Candidates
Daphne Moehring
Gahanna Board of Education
Central, Local
Daphne Moehring is running for her second term on the Gahanna Board of Education. With a 28-year career in finance and more than 10 years as a PTO officer for her daughters’ schools, she has the skills, experience and mindset necessary to be a critical member of the school board. She also brings a commitment to supporting compassionate and caring educators and for providing opportunities to students.
In 2020 Daphne will continue her work as a Gahanna Board of Education Member.
Meet the Candidate
Can you tell our members a little bit about your journey to filing as a candidate?
My journey that led to running for the Gahanna-Jefferson School Board started when I was a child and witnessed the involvement of my parents in my school and the district. Both parents were active in PTA and booster groups along with keeping apprised of district initiatives. So, as my children were going through school it was natural to do the same things. While our schools were strong due to excellent teaching corps, the district was not planning for the future and providing adequate communication to the stakeholders. This came to a head in 2015 and instead of complaining about it, I decided to run for office and to effect change for the good of the district.
Tell our members about a friend or family member who inspired you to become a leader.
As I shared in the initial question of my journey to running for office, my parents, particularly my mother was an inspiration to me. My mother was a teacher prior to having my sisters and myself but was always providing teachable moments with her civic activism and involvement. In fact, she ran for city treasurer when I was in middle school – showing me that running for office is possible. Unfortunately, she did not win election as a relatively new resident in a small town in southern Ohio. She did win my heart for public service and that became my inspiration for being actively involved in our school district and ultimately, to run for school board.
Some of you are military veterans, some small business owners, some professionals, some mothers and grandmothers, some homemakers. How did one of these experiences shape who you are as a person and leader?
My career in financial services with a Fortune 500 bank and with two community banks has provided skills and training that I use throughout my life. Technically, the analytical skills provide a skill set needed by public officials to glean the important trends and focus areas among the myriad of important needs. The soft skills like team building, respecting various approaches and cultural inputs, and timing contribute to success more than one can fathom. My leadership style is to effective communicate roles and expectations then to allow my team to work. Sometimes, mistakes happen but the important mentality is that very few mistakes cannot be corrected and many times, the lessons learned from mistakes provide better teaching than success. Communication and collaboration are key. Lastly, being in a credit management role, I learned that “trust but verify” is effective in moving to the next level.
The Matriots PAC has a goal to see 50% of all elected offices in Ohio held by women by 2028. What is your vision for Ohio in 2028?
The demographics of Gahanna are 51.3% females to 48.7% males. Yet our city council is 5 men and 2 women. City council must change by 2028 to at least 4 women and 3 men. Our current school board is comprised of 3 women and 2 men. Our city attorney and many of the commissions are men. We do have a female candidate for city attorney so that may shift. Encouraging women to be on the city commissions is an area of opportunity. I will focus on recruiting women for those positions.
Tip O’Neill famously said that “all politics is local.” What are the top-two issues your community or our state face today?
The top two issues my community faces today are: 1) Growth and the ability to fund infrastructure to accommodate that growth; and 2) Working poor as a focus in the disparity of wealth and health.
Tell us something personal about yourself.
One of the fun things that I do is serve as the family historian for my mother’s maternal family. I have learned so many fascinating things about my ancestors, including that I come from a lineage of strong women!