Ronnie Ruelle had a vision. One she was determined to see come to fruition.

It all started in 2015 when Ruelle, then senior vice president of PNC Bank, presented her vision to business and nonprofit leaders attending a Southern Wayne County Regional Chamber meeting on Fighting Island in LaSalle, Ontario. The vision was this: She wanted to find a way to honor and recognize women in business, nonprofit and community leadership.

And while the idea was a popular one, at the time there were not enough resources to properly launch a program that would fit Ruelle's vision. She didn’t give up, though, and in 2016, Ruelle spearheaded the first event featuring a woman business leader who spoke about her career and her journey to get where she was.

The vision gained further momentum the following year, when Ron Hinrichs became SWCRC’s new president. Hinrichs said Ruelle approached him to share her vision, and he immediately embraced it.

“It was either my first or second day on the job when Ronnie Ruelle called me out of the blue,” Hinrichs said. “I had never met her but I knew she was an officer of the board. And she said, ‘I have a mission for you and this is what it is.’ She laid out what she wanted to do with the Women Of Achievement Awards. And I fell in love with the idea.”

Hinrichs joined the effort to put on the first Women Of Achievement Awards, which was held in 2017 at the Holiday Inn on Northline Road in Southgate. The second year the event moved to Stone Creek Banquet Hall in Flat Rock. The following year the event moved to Crystal Gardens on Fort Street in Southgate, where it’s been ever since.

“Roger, the owner, has personally invested his own money to make this a special event,” Hinrichs said. “He is very passionate about the vision and has helped us to enhance the impact of this event on our community."

Putting together an event that would accomplish all this in an effective way wasn’t easy, and it needed a lot of support. One of the first calls Hinrichs made was to Jeffrey Chicoine and Judith McNeely at Beaumont (now Corewell Health), which became the presenting sponsor for the first year and continues to invest into the event to this day as the Panel Sponsor.

Hinrichs also enlisted the skills of Michael Kuentz, of Visual Ronin, to produce the award recipient videos.

Over the years there have been changes to the format, namely bringing on an emcee to host the festivities. Taryn Asher, the Emmy-award-winning anchor from FOX 2, hosted this year’s, as well as last year’s events.

And instead of having a keynote speaker, the format now includes a panel discussion, or “fireside chat” as Hinrichs calls it, with Asher and women in business speaking about topics that are important to the community.

This year’s honorees, recognized on October 11, were:
Kyle F. Stack Award – Hon. Victoria Shackelford, 23rd District Court
Entrepreneur Award – Christina McNally, Freckles & Grit
Unsung Hero Award – Lindsay Dennis, Advantage One Credit Union
Distinguished Young Woman Award – Danielle Evans, Detroit City FC Downriver

PNC Bank was the presenting sponsor.

Kate Currie, events and marketing manager for SWCRC, is 22 years old and a recent college graduate. She explained what the event means to her.

“It’s a powerful event,” Currie said. “Listening to their stories and celebrating their incredible accomplishments is so inspiring as a female just starting my career. That could be me.”