Aug. 5, 2021

This paid piece is sponsored by Marsh & McLennan Agency.

When women leaders in Sioux Falls put their efforts toward something, they make it happen. That is exactly what spurred the launch of Sioux Empire Women Connect in collaboration with Women Lead Change over the past year.

Kira Kimball, chief innovation officer with Marsh & McLennan Agency, wanted to make sure that her organization was part of leading this effort.

“Recruiting, investing in and elevating women is central to MMA’s vision for itself as an organization,” Kimball said. “Helping launch Sioux Empire Women Connect was a perfect alignment. And when my friend Valerie Loudenback with Grand Prairie Foods brought the opportunity forward, we had to say yes.”

An endorsement council, led by Loudenback, Kimball, Michelle Lavallee with Children’s Home Society, Andrea Smith with Augustana University and Karen Van De Steeg with Sanford Health, saw a need in the region for a network of senior women executives. With Loudenback leading the charge, she reached out to Women Lead Change, or WLC, to explore options for professional development and engagement with the female workforce of Sioux Falls.

With a proven track record of educational programming, a mission focused on workforce development as seen through a gender lens, a goal to be the professional development complement to existing programs in the region, and community support, WLC planned for its first Women Connect program outside Iowa.

Sioux Empire Women Connect is now 17 members strong and provides opportunities to educate, challenge and advance women leaders across all levels of their careers through monthly programming and quarterly workshops. For Kimball, this programming has become part of the developmental opportunities offered to MMA women leaders.

“SEWC offers high-caliber programs with networking opportunities that are incredible for our members. Membership and its benefits have become a valued part of our leadership development efforts,” said Loudenback, vice president of Grand Prairie Foods.

2021 Sioux Empire Women Connect members

• Augustana University
• BX Civil & Construction
• Children’s Home Society
• Christiansen Land & Cattle
• City of Sioux Falls
• Dakota State University
• First PREMIER Bank/PREMIER Bankcard
• Girl Scouts-Dakota Horizons
• Grand Prairie Foods
• Holmes Murphy & Associates
• JLG Architects
• Lawrence & Schiller
• Marsh & McLennan Agency
• Midco
• Sanford Health
• Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation
• U.S. Bank

These members believe that it’s critical for organizations to leverage all available talent.

According to the 2018 Job Patterns for Minorities and Women in Private Industry (EEO-1) report from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, women make up 539 percent of South Dakota’s workforce, and of that population, 87 percent are white women. When reporting on female CEOs in South Dakota, the state ranks 16th in the nation with 35 percent, according to a 2020 Business Insider report.

In a competitive workforce, we clearly see bright spots that validate and reinforce the work we are all doing to achieve the mission of advancing women at all levels; however, there is still work to do. According to sources like McKinsey and Catalyst:

• Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above the median for their respective industry.
• Going from 0 to 30 percent women in corporate leadership is associated with a 15 percent increase in profitability.
• Companies with the highest representation of women on their boards outperformed those with the least on return on equity, sales and invested capital, 42 percent to 66 percent.

That’s why women in leadership isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.

“At JLG, we hire the best – and, as a result, are proud of our firm’s above-the-norm gender diversity in a typically male-dominated STEM field,” said architect Catherine Dekkenga, AIA. “At JLG, 35 percent of our company is female, including our CEO and a number of our leadership team and board of directors, compared with the architecture industry average of 30 percent. We are a member of Sioux Empire Women Connect because we believe in supporting and advancing opportunities for today and tomorrow’s leaders.”

So what’s next for Sioux Empire Women Connect? Continued focus on recruitment in the region and offering first-class leadership development content.

The next public workshop is scheduled for Sept. 16 at the Holiday Inn City Centre in downtown Sioux Falls and features award-winning comedian, executive life coach and author Katie Goodman. She will show us how to use improv comedy to improve our lives, learning to transform our Inner Critic into a helpful Inner Coach that blazes the way for our personal growth and allows us to show up fully and reach our potential.

Included with each $75 registration is breakfast, a three-hour workshop and a copy of Goodman’s book, “Improvisation for the Spirit: Live a More Creative, Spontaneous, and Courageous Life Using the Tools of Improv Comedy.” Registration is open at wlcglobal.org.