By Victoria Mairal-Cruz, ’12, Contributor (photo courtesy of CCDS)
Getting an M.B.A. at Harvard Business School is like taking a test every day: each night you have to work on a case, and you must be prepared to present and defend that case in class the next day. Your argument must be completely airtight, because your classmates will do everything possible to rip it apart. Julie Fleischmann, the first female president of the Board of Trustees, went through this rigorous experience at Harvard and said that it taught her to “look at situations and issues and say, how can we solve this problem [and] be action-oriented in your thinking.”
These skills will help Mrs. Fleischmann to succeed in her new position, where she is in charge of a group of 24 people who make sure CCDS is in a good financial position for the future. “The Board’s primary work is long-range and strategic,” Mrs. Fleischmann explained. “The Board employs the Head of School, who is in charge of running the school…. Trustees are informed and active ambassadors for the school in enrollment, fund-raising and community building.”
Mrs. Fleischmann attended CCDS from PreK through the fifth grade and then transferred to Indian Hill for high school, where she had a positive experience as a top student and was involved in student government and athletics. According to Mrs. Fleischmann, although she had a good high school experience, she felt she “wasn’t surrounded by the kind of intellectual passion and love of learning that we have here at CCDS.” For this reason, she sent her children, Lilly, ’11; Matt, ’14; and Eric, ’19 to CCDS.
Mrs. Fleischmann said that she loves CCDS because of “the incredible faculty. [I love] the relationship between the students and the faculty.” Her advice for the student body is to try out being a leader; this doesn’t mean to lead you must become president of your class, but “it’s about how you live your life and the choices that you make.”
Mrs. Fleischmann said that when something does not work out as you hoped, that is not the end of the story. “People, projects, and endeavors lost often reemerge at a later date … in a new way, giving you a second chance.” Some of Mrs. Fleischmann’s words to live by are “Look for the good in people and situations, even difficult ones. Frankly, it is a habit one can learn. Once you see the good, that is your common ground for relationships and moving ahead.”
Mrs. Fleischmann is the first woman to be elected president of the Board. She said, “Whether I [am] the first woman or the tenth named president of the Board … I am pleased to have this opportunity to serve such an amazing institution.” The presidency lasts for a three-year term, and Mrs. Fleischmann has been a trustee for five years. Mrs. Fleischmann attributes the fact that there had never been a female president of the Board to our school’s past history as an all-boys school. In working as president of the Board, she is “continuing a long family tradition of service to [the] community.” Mrs. Fleischmann’s many life experiences show she is qualified for the job.
She attended Smith College, in Northampton, MA, where she attained a B.A. in government, graduated magna cum laude, and belonged to Phi Beta Kappa, a society for students who have achieved high academic excellence, much like the Cum Laude Society at CCDS. After attending Harvard Business School, where she earned her M.B.A., Mrs. Fleischmann worked as director of women’s health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, MA, where she treated and implemented strategic marketing plans to increase market share for the hospital. She ended her career when her daughter Lilly was born. When asked if it is difficult to juggle her responsibilities as Board president with parenthood, she expressed that “so far it hasn’t been a problem … My husband is very willing to step in to help me balance the responsibilities.”
Mrs. Fleischmann was elected by her fellow trustees by verbal vote, meaning that while she was absent, her colleagues discussed whether she should be inducted as president. Mrs. Fleischmann was unanimously voted in with 23 “Yeas.” According to Mrs. Fleischmann, instances such as this one are the only time when it is appropriate to talk about your friends behind their backs.
Header photo courtesy of Cincinnati Country Day School.