By Holly Elbert, Partner and Mechanical Engineer, BBS Architects | Engineers If you would have told my 16-year-old self I would be living in Ames and working in Des Moines at 42 years of age, I would have said, “No way!” Growing up in Des Moines, I was convinced I Read more…
By Angelina Hemphill My experience in Scouts BSA has been an incredibly irreplaceable opportunity. I began getting involved with the program long before I even realized. As a younger sibling going along on family events and outings, I quickly picked up many skills and got very much involved. Once I heard Read more…
By Fabiola Schirrmeister As we celebrate Women’s History Month, I want to highlight a Latina woman who is breaking barriers and leading in a field dominated by men. Her immigration story helps me remember that leadership comes with a lot of sacrifice and hard work. Isamar Caro Gonzalez was born Read more…
By Tiffany O’Donnell, CEO, Women Lead Change In preparing for a presentation about new statistics on the women’s recession, I gathered three women vice presidents of a national company for whom I was presenting. Following the presentation, they were to provide their own personal perspectives on balancing work through a global pandemic. 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 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 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…