20 Years of Wise Women: Where Are They Now?

For two decades, 100 Wise Women has brought together accomplished women and emerging leaders. They share stories, build confidence, and make connections that last. It is one of Leadership Louisville Center’s signature women’s leadership experiences. The quarterly breakfast series makes room for honest conversation, practical insight, and the relationships that grow from both. In 2026, we celebrate its 20th anniversary and honor the wisdom in the room.

Along the way, 100 Wise Women has put a brigadier general (Margaret Barnes, 2012), a former governor (Martha Layne Collins, 2014), and a Food Network chef (Damaris Phillips, 2018) on the same stage. Judges, news anchors, and a long line of CEOs have joined them. Plenty of you were in those rooms. Some of you were at the microphone.

For the anniversary, we emailed past speakers two questions. What have you done since you spoke that you’re proudest of? What are you working on right now that you’re most excited about? Thirteen wrote back, and the answers wandered further than we expected.

A radio host with more than 30 years on the air is now the regional spokesperson for AAA. One judge, diagnosed with leukemia, is working to make mental health care part of cancer treatment. Another speaker sold the company she ran for 21 years and now hangs her paintings in galleries. Two Norton Healthcare colleagues who presented together in 2013 are helping build a pediatric campus in Jeffersontown.

Celebrating 20 Years on November 20

On November 20, Leadership Louisville Center celebrates 20 years of 100 Wise Women with special guest Lonnie Ali. Past speakers are invited to join us, so you may end up at a table with someone whose story is below.

Where Past 100 Wise Women Speakers Are Now

Here are all thirteen, in the order they spoke. Everything in quotation marks is theirs.

Lynda Lambert, 2011

When Lynda Lambert spoke, she was with Main Line Broadcasting and 102.3 The Maxx. Her radio career, more than 30 years of it, ended in 2016. The first stretch at AAA felt “so different and honestly, kinda scary.” Ten years later, she is the AAA Media Spokesperson for the region.

Lynda writes all the news releases, coordinates press conferences and media events, and helps plan company events. Her messaging covers roadside assistance, travel, insurance, and highway safety. She is also constantly learning new platforms and software. Her former radio partners George Lindsey and Aaron Miller were her “Tech Support” for years. These days she says, “Well, stand aside, boys!” and reports that she can figure it out on her own, “mostly…”

Wisest words: “Being a part of a company that allows me to use my broadcast and media background in a new and challenging way is both exciting and satisfying!”

Charlotte Ipsan, 2013

Charlotte Ipsan presented in July 2013 with her Norton Healthcare colleague Lynnie Meyer. She was part of the team that launched Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital. The hospital brought more pediatric care to a more central part of Louisville and offered care for women at every stage of life.

Her current project is the new Norton Children’s pediatric care village and hospital in Jeffersontown. The 152-acre campus will put pediatric medicine, research, behavioral health, and support services in one place. Over the past year, Charlotte has been listening to families and communities across Kentucky and southern Indiana about what that campus should be.

Wisest words: “Creating a true village of hope that’ll serve generations of kids is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I’m proud to be involved.”

Lynnie Meyer, 2013

Lynnie Meyer spoke alongside Charlotte Ipsan in July 2013. At the time, Norton Women’s & Children’s Hospital in St. Matthews was still a promise. It has since been delivered, and a new facility at 28th and Broadway has followed. Norton Children’s has added to its reputation along the way, including the nationally ranked Wendy Novak Diabetes Institute and the Jennifer Lawrence Cardiac ICU.

Now Lynnie is most excited about 152 acres in Jeffersontown. She calls it a “once in a generation Pediatric Village” that will support families, improve access to care, and build on the Norton Children’s name.

Wisest words: “We truly did deliver on our promise to the community.”

Monica Hardin, 2017

Monica Hardin was an anchor at WLKY News and a former Miss Kentucky when she spoke in April 2017. She remembers herself as “trying desperately to hold everything together.”

In the years after, she went through a divorce and a breast cancer diagnosis. She also retired from a 15-year career in television news. Monica has since rebuilt her life as a breast cancer survivor, a mother of two daughters, and a communications executive. Today she is Deputy Chief of Communications & Public Relations at Louisville MSD. There, she helps people understand the work being done to protect the community and its waterways.

Wisest words: “I’ve learned that sometimes success isn’t about holding it all together; it’s about discovering who you are when you get to begin again.”

Jackie Keating, 2017

Jackie Keating, Chief Development Officer at Dare to Care Food Bank, spoke in June 2017 with her mentor, Dana Allen, as co-presenter. Her sons were toddlers then and are now 10 and 14. In her time at Dare to Care, the community has donated more than $130 million. She is far from declaring victory, because the need, she says, is greater than ever recorded. The advice she still carries comes from Dana.

Wisest words, passed down from her mentor: “Your best changes from day to day, hour to hour. And remember that your 80% is someone else’s 100%, so give yourself some grace.”

Amy Hess, 2018

Amy Hess was Special Agent in Charge with the FBI when she spoke in May 2018. Her topics were seeking and seizing opportunities, finding your voice, and being a visible leader. Since then, she has held executive positions at the federal, local, and now state level.

At the Kentucky Office of Homeland Security, she is upgrading emergency 911 services statewide. She also shares information, such as school-based threats, so violence can be prevented. In addition, she administers grants for first responders and nonprofits.

Wisest words: “I’m proud of my public service, but even more proud of my successors’ accomplishments, and seeing the impact of their work on individuals, communities, and society.”

