The Community's Conversation

The Columbus Museum of Art and The Wexner Center for The Arts are two giants on the Columbus arts scene, and both have new leaders at their helms.

Gaëtane Verna is the Wexner Center's new executive director, taking over the institution's leadership last November. Born in the Republic of Congo, and a Quebecer since age two, she is the first woman of color, and person of color, to lead "The Wex."

On Broad Street, the 145-year-old Columbus Museum of Art welcomed new leader Brooke Minto in May. Born in New York to Jamaican parents, Minto has worked to inspire people to engage with the arts in New York City, New Orleans, Miami, and Cape Town.

Today, we meet these two new dynamic leaders for a conversation spotlighting what's "new and next" at CMA, The Wex, and in the Columbus arts world.

The speakers are:

Brooke Minto, Executive Director and CEO, The Columbus Museum of Art

And Gaëtane Verna, Executive Director, Wexner Center for the Arts

The host is Erica Thompson, Features Editor, The Columbus Dispatch

This forum was sponsored by The Greater Columbus Arts Council, Benefactor Group, and CoverMyMeds and was supported by The Ellis. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and by The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on October 4, 2023.

Can "hidden workers" help alleviate Ohio's current workforce woes? Ohio's rock-bottom unemployment rate of 3.3% – lower even than the national average of 3.5% – is forcing employers to get creative in finding and hiring a workforce needed to keep the state's hot economy cooking.

According to a recent Dayton Daily News report, Ohio has an enviable challenge: two job openings for every unemployed worker. So-called "hidden workers" might be part of a solution that's good for employers and great for workers.

According to the Harvard Business Review, "hidden workers" may be formerly incarcerated individuals looking for a fresh start, workers facing disability challenges, older workers ready to return to the workforce, caregivers whose attention is also needed at home to provide childcare or eldercare, skilled immigrants lacking U.S. credentials, and returning veterans ready to contribute.

They're a workforce eager to jump into the labor pool, yet many find themselves blocked by balky application processes, inflexible schedules, poor transportation, language struggles, and a host of other barriers.

How can Central Ohio businesses open the employment door to "hidden" workers ready to re-join the state's workforce?

The speakers are:

Brent Orrell, Senior Fellow, The American Enterprise Institute

And Lisa Patt-McDaniel, CEO, Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio

The host is Archie Williamson, Founder and CEO of Diversified Systems, Inc.

This forum was generously sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, Charter Communications, and The Ohio Chamber of Commerce and was supported by The Ellis. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village on September 27, 2023.

Did you know Columbus has the third largest concentration of fashion designers in the country? Earlier this year, the website Livability.com called Columbus a "surprising hub of the fashion industry."

But it's no surprise at all to those in the industry, especially for the thousands of creative people behind the fashion giants that call Central Ohio home, including Justice, Express, Abercrombie & Fitch, DSW, L Brands, VS&Co., and other global leaders that pump millions into Ohio's economy.

Hardly any aspect of the fashion industry isn't represented in Central Ohio, including product and store design, packaging, logistics, distribution, and every specialty in between. Central Ohio is both attracting fashion industry talent and growing its own, with The Ohio State University and Columbus College of Art and Design nurturing the next generation of fashion leaders and connecting them with career opportunities that don't come with New York or LA costs of living.

Key local nonprofits, including the Columbus Fashion Council and the Columbus Fashion Alliance are also helping drive the industry's growth and fueling the movement to keep emerging fashion talent rooted in Ohio. Just ahead of Fashion Week Columbus, we host industry experts for an inside look at fashion's deep roots in Central Ohio and Columbus's prominence as global style leader.

The speakers are:

Lubna Najjar, Founder & CEO, IL Moda Brand Development, Creative Director, Her Denim, and Board President, Columbus Fashion Council

Melanie Corn, Ed.D., President, Columbus College of Art & Design

And Katherine DePizzo, President, Justice Design Lab

The host is Maria Seguin, Board Member, Columbus Fashion Council, and Member, OSU Fashion & Retail Industry.

This forum was sponsored by The Carol A. McGuire Legacy in Civic Engagement Fund Celebrating Arts & Culture.

It was supported by The Ellis, L!VE, and King Business Interiors.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience at The Ellis in Columbus, Ohio's historic Italian Village, on September 20, 2023.

