A glass paperweight on Audrey Treasure’s desk bears the Theodore Roosevelt quote “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” That fits with Treasure’s mindset about making an impact on the world.
“I absolutely believe that you can make a difference where you are,” said Treasure, vice president and executive director of the Workforce Innovation Center at the Cincinnati Regional Chamber.
She traces her desire to make a difference back to her high school years in Troy, Ohio, when she volunteered as a tutor for two families from contrasting economic situations.
“I was struck by the differences these two sets of kids had based on their family circumstances,” she said. “As an idealistic high schooler, I really wanted to see how we could improve outcomes for all people.”
After earning her bachelor’s in Spanish and a certificate in nonprofit management from Indiana University, Treasure taught in low-income schools in Chicago and Atlanta for two years with Teach for America. Her next stop was Junior Achievement of Georgia.
“It was motivating for me to help young people see different alternatives for their future by having greater exposure to jobs (and) to training opportunities, and to work with their families for them to have more opportunities as well,” she said.
Following six months of teaching with her now-husband in rural Guatemala, Treasure took a grant writing job at Antioch University in Yellow Springs, Ohio. She admired the university’s commitment to supporting adult learners – and she became one, earning her master’s there.
The path to the Innovation Center
In 2013, Treasure joined the Cincinnati Business Committee and the Cincinnati Regional Business Committee, membership organizations composed of the region’s CEOs with a shared staff. Working with the Child Poverty Collaborative through that role revealed a need for an organization that would help businesses solve their workforce and talent goals, to the benefit of both employers and employees, and connecting businesses with workforce organizations.
Those experiences led to Treasure joining the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, where she helped launch the Workforce Innovation Center in January 2019.
“It’s really about making sure that people in this community have access and opportunity to be fulfilled with good jobs that have good pay and good benefits and that can sustain their lives,” said Brendon Cull, Chamber president and CEO.
One real-world example: In a Chamber newsletter, Cull wrote about Antianna Beal, who “was having difficulty finding a path that worked for her, and was working at a Foot Locker” when she was encouraged to join the Workforce Innovation Center’s Women of Color in Tech program. With the help of the Brighton Center, Beal finished the Google certificate that the program offered and is now “working in research and development at Procter & Gamble, with a great career path ahead of her.”
The Center’s work “helps align the workforce ecosystem’s resources with the needs of our growing economy,” Cull said, “all the while making sure that businesses have access to the resources they need to make the necessary changes or the policy shifts that improve job quality in our community.”
The Center’s partner organizations include workforce coaching nonprofits, educational institutions, training centers and other similarly focused organizations.
Audrey Treasure with Urban League’s Ebony Young, SVP, and Christie Bryant Kuhns, president & CEO
“I really like people, and I really like making connections, and I really like solving problems,” Treasure said. “That’s what this work is: Working with people, connecting them to one another and saying ‘Let’s solve this problem.’ ”
That’s part of the reason Cull considers Treasure “the perfect person to lead this effort.”
“She has a deep understanding of the complicated systems in our workforce sector,” he said. “And maybe, even more importantly, she has taken great care to build authentic and deep relationships with the people who are involved in the workforce sector.”
As part of the Center’s work, workforce organizations also convene quarterly to “build connectivity across the workforce and talent ecosystem. There are more than 100 organizations in this space, and it’s hard to keep track of who’s doing what,” Treasure said.
“A lot of people do great work in their own individual silos, and that matters,” she added. “But foundationally at the Chamber, we believe we have greater opportunity for collective impact when we work together … and that will help our region to be a place where people can thrive and belong.”
A ‘thought partner’ with United Way
One organization the Center works with is United Way of Greater Cincinnati.
“We’re not only an investor; I would say we’re a thought partner – we look for ways to collaborate,” said Moira Weir, its president and CEO. “It’s a win-win: If our families are thriving and doing well economically, then our community thrives.”
Weir has known Treasure for around 10 years, before either was in her current role.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for her,” Weir said. “She’s really, really smart … but she also has heart and cares deeply. The other part is looking for the accountability and the outcomes. It’s heart, brilliance and producing the outcomes.”
“She’s done so many different things, and I think all these things give her a unique background to understand the value of stable families, education (and) a strong economic community,” she added.
Outside of her day job, Treasure has a long list of volunteer commitments. She serves on the Selection Advisory Committee for GreenLight Fund Cincinnati; was a founding board member of School Board School; chairs the steering committee of the Talent Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati; serves on the Community Advisory Council for the Miami University Regional Campuses; is a member of the Southwest Career Pathway Support Network Steering Committee; and just completed a six-year board term at 4C for Children. She also volunteers at the elementary school her three daughters attend, serving as a coach for Girls on the Run and treasurer of the PTO.
That schedule doesn’t provide for a ton of free time, but when she has it, she likes to read, go for a run or hike with her husband and daughters.
“She’s a great mom; she cares deeply for her family and her kids and is very involved in her kids’ educational experiences … (and) she does a lot of fun things with her kids,” Weir said. “It’s always hard, as a working mom, to balance all that.”
‘Snowball’ of positive change
Treasure also likes to keep a balance between fun and hard work. “I really think it’s important that you find joy in work, especially when you do hard work; it keeps you hopeful,” she said. “But we also have to get things done. I want us to be winning. I want us to really make change.”
She sees curiosity as key to that change. “One of the best things we can do right now is to be curious about where we can make an impact,” she said. “Things seem complex and big, and they are, but we can be curious and we can make inroads anyway.”
Cull believes Treasure and the Center have already made great strides. “I think our workforce ecosystem is stronger and more connected today than it was six years ago, and it is more effectively connected to the business community as well,” he said.
For Treasure, though, the work is just getting started.
“I want this to be a snowball,” she said. “I want the region to be a place where people can build great lives and get ahead.”
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