A nonprofit senior living organization based in Washington state now has an entirely women-led executive leadership team for the first time in its history.
With the promotion of Michelle Wood to vice president of operations, the Redmond, WA-based Emerald Communities’ executive leadership team consists entirely of women. Wood will provide leadership, strategic and daily operational support to the executive directors at its life plan communities, Emerald Heights in Redmond and Heron’s Key in Gig Harbor, WA.
Kay Wallin, vice president of marketing and public relations, said the all-women leadership team occurred organically “as the best individuals were recruited or promoted for positions in the organization.”
“I think this says that this is a company that recognizes that talent and expertise is not limited by gender and is an organization where employees don’t just come for a job — they come for a career that includes the opportunity for growth,” Wallin said. “There is no glass ceiling at Emerald Communities.”
Having a women-led leadership team isn’t unique, but Wallin said it is rare.
“It is definitely a change from the industry of 20 to 30 years ago, when it was rare to find women in leadership positions,” she said. “I think an all-women team offers the same level of skill, creative thinking and expertise in individual areas of leadership as mixed-gender teams or male-led teams.”
Women in leadership a growing trend
A focus on increasing the number of women in corporate leadership positions has been a growing trend over the past several years.
Last year, a “Women in the Workplace” report found female leaders switching jobs at the highest rate in years, moving to companies with better career opportunities, flexibility and a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.
The importance — and benefits — of reaching gender parity on corporate boards in senior living and other industries was noted by Juniper Communities founder and CEO Lynne Katzmann when she accepted the inaugural McKnight’s Women of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. “Gender-balanced boards are imperative, and gender-balanced boards get results,” she said at the time.
In 2018, Argentum launched an initiative to cultivate the next generation of women leaders in senior living and increase diversity. The association also made women a focal point of its 2019 Senior Living Executive Conference. Two years later, the 2021 Argentum & Lument Largest Providers Report shared evidence of growth in women in leadership in the senior living industry, growing from only 8% of companies led by women chief executives in 2014 to 19% in 2021 — with women leading three of the top 10 companies.
In 2019, history-making elections placed women at the head of the National Center for Assisted Living board of directors and the American Health Care Association board of governors. Helen Crunk of Nebraska was elected chair of the NCAL board, and Debbie Meade of Georgia was elected chair of the AHCA board for the 2019-2020 terms.
