The Weston Democrat – When we first started talking about the unusually high number of women in leadership roles compared to other counties, one topic was how to narrow the list down to a manageable amount to cover. We focused on women in Lewis County who are elected officials or work for a government entity, in the cases of Superintendent Dr. Robin Lewis and County Administrator Cindy Whetsell. Read article.
However, there are so many more women in Lewis County who are invaluable to the local economy, including Rebecca Jordan-Gleason, Anna Cardelli, and Stephanie Stout Hamrick to name a few. Sherry Rogers and Chris Richards must also be mentioned for their hard work with the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce and the Lewis County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau. Let’s not forget Kim Freeland, Denise Sprouse, Julie Radcliff, and Kristinia Benedum who are principals of four local schools.
This is impressive for a county this size. The downside of this is women are still grossly underpaid compared to men in the same position. In 2016 the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy reported that women were paid 72 cents on the dollar. In that same year, West Virginia women were last in the country for education achievement, with only 21.7% of female residents holding a bachelor’s degree or higher.
