As told to Emily Kestel Mary Kramer made history as the first woman to be independently elected as the president of the Iowa Senate in 1997. In 2003, she was sworn in as ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, where she served until 2006. She and her late husband, Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Dalia Kyi is the founder and owner of Unuhe, an interpreting business that specializes in Karen, Karenni, Burmese and Chin languages. She was born in Myanmar (Burma) and moved with her family to the Mae La refugee camp in Thailand to flee the war. Kyi Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Jo Allen is a nonbinary entrepreneur who started their photography business, Jovisuals, primarily as a way to help LGBTQ people feel valued, empowered and visible. In 2016, they were diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Burkitt lymphoma. Allen also works as a communications fellow with Future Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Maria Gonzalez-Alvarez is a disaster case manager for the tornado and derecho programs at Mid-Iowa Community Action in Marshalltown. She is the co-founder and co-organizer of Immigrant Allies, which is a resource organization that helps immigrant families that formed after the ICE raid at the Read more…
By Emily Kestel Last year, to launch the Fearless initiative, we introduced you to 12 fearless Iowa women. Together, they were courageous, honest, confident, persistent, brave, purposeful, daring, resilient, authentic, unselfish, passionate and persistent. The six people we talked to this year are no different. They’ve taken big risks, they Read more…
As told to Emily Kestel Suzan Erem is an organizer and writer. In 2015, she co-founded the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust, which is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting land to grow healthy food. She continues to serve as its executive director. She lives in Cedar County. The following story has 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’ve only included ideas detailed in the survey responses. If Read more…
For six years, the Business Record has published a survey dedicated to shining a light on issues that women face in Iowa, both at work and at home. While the survey is not scientific and different people respond every year, one thing has remained the same: Women are still not Read more…
By Emily Blobaum, Fearless editor All of the major LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and nonprofits in the Des Moines metro are being led by women or nonbinary people, many of them having programming with a statewide reach. In two separate group interviews, I met with six LGBTQ+ leaders and talked about Read more…
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…