By Emily Kestel Women Lead Change held its annual Central Iowa Conference last month, and like last year, I’m once again happy to summarize my 11 pages of notes in hopes that you’ll find something useful or inspiring to tuck in your pocket or refer to for future use. Below Read more…
By Emily Kestel, Fearless editor The ideas of how people perceive success and ambition have always piqued my interest. For a while, I equated success with making a lot of money, achieving big things and having an outsized impact on the world. But as I got older and joined the Read more…
By Emily Kestel Since the beginning of the Fearless initiative, we’ve been adamant about connection being one of its core values. Women are often seen as the glue that holds communities together – but women often lack opportunities to sit at tables where decisions are made about how the communities Read more…
Five takeaways from a recent Fearless panel discussion By Emily Kestel, Fearless editor The ongoing pandemic and economic challenges have had an effect on everyone, but especially women. Experts have indicated that burnout and other mental health challenges will be issues that women will deal with this year as they Read more…
Article and photos by Emily Kestel, Fearless editor Despite the COVID-19 pandemic’s disparate effect on women’s employment, Dress for Success Des Moines never stopped living out its mission to empower women to achieve economic independence by supplying them with clothing and confidence. The nonprofit, which opened in June 2011, offers Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor As a leadership consultant at Sarah Noll Wilson, Gilmara Vila Nova-Mitchell has plenty of experience working with executives and leadership teams – many of them majority-male – on taking existing policies and practices and reworking them to be more equitable for women. At our May Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor Editor’s note: This article is a continuation of the Business Record’s 2021 women’s and gender survey results. We recognize that there are many opinions and ideas around this topic, but for the purpose of this story, we’re only including ideas detailed in the survey responses. Read more…
A conversation with a former and a current nonprofit executive director on making space for women of color in leadership By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor On Sept. 2, 2020, Laurie Schipper addressed a two-page letter to Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence board members. “It has been a challenging and reactive Read more…
One year since the start of the women’s recession, hundreds of thousands of moms have been forced to leave their jobs — and grapple with the consequences. By Chabeli Carrazana | The 19th Editor’s note: This story was originally published by The 19th, a national nonprofit news organization that focuses Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor Dr. Patricia Kallemeier is rarely seen around the DMOS Orthopaedic Center office without her white coat. Yes, she wears it because it has deep pockets and keeps her warm. But as one of three women out of a team of 30 doctors at DMOS, she Read more…