Ingrid Hernandez, 2020

Ingrid Hernandez, President of Ingrid Design, was the first 100 Wise Women speaker on Zoom during Covid. International women friends joined live. Three years later, she sold her business of 21 years to a local advertising executive. The transition came with many challenges.

Now she is learning oil painting with her teacher, Claudia Hammer, and has been at it for three years. Her paintings have been in Kore Gallery’s Black & White Show and the Louisville Visual Arts Association Biennial Show. A Latinx show at Paristown follows in October. In her talk, she said that “with every loss there is a gain.”

Wisest words: “with every loss there is a gain”

Erica Lee Williams, 2020

Erica Lee Williams was a Jefferson District Court Judge when she spoke in October 2020. In 2021, she was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She served almost 15 years on the bench and medically retired in December 2023.

Today she advocates for mental health therapy as an integral part of cancer treatment. She works with the Norton Cancer Institute’s Behavioral Oncology Department, led by Elizabeth Archer-Nanda, DNP, APRN. Finding a “new normal,” she says, is vital to recovery.

Wisest words: “I have a new lease on life and I am committed to living and not just existing!”

Cathy Zion, 2021

Cathy Zion was Owner and President of Today’s Media when she spoke in June 2021. She sold Today’s Woman magazine in February 2021 and Today’s Transitions magazine in December 2023. Cathy has served on the Hosparus Health Board for 21 years.

She is now chairing its Places of Compassion Campaign, which is raising $13 million for a new hospice inpatient care center. The campaign is close to its goal, and the center is scheduled to be finished in June 2027. Of the time since she spoke, during COVID, she says, “I successfully transitioned to rewired.”

Wisest words: “I successfully transitioned to rewired.”

Kirsten Hawley, 2021

Kirsten Hawley was SVP, Chief People, Places & Communications Officer at Brown-Forman when she spoke in November 2021. Her top ten list of what has happened since includes dropping her youngest child at college, leaving a role that had run its course, and retiring from corporate life. Now she is learning to be a better mom to adult children, which takes “a lot more listening and a lot less directing.” The list also includes her 35th wedding anniversary, becoming a more present daughter to aging parents, and keeping routine medical appointments.

Kirsten has given herself “permission to have hobbies without feeling guilty.” This fall, she is training for the El Camino pilgrimage with women she admires, in memory of a friend lost in 2022. After more than three decades in Kentucky, she now spends part of the year out of state. She is also pursuing a “Northern Naturalist” certificate. The coursework covers invasive species, land conservation, animal habitats, topography and navigation, ecological systems, and waterway preservation.

Wisest words: “I’ve learned since then that good career management is both knowing when to lean in and when to step out.”

Diane Medley, 2023

Diane Medley was Executive Chairman of MCM CPAs & Advisors when she spoke in May 2023. She has since started Waterfront Financial Group LLC, a CPA and advisory firm built around a high level of personal service. The firm handles individual tax, entity tax, and trusts and estates. It also does accounting for small businesses. Diane and her partners plan to grow with a team of women who love serving clients.

Wisest words, her mantra: “Life. Thoughtfully Planned and Accounted For.”

Maggie Harlow, 2023

Maggie Harlow was CEO of Signarama Downtown when she spoke in July 2023. Her business has matured, and she is reimagining her work for the next couple of decades. Some of that reinvention is already under way. Leadership Louisville has recognized her as a “connector.” Maggie hopes to keep building up women leaders in Louisville, herself included.

Wisest words: “It has made me more effective in building great connections and bringing people together who want to make GREAT THINGS happen in our community.”

Jamesetta Ferguson, 2026

Jamesetta Ferguson has served as Senior Pastor of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Louisville since 2007. She spoke in June 2026, making her our most recent speaker in this group. She has been engaged in a BIPOC mental health festival. After recognizing that leadership requires personal restoration, she took an intentional 60-day sabbatical.

Her current focus is completing the renovation of the historic church at 1407 W. Jefferson Street. Interior conceptual drawings are underway, and the goal is to finish by the end of 2027.

Wisest words: “I now return fully refreshed, centered, and energized for the work and opportunities ahead.”

Every Woman Has a Story to Tell

Read back through these thirteen and you will find a lot of change. There are new jobs, new cities, and a new relationship with rest. You will also find a lot of other people. Jackie still carries advice from her mentor, Dana. Charlotte and Lynnie presented together in 2013 and are still building on the same work. Amy is proudest of what her successors have done. Maggie credits her connections with helping her bring people together.

Every one of these women once stood in front of a room and said what she was in the middle of. Several were still in the middle of it. Monica told us she was “trying desperately to hold everything together.” Years later she has a different answer. We get to hear it because she was willing to share the first one.

That is a lot of what 100 Wise Women has been for 20 years. Women leaders spend plenty of time comparing their own unfinished middle to everyone else’s finished résumé. It helps to hear someone say out loud what the work actually took. It helps just as much to be the one saying it. You have a story too. It might be a career change, a hard year, or something you are quietly proud of. Someone in that room needs to hear it, and you will probably hear something you needed in return.

Join Us on November 20

Join us on November 20 at Leadership Louisville Center as we celebrate 20 years of 100 Wise Women with special guest Lonnie Ali. Bring your story and your wise words, and plan to leave with someone else’s.

Register here

If you’re thinking about your own next step, the Alice Houston Women’s Leadership Program at Leadership Louisville Center is accepting applications through December 1. It is named for Alice Houston, who spoke at 100 Wise Women in 2008.