A few years ago, the Journal highlighted a number of Spokane economic development organizations led by women, applauding them and other women-led entities for setting an example and inspiring greater parity across the Inland Northwest business community.

Following a couple recent hires at the time, Spokane Sports, Downtown Spokane Partnership, the University District Development Association, the Spokane Public Facilities District, and Greater Spokane Incorporated all were — and still are — led by women.

Now, on the heels of STCU selecting Lindsey Myhre as its president and CEO, making her the first woman to lead the 91-year-old institution, it’s an appropriate time to praise another industry in our local business community.

With Myhre’s appointment and Carla Cicero’s continued leadership at Numerica Credit Union, a pair of women hold the highest positions at the Spokane-area's largest credit unions.

Furthermore, eight of the 10 credit unions in Spokane that are considered “small” by some metrics, are also led by women.

That includes Canopy Credit Union, PrimeSource Credit Union, Progressions Credit Union, Responders Emergency Services Credit Union, Safeway Federal Credit Union, Spokane City Credit Union, Spokane Firefighters Credit Union, and Spokane Media Federal Credit Union.

The women-led credit union trend isn’t unique to Spokane, necessarily. Research shows that just over 50% of credit union CEOs are women.

That level of female representation is far less common in other industries, however, even within the greater financial services industry, in which women make up less than 10% of CEO positions at commercial banks, according to multiple datasets.

The progress exemplified by the region’s credit unions, as well as by the economic development organizations mentioned above, deserves recognition. And it’s worth noting that the progress isn’t exclusive to those Inland Northwest organizations.

Some of Spokane County’s largest employers are led by women.

Providence’s Inland Northwest service area is led by Chief Executive Susan Stacey; Heather Rosentrater is president and CEO of Avista Corp.; Eastern Washington University is led by President Shari McMahan; Gonzaga University recently named Katia Passerini as its president.

The city of Spokane is led by Mayor Lisa Brown, and before her came former Mayor Nadine Woodward. At the County level, Mary Kuney is the chair of the Board of County Commissioners.

Progress is happening in the Inland Northwest, and there are signs that it will continue.

As reported by the Journal earlier this year, when Leadership Spokane launched its first class in 1982, just six women took a seat in a class of 27. Today, women make up the majority of the class of 2025, with 34 out of 64 participants.

We hope that representation at the leadership level continues in industries that have already shown progress, and that it spreads to industries that still lag behind.

Whether through our news coverage, editorials, or our annual Women in Leadership events, the Journal will continue to highlight the organizations and industries that make real efforts toward promoting greater gender equality across the Inland Northwest business community.

Hopefully there will come a day when that parity is the norm in the community, rather than a trend, and won’t need mentioned in a space like this.