Leadership Springfield assumes management of Rosie

Leadership Springfield Inc. has assumed management of Rosie, a 6-year-old networking and mentoring initiative for women in business.

Carrie Richardson, executive director of Leadership Springfield, said today is the first day that Rosie is under management of the leadership development organization.

"Leadership Springfield will preserve the original mission and accessibility of Rosie. We plan to leverage our infrastructure to support this network of leaders," Richardson said via email. "In addition to our full-time program director who will oversee Rosie, we also have a committee of Leadership Springfield alumni and highly engaged Rosie members who are collaborating on opportunities to grow this impactful network into Rosie 2.0. Future growth of Rosie will be shared as it develops in 2023."

Cindy Mergen, Leadership Springfield's program director, will manage Rosie, Richardson said, along with the Signature Class, Academy Class and alumni programming she already oversees.

No money changed hands as part of the shift, said Richardson. Leadership Springfield is assuming management of Rosie's social media accounts and website, as well as responsibility for domain renewal.

Rosie, launched in 2016 by Rachel Anderson and Paige Oxendine, ranked No. 1 this year on Springfield Business Journal's list of the area's largest general networking groups. As of May 9, the organization had 1,460 members.

“Leadership Springfield is the hallmark of community engagement, and this transition will provide additional support to develop and support women in leadership in our community,” Anderson said in a news release.