New England Business Media. 172 Shrewsbury St., Worcester, MA 01604. Periodicals postage paid at Worcester, MA. Copyright 2023. All rights reserved. Postmaster: Please send address changes to: Worcester Business Journal, PO Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894. Subscriptions: Annual subscriptions are available for $84.00. For more information, please email circulation@wbjournal.com or contact our circulation department at 845-267-3008. Advertising: For advertising information, please call Mark Murray at 508-755-8004 ext. 227. Fax: 508-755-8860. Worcester Business Journal accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials and in general does not return them to the sender. Worcester Business Journal 172 Shrewsbury Street, Worcester, MA 01604 508-755-8004 tel. • 508-755-8860 fax www.wbjournal.com Worcester Business Journal WBJ A division of: Focus on your business. #ICBusinessBanking | Insured by NCUA Let us focus on your banking. TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S Focus on Women in Leadership 6 Kathleen Jordan from Seven Hills Foundation 8 YWCA Central Massachusetts 10 Public company CEOs 12 Kimberly Golinski from Wormtown Brewery 14 Samantha McDonald from Bowditch & Dewey 10 Climbing their own ladder No Central Mass. public company has a female CEO, although that's not deterring young professionals from high aspirations. 12 The president of Wormtown In the wake of a scandal, Worcester's largest brewer needed someone to show it how to be a great company. Kimberly Golinski answered the call. CORRECTION: A story that ran in the Jan. 23 edition of WBJ entitled "Solving health care's inequities" incorrectly said Commonwealth Medicine advises the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assis- tance on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The correct program is the State Supplemental Program. 17 The List: Highest-paid nonprofit chief executives 18 Column: Outside the Box 19 Know How 20 Movers & Shakers 21 Opinion 22 Shop Talk: Burncoat Center for Arts and Wellness