George Washington University President Ellen M. Granberg has been recognized as a 2024 Women Who Mean Business honoree by the Washington Business Journal. The award is presented to influential business women in the Washington, D.C., area.
The full list of honorees this year includes more than two dozen women from a range of fields, including Maria J. Rodriguez, Vanguard Communications; Naseema Shafi, Whitman-Walker Health; Shameka Jennings, EventsNoire; and Jennie Lucca of The Children's Inn at NIH, among many others. Granberg said she is pleased and grateful to be in their distinguished company.
“I am deeply honored to be recognized alongside these extraordinary women leaders who are making such meaningful contributions to the greater Washington, D.C., community,” Granberg said. “Each honoree’s achievements are a reminder of the transformative power of leadership and service. My congratulations to all of this year's recipients who exemplify the impact strong women leaders can have in building a better future for all.”
For the past two decades, the Women Who Mean Business Awards have honored the region’s top female executives. The annual ceremony, held on Oct. 30, marked the program’s 21st anniversary this year.
Exemplary leaders from many industries and professions are selected by the Washington Business Journal’s newsroom staff to receive the award, which recognizes business women who have made a positive difference in their communities.
In an interview with Washington Business Journal, Granberg said her mother set a positive example for her as a “quiet trailblazer.” She described her youthful ambition, stoked by the example of Watergate, to be a journalist, and defined success as leaving something better than she found it.