Woman of Achievement

On Wednesday, April 2, Ohio Women's Alliance Founder & Executive Director Rhiannon Carnes was honored as the 300th Woman of Achievement by YWCA Columbus! Hundreds gathered to celebrate the Class of 2025, including Rhiannon’s family, OWA Staff and Board Members, and previous Women of Achievement who welcomed this year’s class into this esteemed academy of women who have made an indelible impact by working to build a better Ohio for all.

Rhiannon received her medal from Woman of Achievement Cathe Kobacker—founder of Kobacker House—who was instrumental in supporting Rhiannon as her mother, Faye Childs, transitioned to hospice care before passing in 2021. The occasion was a full circle moment as Rhiannon continues to carry on her mother’s legacy through her work to bring the mission of OWA to life today and for many years to come.

Scroll to read Rhiannon’s remarks, and click to make a gift in her honor today!

"When I co-founded Ohio Women’s Alliance in 2019, it was to create an alternative platform that was missing in my own leadership development, to hold space for Black women like myself, who struggled to be seen and valued no matter how credentialed, strong, or perfect they may strive to be. And, when you believe in a solution that is a reflection of your lived experience, it doesn't matter what others think; you are enough to be welcomed and received in any room you enter.

And that is genuinely the culture at OWA, which is now a multi-million-dollar organization (and growing!). Our framework is rooted in the principles of Reproductive Justice: to have complete autonomy over our lives, including our right not to have children, our right to give birth, and our right to raise our children in a healthy and sustainable environment.

Developing an organization rooted in the health and well-being of Black women, creating a vision that shifts societal norms, and reclaiming our right to complete reproductive freedom was not easy. But I would not live this legacy, and that journey would not be my story, without the women and matriarchs who came before me. Today marks 40 years of celebrating women who are at the forefront of leading change and increasing gender and racial visibility, and I am honored to be a part of this academy. I am also proud to say I am the first in YWCA Columbus history to be recognized as a Woman on the Rise and now a Woman of Achievement. 

This path did not happen overnight. My journey as a teenage mother, gun violence survivor, adoptive parent, and military service in a heavily male-dominated environment all shaped me into who I am today. This is why fighting to protect Reproductive Freedom came so natural to me, including fighting for Ohioans' right to overcome Black maternal mortality rates while I myself prepared to give birth from a high-risk pregnancy.

And I will continue to live my very own legacy, be it enshrining Reproductive rights and Abortion Access in our state constitution as the only Black leader at the founding table or amplifying Black and Brown communities' voting power, as Black women continue to remain the most unified and reliable voting bloc. 

I will always stay true to who I am, a Black girl born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, a product of Columbus City schools, who had a vision to build Ohio’s only statewide Reproductive Justice organization defending our democracy, and despite the odds, I will continue to push for more."