Women comprise 40 percent of city boards, but only 10 percent of Chattanooga's corporate boards

Chattanooga is the only major Tennessee city to have never had a woman or a minority elected as mayor, and with four white men running in the March 7 mayoral election this year, that won't change for at least the next four years.

But those running for mayor have pledged to promote more diversity in city leadership.

And the public sector appears to be doing far better for female leadership than the private sector in Chattanooga, at least in the make-up of boards of directors.

Chattanooga boards and commissions are gaining a bigger share of women members with female directors comprising more than 40 percent of the 37 city boards and commissions that recommend and enforce a variety of municipal ordinances and policies. But without two of those boards - the Head Start Policy Advisory Board and the Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board - women represent only 34 percent of the board members for the other 35 city boards and commissions.

During a recent forum before the Chattanooga Women's Leadership Institute, the four mayoral candidates each voiced support for promoting diversity and more women in leadership roles.

Mayor Andy Berke, who is seeking his second four-year term as Chattanooga mayor, said his administration began monitoring board appointments for gender diversity and he helped establish the Mayor's Council for Women in his 2015 State of the City Address.

"Our city is at its strongest when we maximize and utilize the talents of every person," said Berke, noting that be has appointed the city's first female chief of staff, the first female chief operating officer and the first African American city attorney.

"We were the ones who did a study to determine what the numbers were for all of our boards and commissions and we have an intentional plan to make sure that as openings come up, we are thinking about who the best candidates are and also ensuring that we have a diversity of opinions and backgrounds because that is how our city gets stronger."

Carol Berz

Among the 348 persons appointed to the 37 boards and commissions in the city of Chattanooga, women comprise just over 40 percent of the members. On the 9-member elected City Council, however, Carol Berz is the only woman now on the council and only three of the 15 candidates running in contested races in the March 7 election are women.

"I think we all know that women are grossly underrepresented in local elected offices," said Holly Ashley, executive director for the Chattanooga Women's Leadership Institute. "We think the best candidate for the job should be elected - male or female - but we do want to urge more women to get involved in the political process."

Corporate boards in the private sector in Chattanooga also tend to be overwhelmingly male. Among the 58 directors of the seven publicly traded companies in the Chattanooga area, only six are held by women and none of the CEOs for those companies are women.

But women are making strides among Tennessee startup businesses, even in the traditionally male-dominated technology industry. Chattanooga is home to one of the first female-oriented venture capital funds, the Jump Fund, and half of the eight top startup businesses touring the state last week as part of the LaunchTN Road Show are founded and headed by women.

Stefanie Crowe, the president of CWLI and a director for the Jump Fund, said women often offer a different perspective in running a business that offers companies with female top managers a competitive advantage.

"Studies are coming out that show women are tremendous risk managers and they lead with emotional intelligence that supports collaboration and positive work cultures," said Crowe, director of wealth, knowledge and happiness for Stone Bridge Asset Management. " Gender diversity enhances performance and there's a case for the connection between inclusion and innovation - with diversity and inclusion, there's greater opportunity to avoid group-think (and status quo) and push through natural tension points that lead to break-through strategies."

As the labor market tightens from an improving economy and more aging baby boomers retire, tapping female talent also will likely be more critical for many businesses.

Former City Council member David Crockett said his former employer, IBM, was a leader in promoting diversity in the workplace and he vowed to bring on more women, minorities and others to improve management of city government.

"That's the culture I want to instill in the city of Chattanooga," said Crockett, who is running for mayor. "This administration came in and threw out the baby with the bath water and installed a cabinet of people who had no experience and created confusion, chaos, misbehavior and malfeasance."

Crockett said he already has an interim transition team if he is elected mayor that will be led by Camille Cates Barnett, a veteran city manager who has worked in Houston, Dallas and Austin, Tex., Sunnydale, Calif., Washington D.C., and Philadelphia.

City Council member Larry Grohn, who is running for mayor, said he is already talking with local judges and is eager to hire the first female city attorney for local government.

"Women have a different point of view on life and we need your input and your guidance," Grohn told the CWLI.

Chris Long, a local businessman and mayoral candidate, said he has worked as an architectural consultant with many female project managers "and they could multi-task and organize like no one else.

"As mayor, I would want to have a diverse recruiting committee that will seek out the best qualified persons, and I would hope to go to historically black universities to help in that recruitment," Long said.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 757-6340