Photos and words by Emily Kestel If anything, I am my mother’s daughter. If I tell her, “I’m going camping for a few days by myself next month,” she won’t say, “Alone?! What are you, nuts?” or “You should really Read more…
By Emily Kestel In 2013, Kirsten Anderson was fired from her job as a communications director of the Iowa Senate Republican caucus seven hours after formally complaining about repeated harassment and retaliatory behavior by colleagues at the Capitol. She then Read more…
By Emily Kestel In 2009, journalist Laura Ling and a colleague were violently apprehended by North Korean soldiers along the Chinese border while working on a documentary about North Korean defectors. They were charged with trespassing and “hostile acts” and Read more…
Thoughts ahead of our Fearless Focus conversation on risk-taking By Emily Kestel For our last two Fearless Focus events, we’ve talked with women leaders across the state about leadership and confidence. Those conversations serve as a perfect segue for our Read more…
By Megan Brown-Saldana, executive director, Lead(h)er Mentorship is problem-solving expertise or insight and is a medium in which, with the right influence, you can do anything. I was matched with my first formal mentor, Amber, at 28 years old through Read more…
By Emily Kestel Imagine pulling open the door to a small neighborhood bakery. The homey smell of yeast, butter, sugar and spices gently wafts through the air. You peruse the counters for freshly baked sourdough bread and pie to take Read more…
By Emily Kestel We’ve all been to business industry conferences where schedules are packed-to-the-gills with sessions on strategies, innovations and words of wisdom. The first-ever FemCity Des Moines Beyond Business Conference went, well, beyond that. The conference, which was geared Read more…
By Emily Kestel If you had told Dr. Andy McGuire in 2002 that in 20 years, the United Way of Central Iowa’s Women United program would raise more than $26 million toward early childhood education, it’s safe to say she Read more…
By Suzanna de Baca, President and CEO, Business Publications Corp. When I was starting out my post-MBA career in the male-dominated world of investment management, there were few women in the business. I got a lot of comments about my Read more…
By Sara Bishop, communications specialist, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Iowa’s “I Am Enough” mentoring program empowers young girls in our community. “I am proud to serve as an ‘I Am Enough’ Read more…