Developing a Dynamic Downtown Series

If it's been more than a year since you last visited the Franklinton section of Columbus, just west of downtown, you're in for a shock. Longtime vacant lots and boarded-up houses are gone, replaced by trendy new apartment buildings that look like they've been plucked from a hip neighborhood in Copenhagen.

The new developments are more than just places for urbanites to live: they're complete destinations, stocked with brewpubs, restaurants, coffee shops, and art installations. The living arrangement's often modern too, with "co-living" apartments now becoming more common: in these "adult dorms," bedrooms are private, but spaces like living rooms and kitchens are shared for maximum socialization and minimal rent.

No developer in Columbus has been closer to the epicenter of Franklinton's complete reinvention than visionary Brett Kaufman. His 15-acre Gravity project, "the world's largest conscious community," is now almost a city-within-a-city and features apartments, offices, and coming soon – an adult "experience park" featuring pickleball courts, an ice rink (in the winter), and space for food trucks.

Columbus Business First's Bonnie Meibers sits down with Brett Kaufman for an-in-depth conversation on his vision for Columbus and the city's unrealized potential as a modern, sustainable, and equitable city.

The speakers are:

Brett Kaufman, Founder, Kaufman Development

With host Bonnie Meibers, Commercial Real Estate Reporter, Columbus Business First

Greg Davies, CEO of Columbus Downtown Development Corporation, provided closing remarks.

This forum is part of CMC's ongoing Developing a Dynamic Downtown series, presented by the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation and Capitol South and sponsored by Thompson Hine.

This forum was also sponsored by REALM and supported by The Ellis. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and by The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on September 13, 2023.

As Ohio's 49th Treasurer of State, Robert Sprague serves as the chief investment officer for the state's investment and debt portfolios, oversees the daily cash flows of state monies, and serves as custodian of funds and investment assets outside the state treasury. Sprague, a Findlay native, has made a career in Ohio politics, serving in the Ohio House of Representatives from 2011 through 2018 before being elected state treasurer. With a reproductive rights constitutional amendment and a statute to legalize marijuana now headed to a November ballot, Ohio politics are headed in an uncertain direction. With Treasurer Robert Sprague as our special guest, we dive into the present and future of Ohio's political climate with veteran Statehouse News Bureau Chief Karen Kasler.

The speakers are:

Robert Sprague, Ohio Treasurer of State

Karen Kasler, Bureau Chief, Statehouse News Bureau

This forum was sponsored by Carlile Patchen & Murphy LLP and was supported by The Grange Insurance Audubon Center. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on September 6, 2023.

In a landmark decision this June, the Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action programs in college admissions violated the Fourteenth Amendment, ending this practice in higher education.

At the same time, diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at private companies are coming under fire. What's next for affirmative action and DEI, especially for employers?

This CMC forum unpacks what the Supreme Court's decision means for the future of equity in the U.S.

The panelists are:

Erin Butcher, Of Counsel, Bricker Graydon

Margaret Finley, Head of DEI and Corporate Affairs, Advanced Drainage Systems

Dr. Cynthia Turner, Assistant Dean and Chief Diversity Officer, Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University

The host is Sherrice Sledge-Thomas, Vice President of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, The Columbus Chamber of Commerce

This forum was sponsored by Event Marketing Strategies and The Thanks Be To God Foundation. It was supported by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

The was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on August 30, 2023.

Optimal Health Series

In Franklin County, Ohio, and across the U.S., there are long-standing racial disparities in maternal and birth outcomes, particularly between white and Black women. One of the most glaring determinates of inequity in U.S. healthcare can be seen in maternal birth rates. Based on the 2020 report Maternal Mortality Rates in the United States by The Centers for Disease Control, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women in 2020 was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, 2.9 times the rate for non-Hispanic white women. It's an equity gap that appears to be worsening. As highlighted in the award-winning 2022 documentary film Aftershock, Black birthing mothers face three-to-four times the mortality risk compared to their white counterparts. We uncover this epidemic in maternal health and highlight a way forward toward better and more equitable outcomes for all mothers.

