On a sunny day in June, I was excited to sit down and talk with Priyanka Desirazu. She came highly recommended to Women of Cincy: biomedical engineer, STEM mentor, race car driver, chef, swimmer, world traveler. She is empowering young women to take up STEM education and STEM careers. Priyanka recently won the ‘Leader of Impact’ Award from the Entrepreneurs of Success organization. She is a speaker at events such as Girl Start: Women in STEM Series, STEMlytical, STEM 4 Everyone, and HerSTEM.
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It only takes a few milliseconds to feel the sparking energy that radiates from Cynthia Lockhart—it’s the kind of glittering comfort you want to bottle up and drink when you’re having a low day. She exudes confidence through a contagious smile, fabulous wardrobe, and lively charisma; her words travel with passion and leave a residual feeling of encouragement.
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Women of Cincy sat down with Brittney Kane, co-founder and executive director of Foreverland Farm to learn about her journey with this sanctuary for farm animals. Foreverland Farm’s mission is to provide a permanent, safe home and daily care for the most vulnerable animals, including those abandoned, abused, neglected, and slaughter-bound, while sharing their stories of survival and perseverance to create a more compassionate community.
Brittney’s love and admiration of the animals was front and center throughout our conversation and visit to the farm. She knows each of her 90 animals at the sanctuary intimately and cares deeply about providing them safety and peace to live out their days. Her compassion for these animals knows no bounds.
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There may be no better place to spend a rainy Monday evening than amid the shelves of a cozy bookstore. Add coffee, laughter, and great conversation, and it’s instant magic.
This was the setting in early June when I sat down with Sheila Williams at Roebling Point Books & Coffee. Williams is the author of six novels, including Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, adapted into a Netflix film starring Alfre Woodard in 2018, The Secret Women, and the recently released Things Past Telling. Today, Williams calls northern Kentucky home, but she proudly notes that she is “a product of Columbus Public Schools.”
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Cincinnati kicked off Pride Parade 2022 this past Saturday, June 25 in downtown Cincinnati. Thousands of people cheered, danced, and embraced – celebrating love in all forms. We asked local Pride goers to tell us what Pride is to them and why it’s important to celebrate publicly.
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Each June for 35 years, Lydia Morgan has brought the Cincinnati community together to celebrate Juneteenth – gathering in Eden Park to eat, listen to music, dance, connect, and remember. Lydia takes us through the complicated feelings around the holiday, the family-friendly activities at the Festival, and relearning history through joy and celebration.
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A career in fiction writing seemed out of reach for Emery, but she had been writing from a young age. She started writing with silly, sarcastic, and fun end-of-year newsletters that her parents sent out to their friends – in one, she talked about how her brother won the Nobel Prize at 10! So it makes sense that she eventually landed in writing young adult fiction and that she’s still writing today with five books published. Emery and I talked about being passionate about what you’re writing, the core questions at the center of books, and whether writers are our characters.
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Each day begins with big toothy smiles,
But these tragic events have left us all in denile.
There is no answer or magic potion
No way to quell the brimming sea of emotions.
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Sitting in Kate Hanisian’s office in the Y.M.C.A. on Elm Street, there are whiteboards covered with diagrams and Post-Its. There’s Play Doh on her desk. Her office is curated for creativity, for collaboration, for bringing people together, for problem solving. And that’s exactly what we talked about.
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It’s a beautiful spring day, and I’m sitting at one of the picnic tables at Washington Park. The birds are chirping, music is in the air, and in the middle of everything, I find myself happy to sit down with…my gynecologist. While this may sound unusual, it’s actually the start of a very fun, light-hearted conversation with Dr. Shwetha Manoharan, a gynecologist with a devoted clientele, as evidenced in Cincinnati moms’ groups on Facebook.
Dr. Manoharan is a busy professional woman with young children of her own and a full schedule of patient visits. However, she was able to break away for a quick moment to talk to us about being a doctor, where she draws her strength from, and why you shouldn’t feel guilty about saying “no.”
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Growing up in Hong Kong, visiting bakeries every day for bread or pastries for breakfast was a big part of my life. It was something I dearly missed when I moved to the United States. I had a hard time finding creative pastries until roughly two years ago when my roommate brought home some ube croissants from Cafe Mochiko. Since then, I witnessed how the business and its reputation grew.
As a pastry lover and cafe explorer, I was over the moon when I found out Mochiko opened up its own brick-and-mortar cafe on Madison Road. I visited the sunlit cafe on a chilly fall morning. As I was sipping my hojicha milk tea, it felt like home. That was the moment I decided to chat with the cafe owners.
From her childhood stories to getting a physical space for Cafe Mochiko during COVID time, co-founder and chef Elaine shared with us her journey of finding herself and her connection with communities through cooking and food.
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Mothers are pathmakers for the younger generation. Caretakers who lead with courage, strength, and empathy – all values which we uphold at Women of Cincy. To little surprise, when asked who the most influential woman in their life is, many of our interviewees immediately thought of their mother.
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If you look up the word “driven” in the dictionary, odds are you’ll find a photo of Monique Gilliam next to it. The vision she has for her life is clear and focused, and her work ethic is something to be admired.
Since our last sit down with Monique back in 2019, she’s taken on new career and social ventures, including joining the Cohear team as a Community Organizer in March 2021. With less than a year under her belt, she was promoted to Director of Organizing and she’s relishing in this moment. At Cohear, Monique feels valued, supported, and seen. She couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the work they’re doing and she’s eager to see where this journey will take them next.
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Sitting in Cohear’s office, with her youngest son happily crawling around at her feet, Nia Baucke spoke with us about her passion for the work she gets to do through Cohear. Nia worked in the social good space throughout her career. While these experiences gave Nia a chance to contribute to her community, she knew something was missing from that work: the voice of people most affected by the issues she and her colleagues were trying to solve. Now with Cohear, Nia spends time talking with Everyday Experts and helping them find actionable solutions to the issues they face day-in and day-out.
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After moving to Cincinnati, Jessica Moore was on a mission to make a life for herself in her new city. After years of grinding away in just about every job in the food and beverage service industry, she didn’t know she’d find her calling in an organization like Cohear. Jessica now works as a Community Organizer, building and tapping into a vast network of Everyday Experts who help to create real change.
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Nikita Anderson is a straight shooter – unafraid to tell it like it is. She gets it from her mom. It’s a quality that has served her well in her work with Cohear over the past 4 years, first as an everyday expert and now as Director of Community. Nikita knows the power of sharing personal stories to foster connection and change, and she is incredibly proud of the work her team and their partners are doing to engage previously unsung voices. Cohear helps organizations and decision makers leverage real world experiences to improve their policies and better serve their communities, one focus group at a time.
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Spring has sprung again in the tri-state, and with it, picnics, graduation parties, and family reunions. Whether you’re looking for something special for Mother’s Day, a gift for the hostess, sweet treats to bring to a get-together, or new spring swag, make sure you’re supporting your local businesses and fellow Cincinnatians. With the flowers in bloom, explore your city – and here’s hoping the warm weather stays!
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