An evening spent in the rain with a fellow Impact 100 member drenched Becky Scheeler with joy and a sense of camaraderie – unfolding yet another umbrella of connection for this longtime member.
Becky recalls: “An Impact event was underway, and a co-host and I were outside directing traffic…helping people find parking spaces during a torrential downpour. We were soaking wet…Funny things like that are magical, the kind of magic I experience all the time with Impact 100!” She adds, “Women I’ve met here have become lifelong friends.”
Becky, executive vice president, Centennial, an executive search and talent strategy firm, joined Impact 100 in 2016. She was recruited by Lisa Kaminsky, whom she knew professionally. “Lisa (now deceased) is probably responsible for bringing in the most Impact members in my cohort. Anyone who’s been a member five years or more would remember Lisa as a phenomenal cheerleader and avid Impact 100 supporter,” Becky says.
During her initial engagement, Becky joined a Grant Review Team (GRT) and quickly became more involved. She was ultimately recruited to the board. “My personality is ‘jump in, and ask questions later!’ And so I did!” Becky acknowledges she was overwhelmed at first.
“I’d gotten in way over my head,” she says. But everyone props you up…and helps you navigate new roles. Impact 100—and its membership—is like that,” she notes. Becky served as board secretary for three years, followed by tenures as GRT lead, Nominating Committee chair and Governance committee member.
A childhood spent in a small, rural Ohio town shaped Becky’s personal and professional growth. “My mom was a stay-at-home mom and passionate volunteer. The community food pantry was housed in our basement, and I accompanied mom to her outreach ventures. One was with an early Head Start program in Springfield, Ohio. That’s the origin of my nonprofit feet,” she says.
Business acumen was modeled by Becky’s father, a steel industry salesperson who worked out of the family home. “I overheard business talk all day long when Dad wasn’t traveling,” Becky says.
Small town values followed Becky to Ohio University. She later met her husband (also an OU graduate), and they decided to move to Cincinnati. The couple has three adult sons, daughter-in-love and three grandchildren. Family members live in proximity to one another and enjoy pizza nights together on Fridays and Sundays.