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Peggy Zone Fisher looks to contribute to the BW community with purpose and passion.
As incoming Baldwin Wallace University President Lee Fisher makes frequent visits to the Baldwin Wallace University campus ahead of his start on July 1, he has an accomplished partner by his side.
And Peggy Zone Fisher is a positive force in her own right.
Zone Fisher, who retired last summer after 18 years as president and CEO of The Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, helped cut the ribbon at the opening of a pop-up Women's Center at BW on Monday, saying she is ready to show up on campus with purpose and passion.
"I am so excited to be here. Lee and I do things as a team; we're partners in each other's lives, and we have supported each other every step of the way."
The Women's Center, housed in BW's Strosacker Hall union, will be the site of small gatherings, tea talks and coffee conversations, and other programming throughout March for Women's History Month.
Zone Fisher will be among the speakers to host a coffee conversation in the space.
The Women's Center project was spearheaded by Courtney Robinson, associate director of cultural programming, and Claudine Grunenwald Kirschner, director of BW New Student Experience, and funded by the Women for BW philanthropy group and BW LaunchNet Powered by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation.
In his own remarks at Monday's opening, incoming President Fisher vowed to work for a BW education that equips students for career agility. "My goal is to make sure at BW we are educating you and training you for jobs that don't yet exist."
Fisher also referenced the LaunchNet moniker, "Powered by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation," in a quip about his marriage, which marked 45 years on Sunday. "My life has been 'powered' by Peggy Zone Fisher."
Empowering others to succeed has been a hallmark of the careers of both Lee and Peggy Zone Fisher.
In addition to their significant individual achievements, the couple has received recognition as a dynamic duo, including the highest award from the Cleveland Bar Association Foundation, the Richard W. Pogue Award for Excellence in Community and Engagement.
They were the first couple ever to receive that award in 2021.
Zone Fisher, a Cleveland native and graduate of The Ohio State University, currently serves as vice chair of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority Board. During her time leading the Diversity Center, she raised $18 million to support programs and services.
A successful entrepreneur, Zone Fisher previously served as president and owner of Zone Travel, Inc., one of Greater Cleveland's largest woman-owned businesses.
In the public sphere, President Bill Clinton appointed Zone Fisher as one of 11 National Commissioners of the White House Conference on Small Business and named her a delegate to the first-ever White House Conference on AIDS. The AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland later honored her for decades of leadership on AIDS issues.
She was also tapped to chair the Ohio Governor's Advisory Council for Travel and Tourism and to lead Ohio Governor Richard Celeste's China Trade Mission.
Zone Fisher has served on dozens of community boards, including the first woman board member of Lutheran Medical Center. Her many honors include the YWCA Women of Achievement Award, Cleveland 500 and Cleveland Magazine's 2024 Community Leader of the Year Award.
At the time of her 2024 retirement, Cip Beredo, past Diversity Center board chair and a partner at Squire Patton Boggs, said Zone Fisher left a "remarkable legacy" of successes and achievements and "shines as a beacon of resilience and compassion."
Now, Zone Fisher is preparing to focus her talents as a force for good on the BW campus.
Even before they take up full-time residence in the President's House, both Lee and Peggy Zone Fisher are energetically embracing the BW community as their own.
