Fearless 8.11.25

Good morning, Fearless readers:

We have some exciting new content to share with you over the next few months, and YOU can be a part of it, too.

Do you have any burning questions about leadership, confidence or being a Fearless woman? What do you want to learn from the Fearless Iowa women forging their paths? What gender equity topics should we be talking about?

We want to answer you directly. Send us your questions and thoughts: maceyshofroth@bpcdm.com!

In this week’s Fearless e-newsletter, you will find:

Profiles of four women paving the way in Iowa venture capital.
A Leading Fearlessly column about the power of thank you from Suzanna de Baca.
In the headlines: The 2025 Iowa Women of Achievement Award nominations are open.
In case you missed it: A Closer Look with the Iowa State Association of Counties Executive Director Andrea Woodard.
Lots more!

— Macey Shofroth, Fearless editor

About 10 years ago, Kaylee Williams was walking in the Austin airport when she saw a banner advertising the HBO television show “Silicon Valley,” a comedy series parodying the tech industry culture in the Santa Clara Valley.

The poster featured five men wearing black turtlenecks. She posted a photo to social media, tagged HBO and asked a simple question:

“Where are the women?”

The startup company industry has long been male-dominated. In 2023, 13.2% of startup founders were women, down from 15.1% the prior year, according to Carta. PitchBook’s U.S. venture capital founders dashboard shows female founders received just 2% of total venture capital funding in 2024, a figure that remains mostly unchanged since 2008.

Williams is a part of an Iowa cohort of female venture capital leaders hoping to improve parity in the industry.

Williams, Liz Keehner, Mikayla Mooney and Nicole Gunderson are part of a surge in women leadership in venture capital in Iowa. All four women grew up in Iowa and received their undergraduate education in the state.

Now, all four are interested in showing other women — and founders in general — how the rate of innovation in Iowa can accelerate when more women are given a seat at the venture capital table.

“A rising tide floats all boats,” Keehner said.

Kaylee Williams, investment director, InnoVenture Iowa

Kaylee Williams was studying English at the University of Iowa with plans to become a writer when she stumbled upon the path that led her to venture capital. VolunteerLocal, a software-as-a-service business-to-business company managing volunteers, hired the Cedar Falls native as their first intern.

“I worked my way up to a community builder, then the director of business development, and then I became the CEO and president of that company,” she said. “We scaled that business. We never took on venture capital in the sense that we raise a true fundraising round, and actually it’s one of my biggest professional regrets.”

Her regret lies in the belief that they could have scaled the company to be much larger. While the company is still successfully run by her co-founders, she believes they could have been acquired and had a successful exit.

But Williams said she was too intimidated by the process to raise venture capital to take that next step in growth. She didn’t see women who looked like her in the field, something she says continues the cycle of women missing out on funding that could expedite their growth — and prevents innovative, disruptive technologies from making it to the market.

“When only 2% of venture capital funding goes to women-led startup companies, we all have to sleep well at night assuming that women-led companies only make up 2% of viable, scalable, extraordinary startup innovations, and I just know that’s not true,” she said. “I think the impact of not getting more money into the hands of female-founded teams is that we are leaving cash on the barrel.”

Williams joined InnoVenture Iowa in 2022. The company invests in biosciences, information technology and advanced manufacturing. They’ve invested 39% of their portfolio in women-led businesses, including Hummingbirds, the Des Moines-based influencer marketing platform that connects businesses with local social media influencers.

Williams and InnoVenture Iowa recently piloted a curriculum with Waukee Community School District’s APEX program to introduce more kids to the field of venture capital. She believes that when the path to become a decision-maker in venture capital is open to more types of people, especially women, the ecosystem in Iowa will become even stronger with diverse innovations and high-paying jobs.

“For women today, I do think it is harder to raise venture capital, even if you have a really good idea and team and a strong business model, because you still have to get the meetings and win over a venture capitalist. It’s very subjective, and it’s easy to allow stereotypes to come in,” Williams said. “Representation is a way to try and level the playing field.”

Liz Keehner, principal, Next Level Ventures

Liz Keehner believes getting more women involved in the innovation industry is a key step in building more economic power for women.

“If we can get more women angel investing and creating wealth, then they can invest in other women investors and founders. If we can get more money into the hands of women and founders and get them exiting their companies, that creates wealth for them and their family,” Keehner said. “It creates this flywheel effect.”

Keehner said there isn’t one typical pathway one needs to take to break into the venture capital ecosystem; they just need the courage to try. Her own journey began in Sheldon, where she grew up before attending the University of Northern Iowa. While in college, she watched a documentary called “Something Ventured” and knew the direction she wanted to take her career.

Instead of taking a finance or accounting internship, Keehner moved to Austin to join an early-stage equity crowdfunding startup. Her experience there learning the ins and outs of scaling a business from an operations standpoint, while also gaining valuable insight into investment processes, helps her understand the experiences of the founders she supports in her current position.

Keehner said when she joined AgVentures Alliance in 2020, she was the first woman to hold a leadership position in the Iowa venture capital ecosystem. She joined Next Level Ventures in 2022, leading its Midwest investment strategy.

