Five years ago, the Business Record launched Fearless. Our goal is simple: We want to empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life. Through our weekly e-newsletter, ongoing print features and events, we have worked to live up to our mission. We’ve told countless stories that have both inspired audience members and offered analysis of gender inequity in our state. We will continue to do so as we move into another year. We could not do this work without Iowans being willing to share their stories and audience members who care very deeply. Learn more about our statewide initiative here.
‘It’s my responsibility to fight for them’: Rep. Aime Wichtendahl on fighting anti-trans legislation
Aime Wichtendahl made history when she was elected to the Hiawatha City Council and became the first openly transgender elected official in Iowa in 2015.
She made history again when she was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives and became the state’s first openly transgender lawmaker.
She was then a part of history once more when Iowa became the first state to remove gender identity from its Civil Rights Act. In her first term, she spoke against a bill she felt directly targeted people just like her.
Lalonyo AnyaCeng’s journey to wearing a black suit and a brown coat
Lalonyo AnyaCeng was born in a refugee camp in Uganda. Her parents had fled conflict in South Sudan while her mother was pregnant with her. She spent the first 16 years of her life in refugee camps.
Her family was to come to the U.S. in 2001, but were delayed for four years after the events of 9/11. They finally arrived in New York City on a cold January day in 2005. A woman wearing a black suit and a brown coat greeted them in the airport, and Lalonyo quickly decided she would do anything she could to one day afford a brown coat and a black suit of her own.
How Clarissa Chun shows her athletes to go after what they want
The timing of Clarissa Chun’s journey to wrestling couldn’t have been more perfect.
She took after her older brother and competed in judo for years. Then Hawaii, where she grew up, became the first state to sanction wrestling as a high school sport for girls. She started the sport her junior year of high school and immediately fell in love.
The sport took her around the world: competing in two Olympics and winning a bronze medal and becoming the inaugural coach of women’s wrestling at the University of Iowa in 2021.
In her first season, Chun carried on the legacy of success that the school’s men’s wrestling team has long had. Her most important accomplishment, however, is the impact she’s able to make on the female wrestlers who have come after her.
Picking up the pieces: How Jennifer Garside helped her community begin to heal
When Jennifer Garside’s husband looked out their window the afternoon of May 21, 2024, there was barely enough wind to move the leaves.
But just two blocks over, in their town of Greenfield, Iowa, an EF-4 tornado tore a destructive path that killed five people, injured more than 35 people and caused millions of dollars in damages.
As the town began the rebuilding process, Garside decided to leave the job she’d had for 35 years to lead the Greater Greenfield Community Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports many projects throughout the town. Since the tornado, the foundation has been helping affected people through direct monetary support, options for mental health care, recreational opportunities for children and more.
Sylvia Nemmers and the prize of authenticity
Sylvia Nemmers was born totally blind.
At age 4, she had an experimental surgery at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics to give her a little bit of vision. Shortly after, she began attending the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, Iowa. She lived and studied there for three years, then attended St. Augustin and Dowling Catholic schools in Des Moines.
Her teachers didn’t encourage her to study science as a kid, but her father, who was also totally blind, encouraged her. She earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in biochemistry from Kansas State University and a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry from New Mexico State University.
Today, she’s the department chair for environmental science in the American Public University system. She wrote a book about her life, “Happy Now? Shattering the Myth of Happily Ever After,” that was released in August.
Shanna Sieck used grief to build something beautiful
Shanna Sieck and her husband, Curtis, decided she’d stay home with their children after they were born.
Her role of caregiver took on a whole new meaning when her middle son, Mason, was diagnosed with Gardner Syndrome at age 2. They received the devastating news that Mason needed to be in hospice care when he was 6. At age 7, he died from his illness.
Mason was supported in his final days by Crescent Cove Respite and Hospice for kids in Minnesota. Moved by the incredible care Crescent Cove provided Mason and the rest of their family, Shanna and Curtis set out to open Iowa’s first pediatric hospice and respite home.
They are currently fundraising and searching for a site for “Mason’s Light House.” The nonprofit will become only the fourth pediatric hospice and respite home in the United States.
