LIMA — Circe Krout missed having a network of professional women to talk to after moving from Columbus to Findlay. So, Krout co-founded the Northwest Ohio chapter of Women for Economic Leadership and Development (WELD), a non-profit networking organization headquartered in Central Ohio.
The Northwest Ohio chapter was founded in December 2020 to mentor, network and promote women in leadership via virtual coffee chats and seminars.
“We’re looking to build an external network of women who can help each other,” said Krout, who previoulsy participated in another WELD chapter early in her career.
The virtual networks are places for women to share career advice, learn skills to improve their economic status and generate ideas with fellow professionals, at a cost of $50 per year in membership dues.
Krout, a financial advisor in Ottawa, credits WELD with instilling leadership skills for her career. She joined up with Amanda Riess, an account manager for Clemans, Nelson & Associates in Lima, to start her own chapter.
The group already claims upwards of 20 members in the northwestern part of the state, from Toledo to Findlay, Lima, Ada and elsewhere, and is expected to add more leadership positions in the next year.
WELD strives to support women who already hold leadership roles, because “those positions tend to be lonely,” Riess said.
But it is open to men who advocate for women in their workplace too, Krout said.
WELD will ring in the new year with a virtual coffee chat, a free event open to current and prospective members to meet and chat, and is planning its first in-person networking event for 2022 so members can finally meet face to face.
For now, WELD’s northwestern Ohio chapter is focused on growing its membership so participants have access to an even larger network of women to learn from and lean on.
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