By The Editors & written by Bill Ferguson Jr.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is testing leaders globally and locally. Policymakers, business and education leaders, and nonprofit executives in Greater Cincinnati were forced to maneuver through an economic shutdown starting in March 2020, then figure out how to reopen business in a slow process that is ongoing in 2021. No one has been left untouched. Many leaders teamed up to share best practices and steer their organizations in ways that benefited the region. Cincy’s 17th annual Power 100 list recognizes those in top positions who continue to navigate us back to some semblance of normal.

1. Rodney McMullen ∆
Kroger Co. chairman & CEO

When Rodney McMullen started as a part-time stock clerk in 1978 in his local Kroger, he couldn’t have envisioned leading the nation’s top supermarket chain through a pandemic. But lead, he did. He became chief financial officer at the age of 34 and was key in fending off corporate raiders who came after Kroger in 1988. He became CEO in 2014 in an era of intense competition, setting up his response to the pandemic. Kroger became a national model not only in the food-supply chain, but it released a 17-page cross-industry guide in April last year—and expanded it in July—to assist all businesses in safely reopening. It hired tens of thousands of associates and paid them an extra $2 an hour in “hero pay.” It also provided more than $3 million to hunger-relief resources.

2. Carl H. Lindner III
FC Cincinnati majority owner; American Financial Group co-president & CEO

If not for Carl Lindner III and Jeff Berding, a former city councilman, Cincinnati likely would not be hosting a professional soccer club. Lindner, the primary FC Cincinnati investor, and Berding, president of the team, started the club as a minor league team and quickly was chosen for a Major League Soccer franchise. The newly built West End Stadium is set for a home opener in mid-May, and the club is creating 1,000 game-day positions for its first season in the stadium, barring COVID-related issues.

3. John Cranley
Cincinnati mayor

Term-limited, John Cranley will end his era as mayor of Cincinnati this year. Cranley has raised more than half a million dollars for his political future, which could be a campaign for Ohio governor in 2022. Cranley has only said he’s exploring a run. The mayor not only is facing the COVID crisis, which turned downtown into a virtual ghost town last year, but he has dealt with a City Council that included three members charged with corruption-related offenses. Saying it was time to clean house, Cranley appointed a nine-member anti-corruption task force in January to investigate city dealings and issue a report later this year.

4. John F. Barrett
Western & Southern Financial Group chairman, president & CEO

Since becoming CEO in 1994, John Barrett has developed a small Midwestern life insurance company into a $7 billion Fortune 500 giant (No. 401 last year). Barrett remains extremely active in Cincinnati development, the nonprofit sector and the Ohio Business Roundtable. Barrett was instrumental in seeing that the 2020 Western & Southern/WEBN Fireworks show, originally canceled, occurred on Labor Day Weekend, without the huge crowd that usually gathers downtown but televised. The Lytle Park Hotel also opened in June last year next to Lytle Park; Western & Southern developed and owns the hotel. Although COVID forced the relocation of the prestigious Western & Southern Open tennis tournament from Mason to New York in 2020, the event is expected to return this year.

5. Eliot Isaac ∆
Cincinnati police chief

Police departments across the nation were thrust into a challenge unlike any other in 2020 when the video of George Floyd dying in police custody on a Minneapolis street sparked protests, riots and calls for defunding the police. Eliot Isaac, with more than 30 years of police experience, had been there before when Cincinnati experienced unrest in the aftermath of a police shooting of a citizen in 2001. He played a key role, as a police sergeant, in bringing the community together. Isaac was out front during last year’s protests of the Floyd shooting in late May/early June, and the city escaped what could have been a lot worse situation.

6. Tom Williams
North American Properties Inc. president & CEO; Cincinnati Reds, co-principal owner & vice chairman

Tom Williams joined the family business in 1986 and has steered North American Properties into becoming a development behemoth, in the good sense of the word. Williams believes in giving back, and one of his passions, Nehemiah Manufacturing, which he co-founded in 2009, offers the hard-to-employ a second chance to rebuild their lives. Williams led his company’s expansion into the Sunbelt, opening offices in Fort Myers, Florida, Dallas and Atlanta. He closed a deal to become part-owner of Skyline Chili late last year, keeping the company locally owned. He is a principal of the Cincinnati Reds and sits on numerous business and nonprofit boards.

7. Bob Castellini
Cincinnati Reds principal owner & CEO; Castellini Co. chairman

The COVID-19 pandemic was crushing last year for baseball fans, who endured delays in getting a shortened season going—without fans in the seats. For Bob Castellini, the Reds clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 2013 was bittersweet. Still, there’s always this year. Castellini is highly involved in downtown development and other work. The Robert H. and Susan F. Castellini Foundation donated more than half of the money needed to fund a $2 million endowed chair at Christ Hospital.

8. Denise Driehaus
Hamilton County Board of Commissioners

As president of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners, Denise Driehaus took the lead on informing the community about the latest COVID-19 news through a weekly media conference. She easily won re-election in November, along with fellow Democrat Alicia Reece, cementing their party’s hold on the county board. The third commissioner, Stephanie Dumas, became president of the board this year, but Driehaus continues in her role of keeping the COVID-19 information flowing. She also sits on boards including REDI Cincinnati; Hamilton County Recycling and Solid Waste District; Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana Regional Council of Governments; and Hamilton County Storm Water District Oversight.

9. Joe Deters
Hamilton County prosecutor

Joe Deters was the only Republican to win a contested countywide office in November, re-elected to the prosecutor’s office for a fifth consecutive term. He is the longest serving prosecutor in county history, first serving from 1992 until 1999, when he took the helm of the Ohio Treasurer’s Office, then restarting in 2005. His philosophy is to spend money on the resources required to prosecute the most violent offenders, and he has been involved in a number of initiatives to streamline the justice system. Deters oversees more than 170 employees, including assistant prosecuting attorneys and support staff.

10. Nancy Grayson
Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky president

COVID-19 provided a unique opportunity to nonprofits who fulfill the basic human needs. As the economy shut down, tens of thousands locally suddenly lost income, businesses and livelihoods. Horizon Community Funds, whose goal is to foster a giving community, stepped up under Nancy Grayson’s leadership to launch the Horizon NKY Coronavirus Relief Fund in mid-March last year. Horizon, started in 2017, raised $2.1 million in 2020 and has disbursed grants ranging from $600 to a school for earbuds to aid student learning to $200,000 to Meals on Wheels of Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky.

Those who didn’t make the top 10 are still important players in town. Below are the remaining 90, sorted by organization type.