Women of Excellence 2003
By Sue Coffman
10th Annual Women of Excellence Awards
Redefining Excellence
Each year, Women's Enterprise and the YWCA of Greater Dallas have to answer this question anew when the nominations begin rolling in for the annual Women of Excellence Awards. A careful look at the qualifications and achievements of these women make it clear that they are all women deserving of tremendous respect and admiration. And while this wealth of talent is incredibly inspiring, it also makes selecting only a handful of winners incredibly difficult.
So, in making the final decision, we find we must step back and pay close attention to what the term "excellence" means to women's enterprise. Over the last 10 years, we have determined that when defining a woman of excellence, the term "excellence" must be considered a verb, not an adjective.
In other words, excellence does not define these women; rather, these women define excellence through their actions leadership, energy, determination, vision, confidence, dedication, passion The list goes on and on. In short, in the case of these women, excellence is a term that encompasses the strides and accomplishments they have made in their careers and on behalf of other women now and in the future.
This year, we have the privilege of recognizing six outstanding women in a variety of fields and leadership roles. They are as diverse and unique as any woman can be. But for all their unique qualities, each of these women has at least two things in common - they are all veterans of women's enterprise and they are all redefining excellence.
Cynthia Driskill
Though Cynthia Driskill considers herself an “accidental entrepreneur,” she has a key prerequisite for running a successful business: creativity. “I have the ability to see the vision—the ‘statue inside a block of marble,’” she says.
The idea for CDG & Associates grew out of a project that Driskill worked on as an accounting and payroll manager. “By the end of the project, I’d learned that there was no mystery to systems work,” she says. That insight led her down the entrepreneurial path.
Originally from Baltimore, Driskill chose Dallas to launch her business because of its airport and geographic location—another creative decision she’s never regretted. After launching the company in 1981, she worked as an independent human resources and information systems consultant, serving as an interface between technical and human-resources professionals.
“Client need drove the expansion into a full-fledged business,” recalls Driskill. In 1987 she hired her first four employees, three of whom are still employees. “Today we support major vendors and have clients all across the country.
“The mission for the business is not to make a profit,” she adds. “We make a profit so we can be a business.”
A crisis in 1995 led to a major business achievement. After a disagreement with a shareholder, Driskill bought him out, but sales dropped by a third. “I was still consulting and taking care of clients but not the business side,” she explains.
“It was really a turning point for me. At the end of the crisis, I knew how to read the financials and have continued to learn how to run the business.”
Driskill’s business success is matched by her community involvement. As a member of the March of Dimes’ board of directors, she created “CEOs Walk the Walk.” In 2002, the first year of the project,19 small-business CEOs raised $23,000. This year’s goal is an ambitious 250 CEOs and $250,000.
Driskill and her employees also support the Starfish Foundation, which uses alternative approaches to combat drug and alcohol dependency. “We provide office space to the organization, and our employees helped with fund-raising events,” she says.
Driskill’s recognitions include Ernst & Young’s Southwest Area 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year Award; the 2001 National General Excellence award, given by Working Woman magazine; the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2001 Small Businessperson of the Year regional award; and the 2002 Greater Dallas Society of Financial Services Professionals Business Ethics Award.