“I think having a woman’s perspective when making investment decisions is very critical to the investment process. Eighty-five percent of purchasing decisions are made by women. A diversity of perspectives is helpful when making investments because you can challenge other people’s thoughts or bring questions to the table that weren’t there before,” she said.

Keehner said Next Level Ventures has invested over $65 million and helped create over 600 high-wage jobs in Iowa since 2014. She hopes all Iowans, but especially women, can overcome a fear of failure to help the state’s nascent startup ecosystem continue to grow.

“You look at places like San Francisco or Austin, the startup activity is dense, and failure is an acceptable thing. Failure is often rewarded and pushed for, honestly, because either you get to success or you get to failure, but get to them fast so then you can get on to the next thing,” she said.

The more women who are able to overcome that fear and pursue leadership roles, the stronger the entire ecosystem will become, Keehner said.

“There’s a lot of data out there that show that women, especially emerging managers, have strong track records compared to their male counterparts,” she said. “Oftentimes, we’re the ones who have to get out of our own way. When you have more women who are writing checks, you are getting more capital into the hands of women. And women tend to be better fiduciaries of capital with their startups than men, historically, and so I think that’s a great thing for venture when it’s an ROI business.”

Mikayla Mooney, partner, Ag Startup Engine

Mikayla Mooney developed an interest in food and agriculture while growing up in Ames and spending time on her grandparents’ farms. She studied global resource systems at Iowa State University and had the opportunity to travel to other countries and see how their farmers operated.

These experiences led her to co-founding KinoSol, a company building solar food dehydrators, with three other students. The company had products in over 50 countries and helped smallholder farmers around the world reduce food loss.

The company also showed Mooney the ins and outs of building and scaling a startup, valuable experience she brought to the world of venture capital.

“I learned a lot on that journey. I think it’s helpful having gone through that experience of ‘here’s how you build a product.’ I have great empathy for founders when going through that process,” she said.

Today, Mooney is a partner at Ag Startup Engine, which invests in companies solving problems in the agriculture industry. She sees her empathy for founders as one of the most important skills she brings to the job.

She hopes to help more founders see themselves as capable of raising capital.

“We bootstrapped everything at our startup,” she said. “A lot of the female founders that I talk to tend to bootstrap more. … They can go out and raise capital. I think women being on this side of the table helps change that perspective. I think back to my KinoSol days and we didn’t think going the venture route was even a viable option. I think we could have and it would have changed our trajectory.”

Mooney dedicates time regularly to talking with students about taking risks to get their ideas out in the world and pursuing venture capital to fund them. When she was in their shoes, she believed she needed experience with big corporations before pursuing her own dreams.

“I thought I needed to be this person that had completed college, had 10 years of experience working in the field before I could truly make an impact,” she said. “Through starting KinoSol, we attended this conference called 'The Food for Thought Challenge' and it was all these really young people that were building solutions to solve challenges across the food value chain. And I thought, ‘I don’t have to be very far along in my career to do this.’”

Whether she’s learning from Ag Startup Engine’s investors, reviewing financials with founders or talking with the next generation of innovators, relationships remain key to how Mooney hopes to help businesses and farmers thrive in Iowa.

“Oftentimes, as women, we tend to be more relationship-driven,” she said. “Truly, venture is a game of relationships. Can you build relationships with founders? Can you build relationships with your [limited partners]? Can you build a relationship with other funds that could be co-investors? I think having that relationship-driven mindset gives you a leg up.”

Nicole Gunderson, principal, ManchesterStory

Growing up the child of small business owners in Emmetsburg gave Nicole Gunderson the drive to join the world of entrepreneurs. She loved the idea of building something new.

This led her to the Des Moines-based financial technology company Dwolla, which she joined as an MBA intern in 2012. She made her own personal investment in another company at that time, too.

“I was really interested in entrepreneurs and how you fund these businesses,” she said. “I wanted to start to learn the mechanics of it. A very early investment in the company started my parallel path of understanding how to invest in these early-stage technology companies at the same time I was helping to build one.”

Gunderson grew to become an executive on Dwolla’s leadership team, ultimately leading sales and strategy for the company. She brought her experience helping to procure venture capital at Dwolla to the ManchesterStory team in 2022. Now, she’s able to offer her insight to founders as they navigate rapid growth in their companies.

ManchesterStory’s investment strategy attracted the innate leader in Gunderson. The company often leads investment rounds, setting the terms of the investment for other investors to follow.

It allows her to form deeper relationships with the founders her company works with.

“It means we’re doing a lot of work to understand the company and the stage that it’s at, its customers, its revenue, its traction. Then we’re able to appropriately put a valuation on the round of financing,” she said. “That was attractive to me because it meant we’re going really deep with the companies that we’re going to work with.”

Gunderson has often found herself as one of the few women in a room. She was one of two women in a room of 38 people at an event earlier this month. Those experiences make her relationships with other women in venture capital even more valuable.

“I feel very fortunate. There’s other women around our community that are in pockets of what we’re doing. I look to those relationships, have regular coffees with some of them to just try to continue to have that network in our state. I’d love to continue to see that grow here,” she said.

