From school DEI policies to city planning, hospitals and more, these 8 female leaders are shaping Fond du Lac
FOND DU LAC – From leading local colleges to breaking down barriers, running hospitals and working in the construction industry, there are a lot of women in Fond du Lac doing important work.
In honor of Wednesday being International Women’s Day, the Fond du Lac Reporter talked to some of those women. March is also National Women’s History Month, which was established 166 years ago to the day on March 8, 1857.
The Reporter asked eight women in various leadership roles about what inspires them about this month, what it means to be a woman in their field and what advice they have to young women who are just getting started — or maybe are still figuring out what it is they want to do (which is perfectly fine).
This list is not exhaustive but is merely meant to be an opportunity to start conversations and, more importantly, find inspiration and motivation.
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The first (lay)woman to serve as St. Agnes Hospital's president
Katherine Vergos's career is entrenched in caring for others.
She started as a nurse and officer in the U.S. Navy based in Washington D.C. before working with Aurora Healthcare and ultimately coming to Agnesian HealthCare in 2010. She is now president of SSM Health St. Agnes Hospital, a role she took on in 2018 that she believes makes her the "first laywoman to be able to serve in the president role," since the sisters, at St. Agnes Hospital.
She has been happy to see more women taking leadership roles in the healthcare industry because she thinks they bring a different perspective.
"We often bring different skills, abilities, and just presence to the table," she said. "The beauty inside and out, the unique perspectives and just a bit more, maybe, gentleness that we bring to our world."
She credits her success to many but perhaps especially the late Sister Mary Mollison, who was part of the Sisters of St. Agnes and vice president of mission integration at Agnesian HealthCare.
Though Mollison died in 2017 after struggling with cancer, Vergos said she still relies on her expertise when making decisions.
"She taught me a lot about when, where and how to use my voice," Vergos said. "I channel her when I'm challenged with a decision or working with my team on something and think about what advice she would say or bring to the table."
The woman helping educate and advance Black culture
Daisy Fraizer and her mother are two of the founding members of Ebony Vision, a nonprofit that was founded by a group of Black women and men who wanted to see more connections and resources for others like them in the community.
"The reason we pour ourselves so much into our community is because we're pouring into the next generation," she said. "We want to do all that we can to stamp out racism."
She estimates the organization formed around 15 years ago after going out to dinner and starting the conversation. It became a nonprofit in 2011.
Fraizer serves as the nonprofit's board president and, currently, its interim director until a permanent one is hired.
She thinks her vantage point as a woman leading a nonprofit is beneficial, not only for her but for the community.
"Women see the world in a different way," she said. "Sometimes — and I'm not saying men don't — but sometimes we add a more human touch, try to give out more love and understanding."
There have been moments where it has crossed her mind, "Would I have been treated that way, or would that person have said that to me like that, if I were a man?"
But, she said, "It doesn't stop me from doing what I do. It encourages me more because I'm like, this needs to change."
She thinks the best thing someone can do to improve a community is to show up, volunteer time or money for events and be engaged in the community.
Her mom, Rufus Frazier, is "her greatest inspiration." She credits her and the retired Rev. Mary Council-Austin of Albright United Methodist Church as "shining a light to other people."
The woman implementing district-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies
Laurice Snyder knows her role as the Fond du Lac School District's first district coordinator of equity, and a Black woman, will have a major impact on the district's role in helping children of all cultural and demographic backgrounds succeed.
Though education as a whole may be one career field where women are the majority, they are still predominantly white women — and there are still fewer in leadership positions.
"My racial identity certainly plays a huge role in having representation for the nearly 7,000 lives we impact every day," Snyder said. "It means carrying a weight, but not a weight to weigh you down but one that makes you stronger — making especially our young girls stronger by seeing a woman of color in a role that impacts their lives."
She started her current role in 2019, though she had been with the school district about 10 years by then and had started doing similar work in a previous role.
Snyder is open about the struggles that brought her to where she is today. She is quick to talk about her own experiences with poverty, being raised by a single mom and, now, balancing a career with three children.
She thinks being vulnerable is a huge asset not only for her, but to help those around her.
"I have found my own voice can empower others to know that they are not alone," she said. "Regardless of what they're facing, that doesn't dictate what they can and cannot do."
She hopes people use International Women's Day to reflect on "the sacrifices women have made to be able for us to be where we are right now" as well as a reminder to be intentional about building up the next generation of women.
The woman developing communities in the city
Dyann Benson is the city's community development director, a role she took on in 2014. She started working for the city in 2011 and before that was a planner for a small community in Milwaukee County.
When she started out in her career, she recalled a lot more men than women in the planning field, but she thinks that has "definitely changed" in recent years.
"As with anything, it's really about communicating and working together," she said. "You work with a lot of people in different sectors and (need) to build that rapport and work through issues. There have been ups and downs, but overall more ups than downs."
Benson said she had worked in the private sector as a planning consultant but enjoys working in the public sector more because of the impact it can have on her community.
For her, International Women's Day is an opportunity to celebrate how women show up in their communities.
"Women have so many different roles they play in family life, in households and in various sectors of the workforce from public to private," she said. "Everyone contributes to a community."
The woman who un-retired to lead a private university
Michelle Majewski this International Women's Day is an opportunity to celebrate.
"To recognize that there are many women around the world who just work quietly doing whatever it is they do," she said, "whether it's raising their families, working or, frequently, doing multiple things."
Majewski came out of retirement in April 2020 to assume her current role as president of Marian University, an institution she previously worked for for 30 years.
Though she thinks a leader's goals — to inspire and support others and work collaboratively — should be the same regardless of gender, she does think there might be differences in the way those ideas are approached.
"Women may focus on relationships, more on listening, though not always," she said. "There are some nuances between men and women, but there are more similarities."
She has been fortunate to learn from several female leaders at Marian University and the Sisters of St. Agnes, who she said "really paved the way for many women at this institution."
She's also learned from men who have taken similar roles and thinks it's helpful to have mentors at every professional stage of one's life.
Her advice for finding a mentor is to reach out to people you admire and get involved in organizations and nonprofits to develop that support and make connections.
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The woman envisioning a greater Fond du Lac
Sadie Vander Velde has noticed a curious thing about chambers of commerce.
"A lot of small chambers are run by women, but large chambers and most economic development organizations are run by men," she said. "I don't have a great answer for why that is."
She's proud to be in the minority as president and CEO of Envision Greater Fond du Lac and said she's drawn on inspiration of other women in those roles, such as Becky Bartoszek at the Fox Cities Chamber and Laurie Radke at Greater Green Bay Chamber.
"It's really cool to be part of an organization that wants to make this county better and attract talent, business and build quality of life," she said.
She cites other local leaders, including Vergos, Bonnie Baerwald, Sister Sue Seeby, Holly Brenner and Kelly Norton as women she admires.
"I'm more enamored by them than a traditional celebrity because I've seen the road they've taken, the decisions they made, the mud on their faces from fighting in the arena and it's humbling and inspiring," she said.
While she loves that International Women's Day exists, she also finds it a bit paradoxical.
"On the one hand, it's crazy there's a day committed to this, (but) on the other hand, why is it only one day?" she said. "Every single day women are making social, economic, cultural and political achievements."
The woman who went from an accountant to technical college president
Bonnie Baerwald didn't have plans to be a college president. She earned her bachelor's degree in accounting and considered herself an introvert who preferred spreadsheets and budgets to face-to-face interactions.
She was hired as a senior accountant at Moraine Park Technical College because she went to high school with the school's finance director's daughter. She worked her way up in the department and, when MPTC's president took another job in the middle of an academic year, she was approached to take the job on an interim basis.
That was eight years ago, and now she's encouraging other women to "lean in" to leadership roles, even if they don't feel ready.
"I wasn't real confident stepping into this role because it was way out of my comfort zone," she said.
She's proud to see that seven of the 16 Wisconsin Technical System colleges currently have female presidents, though she said a lot of her own mentors have been men.
Now, she works to surround herself with experts of all genders, backgrounds and leadership styles.
"I don't want a bunch of accountant-type people advising me," she said. "Diversity lends to better decision making."
One of the decisions she's most proud of on her team is the technical college's recent passing of a $55 million referendum, which she said is the first in the school's history.
"We haven't seen the outcomes of that yet, but two to four years from now I think we as a team will have set Moraine Park up for future success with our brand new facilities," she said.
The woman breaking down stereotypes in construction
Holly Brenner believes in focusing on being her best self.
As senior vice president of strategic development and marketing for C.D. Smith Construction, a male-dominated industry, she chooses to focus on what she can do.
"Spending energy honing my skills and adding value from where I am has paid off far more for me," she said. "Find groups genuinely interested in being the best; you'll find people hungry for diverse thoughts that come from varying backgrounds and demographics."
Brenner has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and sales at various agencies and SSM Health, where she spent eight years before taking her current role at C.D. Smith in February 2020.
But she's also a champion of service and volunteering, which she was recognized for in August 2020 with Insight Magazine's Corporate Leader Award. And that, she thinks, is the best advice young women could hear.
"Work hard and get involved," she said. "Being selfless with your time or talents may be the best thing you can do for yourself."
She's optimistic about the future of women in the workforce.
"There are fantastic career paths and opportunities available to women today that were not there in the past," she said. "If women from all walks of life continue to bring their best to these opportunities, we will see more and more women in critical roles in every industry."
Know of other women doing awesome things in our community? This woman wants to know. Contact Katy Macek at kmacek@gannett.com or 920-426-6658. Follow her on Twitter @KatherineMacek.
This article originally appeared on Fond du Lac Reporter: Happy International Women's Day! Here are 8 Fond du Lac female leaders
