After nearly 30 successful years as CEO of the Cincinnati YWCA, Charlene Ventura began writing poems. She wrote about everyday life, things she felt or observed, about nature and feminism, politics and love, loss and aging, and hope.
Those poems have been turned into a lovely collection published under the title, Having My Say.
A co-founder of the women's movement in 1968, Ventura joined the staff of the YWCA of Greater Cincinnati in 1973. In 1976, Ventura initiated the first community-wide forum on domestic abuse in Cincinnati, which led to the establishment of the YWCA Alice Paul House, the first shelter for survivors of domestic violence in the greater Cincinnati area, and one of the first seven in the U.S. In 1980, she established the annual YWCA Salute to Career Women of Achievement.
Charlene has received many national and local awards for her groundbreaking work supporting women, including Redbook Magazine's Ten outstanding Young Women in Ohio, and a nod from Women's e-News as one of 21 leaders for the 21st Century.