By Emily Barske, Business Record Editor I have a vivid memory that has shaped how I view the world – and what I want the world to become. The memory is one of many that have made me want more educators, more bosses and more leaders to empower young women. Read more…
By Claire Richmond, rare disease advocate I pressed my ear to the phone and sensed my life splitting, cleaving cleanly in two: the time before I had a name for my illness, and the time after. Until that phone call, I had been convinced I was slowly slipping into madness. Read more…
By Max Mowitz, LGBTQ advocate and educator In my work as an educator and advocate for the rights of LGBTQ people, the topic I get the most questions about is gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care and surgeries are lifesaving to the LGBTQ community, but there are ways that medical systems can Read more…
By Kristy Harrison, Compass Clinical Associates Early in the pandemic, I heard an expression that we are all in the same storm but not in the same boat. For me, this has meant that we all have been affected, yet our experiences are unique. Each one of us is facing Read more…
By Rachel Bruns, America’s Service Commissions deputy director Note: The author recognizes that not all birthing people identify as women, and nor do all midwives identify as women. When possible, “people” is used to be more inclusive for those birthing people who do not identify as women. “Women” is used in Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless contributing editor The Young Women’s Resource Center offers a variety of free services and programs geared toward young moms, among other focus areas. One of the services matches the young moms with doulas to navigate the process of becoming a mom. Doulas are nonmedical professionals who Read more…
By Celeste Lawson This past Jan. 19 marked the second anniversary of the death of my mother, Lois Spinks Lawson, due to metastatic breast cancer, breast cancer that kills. Although my mother was small in stature, she had enormous strength, both mentally and physically, even on the days leading up Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless contributing editor Black birthing people in Iowa are six times as likely to die from childbirth than their white counterparts. Olivia Samples has heard that statistic plenty of times. Quite frankly, they’re tired of hearing it. “Having folks die in childbirth should not be an outcome Read more…
By Anonymous contributor EDITOR’S NOTE: Our goal with Fearless is to empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life. Sometimes that empowerment requires difficult conversations about issues that predominantly affect women and other underrepresented groups. This piece, written by an Iowa executive, shows the harsh reality of domestic violence. Domestic Read more…
As told to Emily Blobaum Aime Wichtendahl became the first openly trans elected official in Iowa when she was elected to the Hiawatha City Council in 2015. This interview, which has been formatted to be entirely in her own words, has been edited and condensed for clarity. If you were Read more…