Attending WELD programs and events provides leadership development opportunities for women at all levels of their organizations and for women business owners.  WELD is a great place to start for women who are just embarking on their careers and are seeking learning opportunities.  Women who are at the mid-career level will find participation in WELD a perfect avenue for seeking strategies to become even more effective leaders in order to advance to the C-suite. 

WELD leadership programs offer women entrepreneurs business building networking opportunities, help them focus on their own leadership development, and provide leadership development ideas they can implement with associates in their companies.  Lastly, women and men desiring to "pay it forward" can do so by mentoring and sharing their stories of professional growth and success by serving as speakers at our events.  WELD also offers leadership programs for women who are at the highest levels in their organizations and wish to consider corporate board service and other opportunities.

Visit chapter sections of the website to learn of available programs near you.

Emerging Professionals' Series

Emerging leaders are already making a positive impact in their organizations and communities.  Research shows that although women are entering the workforce in relatively equal numbers as men, women are not advancing to higher levels of leadership at the same rate as men.  It is mission critical for our community to support our emerging women leaders along their journeys so that they can continue to achieve their career aspirations. 

The Emerging Professionals' Series focuses on a variety of topics relevant to high potential young professionals looking to shape their careers and family lives in their vision of success.  Sponsored by a variety of companies in our community, this series will spotlight our Woman WELDing the Way® honoree each month as the featured speaker.  These amazing honorees will share the leadership lessons they learned along their highly successful career paths in a welcoming atmosphere at the corporate offices of our sponsors.

This series will provide emerging leaders the opportunity to connect with some of our community's most accomplished emerging leaders and help them build strong networks of support designed to last for years in the future.  These programs are open to members and non-members alike.  Individual and Business Level members, as well as those who have the individual slots from their company's corporate membership, obtain price discounts for these meetings.

Leadership Series

Each year, WELD chapters may choose a specific leadership theme to form its strategic platform for the year.  The Leadership Series and other events may be designed around this theme in a holistic fashion that allows depth of coverage and reinforcement of skill building.  There are two types of programs:

New and Renewing Member Breakfasts: These events are for members only and provide an excellent overview of WELD and how to get involved.  Specialty topics will be presented as part of the agenda so that attendees can experience the WELD programming format and build their leadership competencies.

WELD Leadership Series: These events focus on the core leadership competencies that may support the strategic theme for the year and are ideal for those who are just starting out in their careers or who are at mid-career level.  In addition, they provide a perfect opportunity for executive level women and men in our community to increase their own visibility and impact by serving as guest speakers.  These meetings are open to members and non-members alike.

Our Leadership Series programs provide great opportunities for participants to build new relationships in the community and engage in potential business building discussions while investing time in their leadership development.

Individual and Business Level members, as well as those who have the individual slots from their company's corporate membership, obtain price discounts for these meetings.

Executive Women's Series

When women reach the highest levels of leadership in organizations in sufficient numbers, research shows that these organizations significantly financially outperform organizations with fewer or no women in top leadership.  Moreover, these same companies with more women in top leadership also give back more philanthropically to their communities than companies with fewer or no women in top leadership.

The Executive Women's Series focuses on the leadership development needs of the executive women of our corporate members.  The target audience also includes partners/managing partners in professional services organizations, physicians, and other senior level women of our corporate members.  The attendees need not be the named individual membership holders for the membership slots that come with our corporate members, but they must be at the executive level.

These programs are free, are offered quarterly as breakfast sessions and are hosted by corporate members who desire to volunteer their hospitality to our membership base.  Attendance at this event is by invitation only to ensure the appropriate level of audience and provides great relationship building opportunities for executive women to meet their peers at other companies.

Tell It Like It Is Thursday® Webinar Series

At WELD, we understand that there are times in your life that you are juggling too much and trying to attend an event feels like a major feat. WELD is pleased to introduce our Tell It Like It Is Thursday® webinar series. It is a national program open to both members and non-members and provides a great opportunity to build your leadership skills while connecting with others across the country – and you can tune in while having lunch at your desk!

Corporate members of WELD have free access to this webinar series. It is a great way to deliver leadership programming to employee business resource groups and women’s affinity groups in your company. Each month, WELD will send the free registration link to our contact at each corporate member.

Visit our Events section of the website to learn about upcoming topics or to purchase an individual registration.

Government Boards & Commissions Training    

When women have a  seat at the leadership table, our companies and communities thrive.  Some of the most important leadership tables are those on government boards and commissions.  To advance women to these positions, WELD provides training and  information on how to  apply for them.  The links to more information about government boards & commissions in our chapter locations can be found in this document. 

Government Boards & Commissions Links WELD Chapter Locations

Corporate Board Training

A wealth of studies shows that when corporate boards include three or more women on them, these companies financially outperform those companies with fewer or no women on their boards. In addition, companies with more women on their boards give back more philanthropically to their communities.  Therefore, it is vitally important for companies to make inclusion of women on their boards a pivotal strategy to increase the economic performance of their organizations.  It is also critical that women be proactive in creating and implementing a personal development plan and strategy to maximize interest in them by corporate board nominating committees. Contact info@weldoh.org for more information.

Signature Events

WELD has three Signature events, the Keynote, the National Leadership Conference and the Women WELDing the Way® Calendar and Calendar Reception. 

WELD Keynote

WELD chapter Keynote events bring nationally known speakers and leaders to the chapter to advance the dialogue around women’s issues, challenges, and opportunities. Where offered, it is typically the chapter’s first major event of the year. In the larger chapters, the event attracts over 700 of the community’s most prominent leaders. At this evening dinner event, a nationally-known woman leader shares her experience and strategies for success around a given topic. This event may serve as the launch of the chapter’s annual strategic theme upon which the chapter’s remaining programs for the year typically are built.

WELD National Leadership Conference

The WELD National Leadership Conference is a day-long conference hosted at Otterbein University held annually in June.  The conference provides programming for emerging professionals, mid-career leaders, executives and entrepreneurs.  The day begins with an opening address by a successful female leader and then transitions into a day filled with a variety of breakout sessions attendees can choose from. The day concludes with a networking session so that attendees can continue to build on new relationships formed during the conference.

Women WELDing the Way®

Each November, WELD chapters honor 12 women making a positive impact on the economic and leadership development of women in the chapter’s region by showcasing them and their achievements in a beautiful calendar for the upcoming year. The women featured in the calendar are selected based on their extraordinary leadership roles within their respective fields and in community and women’s efforts.

The Women WELDing the Way® calendar is distributed widely throughout the community with a goal of reaching key executives top public and private companies in the chapter’s region. The 12 honorees are recognized at the elegant WELD Calendar Reception where the calendar is unveiled for the first time. The event has grown in size and visibility each year.

When we created WELD, we repeatedly heard three things:

• Companies would have more women in top leadership if they could find them
• The same three to five women's names were always mentioned when it came to providing candidates for top positions in the community
• Women typically will not toot their own horns

Consequently, each year we honor a diverse group of 12 women in our community who have lived the WELD values by supporting the leadership development of other women; these women have given their time, talent and resources to their community, or in support of women-owned businesses.