Women for Economic and Leadership Development

What it reported doing in 2025

Keynote: the weld columbus chapter held a keynote in 2025. The event featured melinda davenport, who at the time, was vice president of messaging and talent marketing at equinix (nasdaq: eqix). She is a strategic communications executive and member of the advisory boards charm industrial and boston common golf. Her topic was "outthink. Outlead. Outlast. The ai revolution and your power move." corporate board conference: for over 15 years, weld has provided corporate board training and board journey preparation as one of its core offerings. Its 2025 sold-out conference featured susan rector, board chair, peoples bancorp inc. (nasdaq: pebo) and peoples bank, and robert h. Schottenstein, chairman of the board, chief executive officer and president of m/i homes, inc. (nyse: mho) and independent director for installed building products (nyse: ibp), as its keynote dinner "fireside chat" speakers. Colleen marshall, news anchor, nbc4, wcmh-tv, moderated the session where she shared key learnings about her board and executive journey and provided excellent strategies for individuals to pursue corporate board seats. The event also included sessions with 13 other directors. The conference included panel discussions on hot topics in the boardroom and emerging practices from the nom/gov process along with roundtable discussions on the board journey. Leadership: weld hosts an annual women's leadership conference each summer to educate women at various stages of their careers. The 2025 conference focused on unleashing potential. Motivate. Magnify. Multiply. A wide range of educational programming addressed the diverse ways women can develop and apply leadership skills in both professional and civic service via making connections. There were several different career tracks. Attendees walked away with a strong sense of the urgent need to apply thought and creativity to increase the number of women in leadership positions, as well as practical skills to help achieve that goal. This conference featured johnni beckel, chief administrative officer, ohiohealth, as the opening session speaker and featured over 30 expert presenters on a variety of leadership topics. Weld had over 300 registrations, including 50 scholarship recipients. These women are striving for economic independence and are reinventing their lives after suffering extreme setbacks. They were able to learn new skill sets in a safe and supportive environment and build new community connections. Women welding the way calendar(r) reception: the weld columbus chapter launched its 22nd annual women welding the way calendar. These calendars showcase the achievements of 12 women who are nominated by the community and selected by key business and community leaders. The calendar honorees are a diverse mix of women who are leaders in their companies and industries, have positively impacted their communities and have inspired women to strive for their career aspirations while reaching back for others. A printed calendar is created for each of these chapters that showcases the talent and contributions of these women. This event was held in person at the Ohio statehouse. Over 200 business and community leaders registered to attend the event.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 96.7%; rating input score 97
• Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Missing
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Fail
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -8.8%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.81; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 24.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.3% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 6.9% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings