MONICA MANNEY
Special to The Leader
If you have ever sold girl scout cookies, earn patches and raised three fingers to do the Girls Scout promise, you have at least one thing in common with the President of Fredonia.
President Virginia Horvath is a lifetime member of the Girl Scouts and a board member of the Girl Scouts of western New York.
She has spent most of her life surrounded by samoas and thin mints, becoming a girl scout at 10-years-old, then serving as a cookie mom and girl scout leader as an adult.
With all of her involvement in the Girls Scouts, it isn’t her cookie sales or number of patches that landed her in the 2018 list of the 125 most powerful women in Western New York.
But it may have been her dedication to the girl scout promise to “help people at all times.”
This year’s Business First’s Power 125 includes women from all over Western New York who are impactful in various ways. Business First spent the last year researching the women that would make up this year’s most powerful women.
From Chief Executive Officers to partners of law firms, Horvath is listed amongst the movers and shakers of the region.
She can be found in the top 20 ringing in at number 19, where she is listed among some familiar faces.
“Some of the people on that list are my mentors especially in higher education; the other President’s I work with are great,” said Horvath.
She is also listed among her colleague Katherine Conway-Turner, President of Buffalo State, and the Head of School at her alma mater, Buffalo Seminary.
“It’s in part by virtue of the [Presidential] title,” Horvath said in response to her nomination.
But her resume says otherwise.
Outside of celebrating her seventh year as the President of Fredonia, Horvath is involved in countless boards dedicated to uplifting and empowering people from all over the country.
Along with being on the board of the Girls Scouts of Western New York, she is also a co-chair of the western New York regional economic development council which awards state dollars for projects such as the Buffalo Billion.
“We’re actually deciding on which projects go forward, which projects get funding,” said Horvath, “We’re really working to help so many communities in western New York.”
Horvath is also on the boards of the western New York College Connection, The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce and the
Advisory Council of the Salvation Army of Fredonia.
She was formerly on the board of Buffalo Seminary and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
If you thought that was a lot, she is also a faculty member of the Millenium Leadership, MLI, Institute where she mentors new college Presidents.
The MLI has a special focus on women and people of color. Horvath is an alumna of the program as is Fredonia’s own Cedric Howard.
Horvath’s involvement in the MLI reflects her want to “help people at all times” even if she doesn’t always get it right.
“[I’m involved] not because I’m an expert but because I can help,” said Horvath.
Business First says all 125 of the powerful women on their list are not only helping in one way or another but also “take risks and withstand pressure.” Horvath is no exception to this list.
“Whenever you’re going to go forward with something . . . and it involves getting people on board,” said Horvath, “all of those things are risky . . . for every decision you make you’re going to upset people who don’t want things to change.”
Horvath said despite some people’s resistance to change, she is always ensuring she is doing the right thing for the most amount of people and being fair.
“For me on a college campus when there’s pressure . . . when I’m feeling ‘why are we doing this, all I have to do is walk around campus. . . . When people here do it right — what a difference it makes, and I’m happy to be a part of that even though there’s pressure,” she said.
Despite the countless boards, organizations and tasks Horvath is a part of, her advice to herself is one that all students should take at the start of the semester.
“Practice Self Care; it’s important.”
For the next issue of Power 125, Horvath hopes to see Fredonia alumni filling most of the numbers.