Showing Up to Serve: Candice Harrison on Leadership, Community Impact, and Making Room for What Comes Next

Leadership is not always about being the person at the front of the room. Sometimes it means showing up where help is needed. Sometimes it means opening a door for someone else. And sometimes it means knowing when to step aside so the next generation has room to lead.

In this episode of Taylor Community Connection, host Terry Crosby sits down with Candice Harrison, Director of Inclusion and Community Impact at SSOE, for a conversation about service, leadership, community investment, and the responsibility that comes with creating opportunities for others.

A Toledo native whose career has included communications, inclusion work, philanthropy, and community leadership, Candice has built a professional life around people and connection. Today, her work at SSOE reaches well beyond a single department, helping connect employees and communities through volunteerism, engagement, philanthropy, and meaningful service.

Her story is also one of making history. In July, Candice became the first African American president in the history of the Rotary Club of Toledo, adding another chapter to a leadership journey rooted in the city she has always called home.

A Toledo Story Rooted in Community

Candice was born and raised in Toledo and spent much of her childhood in North Toledo.

She attended Washington Elementary, a school that has since been demolished, before continuing through Robinson, Byrnedale, and Central Catholic High School. She later attended the University of Toledo and earned her master’s degree from Spring Arbor University.

Toledo has remained an important part of her life throughout that journey.

Much of her immediate family is still in the area, and those local roots provide important context for the work she does today. Community impact is not an abstract idea for Candice. It is about investing in the same place where she grew up, raised her family, built her career, and developed relationships over many years.

That connection is part of what makes her role at SSOE such a natural fit.

Turning Community Investment Into Action

Candice joined SSOE nearly five years ago as Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

As the company evolved, so did her responsibilities.

Volunteerism became a more formal part of the organization. SSOE established a foundation. Employee engagement, employee resource groups, and community investment became increasingly connected under one area of leadership.

Her role eventually expanded into Director of Inclusion and Community Impact.

Today, Candice works with a small team overseeing initiatives that reach both employees and communities. That work stretches far beyond Toledo because SSOE operates across the United States as well as internationally, including locations in Mexico and India.

But regardless of geography, Candice believes meaningful community impact requires more than writing a check.

Financial support matters, but so does presence.

She describes SSOE as an organization filled with people who have a heart to serve. That means supporting communities financially while also encouraging employees to volunteer, get involved, and put their time and energy behind the causes they support.

“We get boots on the ground and get our hands dirty and volunteer too,” Candice explains.

It is an approach that aligns closely with the way Terry describes his own community involvement through Taylor Automotive Family.

For both of them, service means participating.

Leadership Begins With Alignment

While Terry credits Candice with helping elevate SSOE’s presence in the community, Candice is quick to explain that community impact cannot happen through one person alone.

Leadership, she says, starts at the top.

Her ideas for how SSOE could invest differently in its communities were supported by company leaders who shared that same commitment to service.

That alignment matters.

A person can have a vision, but creating lasting change requires an organization willing to support it, employees willing to participate, and leaders willing to make community involvement part of the culture.

Candice sees that spirit across SSOE.

Her work may help organize those efforts, but the impact grows because people throughout the company choose to participate.

That idea appears throughout her conversation with Terry. Leadership is not simply a position or title. It is the ability to help other people become part of something meaningful.

Making History With the Rotary Club of Toledo

Candice’s commitment to service extends beyond her professional role.

She joined the Rotary Club of Toledo in 2016 while serving as Director of Communications for the Toledo Museum of Art. She originally entered the organization as a representative of the museum after being invited by one of its senior leaders.

Over the years, she became increasingly involved and served the organization in several capacities.

Eventually, Rotary leaders approached her about becoming vice president, beginning a succession that would lead to president elect and ultimately president.

On July 13, Candice was installed as president of the Rotary Club of Toledo, becoming the first African American president in the organization’s history.

For Candice, one of the most meaningful parts of the milestone was experiencing it with her husband, children, and family.

They knew she was active throughout the community, but the installation gave them an opportunity to see how her years of service had developed into something that would now become part of their family history as well.

The role also reflects principles Candice already tries to live by.

Rotary’s motto is Service Above Self, and Candice discusses the organization’s focus on truth, fairness, goodwill, friendship, and creating benefits for everyone involved.

It gives members an opportunity to connect and build relationships, but it also calls them to serve both locally and globally.

For Candice, those ideas fit naturally with the way she already views leadership.

Be Present and Give Growth Time

Toward the end of their conversation, Terry asks Candice what advice she would offer younger generations.

Her answer begins with patience.

Young people today have access to technology and tools that allow information, communication, and opportunities to move incredibly quickly. But Candice believes some of the most worthwhile things in life still require time.

“Nothing in life worth having you get fast,” she says.

Efficiency can be valuable, but she encourages young professionals not to confuse speed with growth.

Experience develops by doing the work, staying engaged, building relationships, being visible, learning from mistakes, and consistently showing what you can contribute.

Candice also discusses artificial intelligence, technology, social media, and the ways those resources can help people become more efficient.

She sees value in those tools, but she does not believe they should replace the human side of work.

Technology can assist people. It cannot substitute for presence.

Her advice is simple: stay in the moment.

Put the phone down when you are having dinner with someone. Pay attention to the people around you. Understand that meaningful progress may take time.

“Be present. Things take time. Be patient.”

Knowing When to Make Room

Candice also offers advice to experienced professionals, and it may be just as important.

At some point, she says, established leaders have to know when to get out of the way.

Younger professionals cannot grow if they are never given an opportunity to lead, bring new ideas forward, or make decisions.

For seasoned leaders, that can require a change in perspective.

Instead of always needing to be the person out front, Candice encourages experienced professionals to become champions for the next generation.

A confident leader should not feel threatened by new ideas.

Instead, that leader can make introductions, create opportunities, share knowledge, and help someone else step into a position where they can succeed.

Terry strongly connects with that idea, sharing his own belief that there comes a point when leadership becomes less about holding the position yourself and more about helping someone else move forward.

It is a lesson that brings the entire conversation together.

Leadership is about service. Service is about being present. And sometimes the greatest impact a leader can make is creating space for the person coming next.

From Candice Harrison’s work at SSOE to her historic leadership with the Rotary Club of Toledo, that philosophy continues to shape the way she serves Toledo and communities far beyond it.

👉 Watch now to hear Candice Harrison share her perspective on community service, patient growth, meaningful leadership, and why the strongest leaders know when it is time to champion the next generation.