This CMC forum features: 

Jatu Boikai, Nurse Manager, Maternity Services, Mount Carmel Health System

Shawnee Benton-Gibson, Co-Founder and CEO, Spirit of a Woman Leadership Development Institute, and Co-Founder, ARIAH Foundation

Jessica Roach, CEO, Co-Founder, and Clinical Director, Restoring Our Own Through Transformation

Dorian Wingard, Co-Founder, COO, and Policy Director, Restoring Our Own Through Transformation,

The host is Commissoner Erica Crawley with the Franklin County Board of Commissioners.

CMC's Optimal Health Series was sponsored by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Childrens' Hospital. This forum was sponsored by Cardinal Health, Mount Carmel Health System, and OhioHealth. The forum partner was The Franklin County Board of Commissioners and it was supported by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and by The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on August 23, 2023.

If ghost kitchens sound scary, they’re not – in fact, the  delivery-only restaurants are popping up everywhere in America and Columbus in particular. Fueled by the need to get creative during the pandemic, restaurant operators continue to flock to this innovative business model with its low startup costs.

Among other facilities and restaurants, a 22-kitchen facility is now open in Clintonville, and three Columbus-area Kroger locations now have their own ghost kitchens run by a third party. The keys to this newest innovation in the restaurant industry are smartphone apps that make it easy to order food, fast delivery times, and minimal everything – minimal footprints, minimal staff, and minimal investment capital required of would-be restaurateurs.

The growing practice hasn’t been without critics, with some industry observers noting that what can appear to customers to be a diverse collection of independent restaurants may not live up to a closer look behind the scenes. Yet the kitchens have raised more than $3 billion in venture capital funding since 2020, and entrepreneurs and customers alike appear hungry for more. Join us with industry insiders for a look behind-the-scenes at ghost kitchens in Central Ohio and how this disruptive model is taking over take-out.

The panelists are:

Chris Baggott, Co-Founder and CEO, ClusterTruck

John Barker, President & CEO, The Ohio Restaurant Association

Bennett Goldberg, Partner, Maker Kitchens

Lisa Gutierrez, Founder and CEO, Dos Hermanos Taco Truck, Founder and Food-Based Business Coach, Food Truck Millionaire

The host is Susan Post, Associate Editor, Columbus Underground

This forum was supported by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on August 16, 2023.

Is a critical collaboration between Ohio leaders to conserve Ohio’s most precious natural resource working? The state’s H2Ohio program united three state agencies to create more wetlands, reduce harmful fertilizer runoff, and ensure access throughout the state to clean drinking water. With a recent study showing that half the country’s tap water contains “forever chemicals” that may cause cancer and other health issues, and drinking water disasters impacting East Palestine, Ohio, Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi, are Ohio’s elected officials, farmers, developers, and environmental advocates working together successfully to ensure future access to clean drinking water? For the first time ever, CMC welcomes three current members of Governor Mike DeWine’s cabinet on a single panel.

The panelists are:

Brian Baldridge, Director, Ohio Department of Agriculture 

Mary Mertz, Director, Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Anne Vogel, Director, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency 

The host is Natalie Fahmy, Ohio Statehouse Reporter, NBC4.

This forum was sponsored by Advanced Drainage Systems, Del-Co Water Company, Burgess & Niple, The Green Funds of the Columbus Foundation, and the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District.

It was supported by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center.

The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on August 9, 2023.

America's primary and secondary educational systems are standing at a post-COVID crossroads, and few school systems are facing more changes than Ohio’s. The state’s recently-approved budget included higher funding for schools, a dramatic shakeup in school oversight that transferred authority from the State Board of Education to the Governor's Office, and a vast expansion of the availability of vouchers parents can use to take their children out of the public education system entirely. With student performance still lagging as a result of pandemic lockdowns, vouchers that will blur the line between public and private education, and school officials caught in the country's culture war crosshairs, what does the future hold for Ohio schools?

The panelists are:

Dr. Angela Chapman, Superintendent and CEO of Columbus City Schools

Scott DiMauro, President of the Ohio Education Association

And Dr. Susan Tave Zelman, Former Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the Co-Author of "The Buying and Selling of American Education.” 

Our host is Jackie Walker, Executive Director of SkillsUSA Ohio

This week’s forum was sponsored by JP Morgan Chase, Battelle, and WCBE 90.5 FM and was supported by the Grange Insurance Audubon Center. The livestream was presented by The Center for Human Kindness at The Columbus Foundation and The Columbus Dispatch.

This forum was recorded before a live audience in Columbus, Ohio on August 2, 2023.