Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce Honors Outstanding Women Leaders at Awards Ceremony
The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce’s Women’s Biz Net (WBN) honored four local women leaders during the Chamber’s 7th Annual Outstanding Women Leaders (OWL) Awards Luncheon on September 26 at Biltmore Country Club, 160 Biltmore Dr. in North Barrington.
The 2024 OWL award winners are:
Leslie Ferris Yerger, CEO and Founder of My Density Matters, OWL Recipient for Nonprofit Leadership
Linda Gump, Owner of Jovie Nannies & Sitters and College Tutors, OWL Recipient for Professional Excellence
Traci Sanders Campbell, Owner of BIBO Worldwide LLC/BeSpire TV, OWL Recipient for Community Impact
Mary Brennan, Founder of Barrington Dance Ensemble/Academy, OWL Recipient for Mentorship and Education
“Our communities are better and stronger as a result of the contributions of these Outstanding Women Leaders,” said BACC President/CEO Suzanne Corr. “OWL women serve as role models. They are breaking barriers and setting the bar high for their accomplishments professionally and to the community. They have meaningful stories to share that we can all learn from.”
The OWL Awards were created by the BACC WBN Council to recognize women for their inspiring work in one of four categories: Community Impact – giving back and making an impact on the Barrington area community; Mentorship and Education – mentoring and improving the lives of others through education; Nonprofit Leadership – working to provide important resources to the community and excelling an important cause; and Professional Excellence – excelling in their profession and setting the standard in their field.
This year’s OWL Awards Luncheon is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors: Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital, Barrington Bank & Trust Co., N.A., BMO Wealth Management, and Northern Trust. Their commitment to our community and to the recognition of outstanding women leaders is greatly appreciated.
The 2024 Class of OWL Recipients has dynamic records of community service and professional achievements. They are:
Leslie Ferris Yerger launched My Density Matters shortly after receiving a Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer diagnosis, just 2 months after an all-clear mammogram. The shocking diagnosis set her on a mission to educate women that the most common breast cancer screening method, mammograms, can miss detecting cancer in women with dense breast tissue, risking their lives and their ability to benefit from early detection. Because both dense breast tissue and cancer cells appear white on the mammogram report, women with dense tissue must advocate for higher level imaging. Close to half of all women have dense breasts and 71% of all breast cancer is in women with dense breast tissue. To ensure her story doesn’t become anyone else’s story, she kicked off her campaign by walking 500 miles across Spain completing the Camino de Santiago raising funds to get two MBI (Molecular Breast Imaging) units placed in Chicagoland. One of these units is at Good Shepherd in Barrington. She established the NFP My Density Matters in 2021 and has spearheaded all programs; developed a Breast Cancer Screening guide to help women understand their own personalized breast cancer risk; created a Check Your Chart program that teaches women how to locate their breast density in their health care portal; and launched a My Story Matters for women to share stories. Now, Leslie and My Density Matters focuses on bringing about legislative change to require insurance companies to cover additional screening for women with dense breasts. Her tireless efforts to spread the word is helping to advance the use of next generation breast cancer screening technologies.
Linda Gump is a dynamic entrepreneur and community leader with over eight years of experience in the childcare industry. She founded College, Nannies, and Tutors, now known as Jovie Nannies and Sitters, which has grown from a single territory with 10 employees to a four-territory operation serving the northwest and west suburbs of Chicago with over 250 full-time and part-time employees. Linda's leadership has led to significant revenue growth and the creation of numerous jobs. Before launching Jovie Nannies, she served as a senior administrator for major healthcare organizations, including the Alexian Brothers and Advocate systems. Linda has a long-standing commitment to community engagement. She has served as a diplomat and current Board Member of the Barrington Chamber of Commerce and been actively involved with various nonprofits, including the Girl Scouts of America and Palatine High School parent groups. Linda is known for her highly organized, results-oriented leadership, coaching, mentoring, communication, relationship building and problem-solving skills. She has a proven success record in improving programs and services through building and leading strong teams with a focus on customer service, quality and metric based business accountability. Linda has particular expertise in organizational redesign, new business and leadership development, leading best practices and coaching/training. Her ability to achieve consensus on the creation and execution of a strategic vision for her business has defined her reputation as leader in her industry. Linda holds a BA degree from Washington University in St Louis and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Traci Sanders Campbell has made a career centered around connecting, celebrating and mentoring women. She is the owner of BeSpire TV, an internet streaming service that provides programs for all viewers but specializes in programming geared to a diverse audience. She created BIBO Weekly TV and B Zone radio to bring a space where women can share, learn and grow...together. Traci is known as a doer. She is a speaker, coach and founder of the C.H.A.M.P. Community Project a nonprofit program that helps at-risk teens and single parents. Traci is the founder of the BIBO (Beauty In/Beauty Out) Awards, a multi-city awards tour that honors and awards women in leadership, female role models, female entrepreneurship and female influencers. The BIBO Awards provides a platform to celebrate minority women-owned businesses who are honored for the mentorship work they are doing with young minority students and entrepreneurs. The foundation also provides scholarships for education and entrepreneurship advancement. Traci has been in Information Technology for over 18 years and has performed in Business Analysis, Software QA, and Training and QA/Project lead roles for several corporate, non-profit and academia clients. Her Be Spire TV has been selected to provide coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024, bringing a local perspective to the national political scene. Traci is passionate about, not only connecting women together, but in celebrating them through several of her organizations. She is on a mission to change the way women connect, share and inspire.
Mary Brennan is Founder and Artistic Director for the Barrington Dance Ensemble and holds a speech and theater education degree from the University of Illinois. Her dance training includes study with Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay, the National Academy of Dance, the University of Illinois in Champaign, and the Royal Academy of Dance in London. After graduating from the University of Illinois, Mary held the position of drama director for the Champaign, IL public school system. Mary opened The Barrington Dance Academy four decades ago in the fall of 1984. For forty years she has provided quality dance education to hundreds of young artists and student dancers in and around our community. The focus of The Barrington Dance Academy has always been to provide professional instruction in a supportive atmosphere so that its students can build confidence, strength and learn the art of dance. Mary has served as a teacher and mentor to countless students over the years, fostering their creativity and passion for dance, providing them with professional instruction and giving them numerous performance opportunities to showcase their hard work and dedication. In addition to running her school, in 1989 Mary founded the Barrington Dance Ensemble (BDE). The Barrington Dance Ensemble is a 501c(3) non-profit organization, celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. Her directing and choreographic credits include The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Peter and the Wolf, Under the Big Top, Graduation Ball, Scenes from Childhood, and The Nutcracker in addition to numerous smaller works.
This is the seventh class of OWL recipients. Last year’s honorees were Michelle Streit, co-creator/leader of Barrington Boat Club and the OWL Recipient for Professional Excellence; Kathleen Leitner, President of Citizens for Conservation (CFC) and the OWL Recipient for Nonprofit Leadership; Dori Squires-Hough, Executive Director at Barrington Giving Day and the OWL Recipient for Community Impact; and Dr. Avis Proctor, President of William Rainey Harper College and OWL Recipient for Mentorship and Education.
Image credits below: Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce
