The Columbus Way at a Crossroads

For decades, “The Columbus Way” has described Central Ohio’s distinctive culture of civic collaboration: business, government, philanthropy, and nonprofit leaders working across institutional lines to solve problems, attract investment, and advance the common good.

But the community it was designed to serve – ours – is changing. Corporate leaders are less rooted in place, philanthropy is more dispersed, nonprofit organizations are stretched thin, and rapid growth is unfolding alongside record homelessness, rising food insecurity, unaffordable housing, and deepening economic inequality.

Is “The Columbus Way” still strong enough for the challenges ahead—or does Central Ohio need a new kind of civic compact? As a new generation of executives, entrepreneurs, public officials, philanthropists, and neighborhood leaders takes the reins, who will define and teach what it means to show up for Columbus?

Featuring Kate Bauer, Executive Director, Leadership Columbus; Corrine Burger, Interim President & CEO, The Columbus Partnership, and with moderator Mark Barbash, Director, The Ohio Economic Development Institute; Former Director of Development, The City of Columbus; Instructor in Public Budgeting and Nonprofit Leadership, The John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. Additional panelist to be announced.