Marianne James named YWCA Career Woman of Achievement
On May 8, Marianne James, senior vice president and CIO, Information Services, will be honored as a YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, along with seven other Cincinnati-area women. The petite dynamo is still trying to wrap her head around how she came to be in such outstanding company. But once you hear her story, it’s easily understandable and more than well-deserved.
James grew up on Cincinnati’s West Side, sandwiched between two older brothers and two younger sisters. She attended St. Dominic Elementary School and Oak Hills High School, then went off to college at Brown University, intent on majoring in international studies and possibly joining the Foreign Service.
But her plans changed when she met a man, fell in love and left college to marry at age 19. Over the next five years, she gave birth to three children—two girls and a boy. But the marriage didn’t last, and in 1986, she returned to Cincinnati—a young, single mother of three, ages 7, 5 and 3, to start her life over.
“We moved in with my parents,” she remembered. “I knew I had to go back to school and take care of my family. So I got a job at Cincinnati Children’s in Accounting, and with the help of tuition reimbursement, I enrolled at the University of Cincinnati (UC) in 1987 to get my accounting degree.”
Working full-time, going to school and being a mom was controlled chaos.
“When you’re in that situation, you just have to keep your eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel, because you’re on fast-forward all the time,” James said. “Fortunately, I had a lot of help from my family and a boss who accommodated my schedule when I had to take classes that were only offered during work hours.”
Moving up
In 1989, James was promoted to cost accountant, a role that provided the means to afford an apartment of her own. But she quickly ran into obstacles.
“The rules stated that if four people moved into an apartment, there had to be two adults and two children,” said James. “It was clearly a ploy to keep single parents out.”
James turned to Housing Opportunities Made Equal, a United Way agency, for help. There she met Karla Irvine, a well-known activist in the fair-housing movement (and past YWCA award winner).
“Karla was feisty, a real lion in that work, and she was prepared to push the statutes,” said James. “There was an apartment complex near my parents, owned by two brothers who had a lot of rental properties. Karla and I went down to the Federal Building, and she challenged them, saying we would take them to court. They buckled and agreed to rent to me.”
James achieved another milestone when she graduated from UC in 1993. That same year she advanced as a billing supervisor in Neonatology, which marked the first time she worked with clinicians. “I really enjoyed the experience. It enabled me to connect differently with the Cincinnati Children’s mission,” she said.
In 1995, James became business director in Endocrinology, where she broadened her perspective of the medical center. The following year, she was asked to be the business director of Hematology/Oncology, which carried even more responsibility. The work, she said, was gratifying.
In 1998, Cathy Cooper Weidner, vice president of Information Services, was consulting with President and CEO Jim Anderson on how to build out the IS infrastructure. She had a capital plan with a budget of $50 million but no business director to help manage it. She invited James to join her team.
“At the time, IS didn’t have the business director role, so I came on as a systems analyst,” James explained. “Some people thought I was crazy to leave a director position. But you have to look for opportunities everywhere, and this was an opportunity to grow. It was definitely a leap of faith.”
That leap paid off. Tony Johnston, who was then director of technical services for the department and now serves as vice president and Chief Technology Officer, became a mentor and critical partner in helping James develop her IT savvy. She found ways to blend her business acumen with the team’s considerable talent and technical expertise so they could collaborate more transparently with the organization.
In May 2001, Weidner left Cincinnati Children’s, and James took over as interim director of IS. In September of that year, Anderson appointed her vice president of the department, and in 2008, he promoted her to senior vice president and Chief Information Officer. Five years ago, James went back to Brown and got a masters in healthcare leadership.
Always a privilege
Sitting in her office on the executive floor of Location T, James pondered her journey to this point.
“The greatest challenge of my life was having three little kids and figuring out how to take care of them,” she said. “I was raised with the philosophy that you just dig in. Failure’s not an option. You make the life your children need and deserve. But everybody’s road is different.”
James’ life is a little calmer these days. She’s remarried and her children are grown. On her desk is a photo of her 7-month-old granddaughter—her first. She is filled with gratitude.
“Cincinnati Children’s is a wonderful place to work,” she said. “You get fed by the mission. Not every day at work is fun. But the passion we all have for the mission is what pulls us together and keeps us here. I think of it as a privilege.
“I am also lucky to have parents who always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. They knew I could do whatever I put my mind to. I am thankful for the encouragement and support I’ve received at home and from my colleagues.”
