LVHN Colleagues Recognized as Women of Influence by Lehigh Valley Business

Each year, Lehigh Valley Business honors the region’s most accomplished and impactful businesswomen with the Influential Women in Business Award.

These exceptional women are leaders in their fields, and each shares a commitment to excellence, integrity and making the region a better place to live and work. They also give the invaluable gift of time to others by making it a priority to mentor the next generation of leaders.

“The 2023 Women of Influence are extraordinary. They are breaking glass ceilings, changing the way business is done, juggling busy home and work lives but still find the time to mentor, give back to their communities and grow other leaders,” says Suzanne Fischer-Huettner, Managing Director, Lehigh Valley Business/BridgeTower Media.

This year, three of Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN)’s leaders are being recognized for their career accomplishments.  LVHN is proud to celebrate this year’s winners.

An event honoring this year’s winners will be held May 10 at DeSales University in Center Valley.

 

Administrative Director, Emergency and Hospital Medicine

Cameilia Baker, MBA, Administrative Director, Emergency and Hospital Medicine, is proof that determination, hard work and unrelenting dedication can lead to great things. Baker immigrated to the U.S. over 20 years ago and battled adversity to achieve success.

“I am a Jamaican immigrant who overcame poverty to acquire a master's in business administration,” Baker says. “I am living proof that when you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything.”

Baker works tirelessly to encourage all women to be at their best, which means taking the time to improve their community. Baker does this by giving her time and talents to several organizations in the Lehigh Valley and within LVHN.

In the past she served as a role model for young girls as a Girl Scout leader, but her most recent community involvement is with Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley.

Lifting up women in the workplace is another passion of Baker’s. She mentors colleagues to become the best they can be.

“My mentees and I meet monthly to discuss career goals and aspirations. I help by creating opportunities for them to shine,” Baker says. “I try to encourage them to realize their potential.”

Baker is constantly learning and growing, professionally and personally. She recently completed an Executive Healthcare Certification from Kings College. 

Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Hospital Operations

Leigh Ehrlich, CPA, CHFP, MBA, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Hospital Operations, has a long, successful tenure in finance and credits much of her success on her ability to collaborate and build relationships with everyone around her.  

“By developing trust and confidence, I strengthen my ability to influence strategic planning and decision-making,” Ehrlich says. “I am also inspired to develop and leverage the strong and talented individuals on my team to be innovative and bold in supporting operations through a data-driven, financial lens that builds a strong partnership between finance and operations.”

Ehrlich’s achievements have inspired her to lift up other women. She does this by encouraging them to embrace authenticity and to recognize their own strengths.

“I’ve succeeded not by looking and sounding like many others in my profession, but because I’ve navigated my career journey leveraging strengths that are uniquely and distinctively me,” Ehrlich says.

Along with supporting women to be strong and capable leaders, Ehrlich uses her experience to benefit all the women around her – at home and in her community.

“My priority is raising my daughters to be active and engaged community members who use their talents for the common good,” Ehrlich says. “I apply the same philosophy to my community engagement activities. Through board memberships or active support, I choose organizations that are focused on making our Lehigh Valley an amazing place to live, work and thrive.”

Ehrlich is active in the community and serves on several board seats, including the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Governors, Lehigh Valley EMS, Women’s 5K Classic and the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation Board of Governors and Finance Committee.

Administrator, Strategic Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs

Pamela Riddell, MBA, Administrator, Strategic Communications, Marketing and Public Affairs, began her career at LVHN more than 25 years ago. During her tenure, Riddell has made a significant impact at LVHN by building an extraordinary team.

Riddell is a people-first leader who commits to developing other leaders. With her team, Riddell has transformed LVHN’s web and social media presence, revolutionized internal communications to engage #LVHNProud colleagues, and established high standards for crisis communication. She credits her team as a reason for her success and is proud of all they have accomplished together, especially the health network’s COVID-19 communications effort, which she led. 

“It was a remarkable undertaking with communication flowing all day, every day and my team firing on all cylinders,” Riddell says “We established LVHN as the region’s leader in COVID communication, and I believe we saved many lives. Together, we earned national recognition as Content Team of the Year from PR Daily and for Crisis Communication from PR News for our pandemic communication.”

Riddell is also passionate about supporting and mentoring other women. To accomplish this at LVHN, she helped to launch Women in Leadership and Learning (WILL).

“It’s important that women support one another and build each other up,” Riddell says. “WILL connects the women of LVHN and encourages them to reach new heights in their work and life by offering mentoring opportunities, inspirational speakers, panel discussions, networking and more. Our motto: If there’s a WILL, there’s a way!”

Riddell also supports students as a speaker and board member for Penn State Lehigh Valley’s corporate communication program. She encourages students to evaluate their lives and how they can contribute in creative, unique and meaningful ways as communication professionals. One of those ways is a career at LVHN – Riddell’s connection to the program recently led her to hire a former student who is now thriving at LVHN.