A nonprofit group that has worked to develop and promote women leaders in Chattanooga for 28 years is shutting down, partially because of work pattern changes brought on by the pandemic, leaders said.
The Chattanooga Women's Leadership Institute, which has offered training and networking seminars for Chattanooga women since 1996, said it plans to close its operations this spring after holding its last event in February.
"We had a phenomenal run and have had so many amazing women that we were able to impact, but I think everything at some point sort of runs its course," institute Chair Emily Ramsey said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "Unfortunately, we got to a point after the pandemic where a lot of women reevaluated opportunities to meet after work, especially with more people working in remote or hybrid jobs."
Ramsey, a vice president at the Marsh McLennan Agency in Chattanooga, said the organization "changed the lives of so many women over the years, myself included." But she said the nonprofit group was greatly affected by COVID-19, which shifted more jobs to remote or hybrid work and cut the number of participants at in-person events.
Membership in the institute grew to more than 680 in 2016, but it has since dropped nearly in half, and participation in many programs has fallen off.
In a letter to members, Stacey Nolan, the manager of operations and programs for the institute, said the women's group has offered personal and professional development, mentorship and networking for women to take on more leadership roles across industries, government and nonprofit groups in Chattanooga.
"CWLI has worked hard to achieve what it set out to do nearly three decades ago," Nolan's letter said. "We have emboldened women to 'each one, teach one' and pull one another up."
Nolan said great leaders recognize achievement, "and they acknowledge when they've reached a critical juncture which requires change.
"CWLI is at such a place," she wrote. "Though this chapter may be coming to a close, we are confident that each person in our network of membership will carry the spirit of CWLI forward in future endeavors."
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The institute offered a number of workshops, networking events and mentorship programs for its members over the past three decades. Its annual meetings attracted such women leaders as Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space; Stacy Allison, the first American woman to climb Mount Everest; Wilma Mankiller, the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation; former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair; social activist Gloria Steinem; and broadcasters Connie Chung and Mika Brzezinski, among others.
It also helped spawn the Women's Fund of Greater Chattanooga, which began in 2008 as a nonprofit advocacy group for women and girls and will continue to operate. The institute also helped foster more businesses and organizations to work internally to diversify their own leadership and encourage their female staff, including the start of employee resource groups at local employers such as Southern Champion Tray, HHM CPAs and Chattanooga's EPB.
The Small Biz/Entrepreneur Synergy Circle started by the institute plans to continue operating independently under the leadership of Jennifer Leach and Whitney Belden.
Marj Fleming, a human resources manager and consultant who once served as the director of the institute, was one of seven women founders and remained on its board throughout its history. In a telephone interview Tuesday, Fleming said she believes the organization helped elevate more women leaders in Chattanooga "but we still have a long way to go."
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In a farewell address to members last month, Fleming said she believes the institute gave a lot of skills and knowledge to local women.
"Now it is their job to share some of that knowledge with other women," Fleming said.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.
File photo / Marj Flemming helped found the Chattanooga Women's Leadership Institute in 1996 and later served as its managing director.