Ten years ago, Ingram’s Magazine was a different creature. There was a differnt publisher, editor, format, the works. You’d expect that—ten years is a long time.

There was, however, a similarity in interests—that magazine also recognized the terribly obvious fact that women do work. And some of those women are very important to their companies—and to the city. That was illustrated in a nine page feature article called “Breaking Through . . . You’ve Come a Long Way, Maybe.” In it, the writers focused on women who hold the title of vice president or above at the area’s 100 largest companies. They found 34 companies with a total of 64 women in top executive spots—with the other 66 having exactly zero. Their hope was that, “. . . by the year 2000, 100 of the city’s largest companies will have women in top executive positions. And none will have zero.”

Ah, unfulfilled hope. Dashed desires. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Kansas City is hanging in there, bastion of the male-dominated empire. There are exceptions of course, and we’ve found some of them today to write about. Actually, these women may find themselves relatively often on the pages of some publication or another—perhaps because of their PR person, but more likely because as oddities, they’re interesting. Cruel, but true here in the good-ole-boy-Midwest.

Perhaps that’s why, as is often cited, women leave corporations so often to create their own businesses. Women are starting up companies at nearly twice the rate of their male counterparts in the U.S. and account for 38% of all firms in the US, as of 1999. There are over nine million women owned businesses providing 27.5 million jobs and producing 3.6 trillion in sales, all according to the Center for Women’s Business Research.

In Kansas City, parallels exist. But nonetheless, the point is, when one goes looking for “women who matter” here, for women who have made a significant contribution and are recognized by their peers as being outstanding in their industry, attention should be paid.

So once again, following a long tradition that has been intensified by the now seven year publisher Sweeney’s (OK, mostly Michelle) that has included the creation of turning important women into variously, a celebration, a learning event, a workshop or seminar, or the pure recognition that this article encompasses, we present 20 Outstanding Executive Women.

There could have been others, certainly. If there are women in your organization at this level who have made extensive contributions and who are the “go-to” folks in the field, let us know. Certain fields we elected to eliminate—for instance, education, foundations, or pure government. In some, no matter how many we asked or lists we pursued, we couldn’t find the women—commercial real estate or law firms of sufficient size, for example. When asked about these gaps, the males had the sense to be chagrined and wondered aloud, why. “Huh,” we wanted to reply. “Look within.” Maybe by 2010 . . .

No, let’s not go there. We should be better training our daughters and young colleagues, most of whom are saying they don’t want to be a “feminist” and who will be, apparently, content with earning 76% of what men make. We hear all the reasons for that, and some of us know exactly what to think about it. No, instead, let us celebrate and praise those women whose names come immediately to the lips of others; those who have made weighty decisions and contributions, changing the course of business, Kansas City, and even beyond in their careers. These are women who matter.

Not to say that the rest of us somehow, don’t.