Being a part of that growth is important to her. She regularly visits her alma mater to speak to students at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business to encourage students to break into the industry. She knows how intimidating her field can be.

“You need to see what you can be,” she said.

Whether it’s simply attracting companies to establish themselves in Iowa or encouraging young women to enter the finance and investment world, she appreciates any opportunity to show the strength of the innovation ecosystem here in Iowa.

“There’s a lot of strength here,” she said. “I would love to see more companies want to start here and build here because they know they can have access to capital here.”

Last month in Fearless, I reflected on the awkward pause many of us feel when praise or an award lands at our feet. That instinct to deflect or downplay is common, especially among accomplished women taught to equate humility with worthiness.

But once we’ve mustered the courage to say “thank you” and truly receive recognition, the question becomes, “Now what?”

Recognition, it turns out, can be more than a reward. It can be a catalyst.

From receiving to reframing

When someone acknowledges your work through a compliment, award or public praise, they are shining a light on your impact. That moment can be more than personal. It can become a form of social capital, an opportunity to elevate a cause, spotlight a team or advocate for others.

A 2021 Harvard Business Review leadership book by Gorick Ng, “The Unspoken Rules: Secrets to Starting Your Career Off Right,” explores this idea. Ng encourages recipients to “pay it forward” by mentoring, sharing credit or using visibility to promote underrepresented voices. Recognition is not a final destination. It can be a powerful door opener.

Various studies support this. A Harvard Business Review article, “A Little Recogition Can Provide a Big Morale Boost,” by Shibeal O’ Flaherty, Michael T. Sanders and Ashley Whillans, shares research that found public recognition not only boosts morale and retention but also increases motivation and performance. When people feel seen and valued, they’re more likely to take positive action. In short, appreciation inspires contribution.

Spotlight as strategy

After a recent award announcement, I paused to question: What did this recognition really mean? For me, it wasn’t a signal that I’d arrived. It was a reminder of how much more there is left to do.

The spotlight was on me, but I saw it as a tool. Not a trophy. Visibility is fleeting. In that brief moment when others are paying attention, we have a choice. I chose to redirect that light: to try to inspire, to challenge, to connect and most of all, to support other women.

This isn’t false modesty. It’s strategic generosity. For me, recognition isn’t the end of the story. It’s a prompt to keep pushing the mission forward.

Leading by example

If women often struggle to accept recognition, we may struggle even more to use it. But doing so helps shift the culture. It gives others permission. It models a leadership style that is confident and connective, that accepts praise while multiplying its meaning.

When we embrace recognition, we validate the giver and create a ripple effect of gratitude, visibility and purpose.

So the next time you receive a compliment, an award or public praise, accept it fully. Then ask yourself, What can I do with this moment?

Let the “thank you” be just the beginning.

I turned to local leaders for their insights on how they’ve transformed recognition into a catalyst for broader impact.

Cathy Adams, senior vice president, Wealth Management, Community State Bank

We never know what effect a vote of confidence or positive feedback will have on us or others. Ten years ago, I received feedback from a mentor that gave me the “push” I needed to apply for a role that would be a promotion and significantly more responsibility. My children were younger and I debated whether or not I could or should balance the additional responsibilities. But his words “right place, right time” kept echoing in my mind and I took the leap. That role helped me gain experience, new skills and strong relationships that I brought to my current role. I still credit those few words one person said to me all those years ago for helping me get to where I am today. Take the time to provide positive feedback to others. And if you receive it, make sure to take the time to listen and reflect.

Katrina Lindsey, chief legal officer, Casey’s
While serving as deputy general counsel at The ODP Corp., I was offered the role of SVP of business development for a new tech-focused business unit. My legal background gave me strong business insight, but stepping into this new space challenged me – especially without a tech background. During a strategy session, a senior software leader assumed I had worked in tech before based on my contributions. That moment shifted my mindset. I realized leadership isn’t about specific expertise, titles or degrees – it’s about how you approach problems, people and possibilities. That insight gave me the confidence to lean into strategy and pursue opportunities I might’ve once hesitated to chase. Today, as chief legal officer at Casey’s, I carry that lesson forward – and I make it a priority to help others recognize their own potential, especially when they don’t yet see it in themselves.

Mollie Ross, vice president of operations, Technology Association of Iowa
For a long time, I was most comfortable behind the scenes – supporting others, getting things done, but rarely speaking up or sharing my perspective. Then my leader, Brian Waller, said something that stuck: “You have real presence when you speak. You should be doing more of it.” That one compliment gave me the push I needed to start saying yes – to panels, presentations and interviews.

Now, I try to pay that encouragement forward, especially through TAI’s professional development programs, Iowa Technology Leadership Institute and Iowa Tech Connect. We create space for tech professionals to practice, build confidence and build their voice. I remind them often: You don’t need to be the expert. Your experience, your story – those are more than enough to make an impact.

Liz Ulrichson, financial advisor relationship manager, CAPTRUST
When I received the PlanAdviser Emerging Leaders Award, my first reaction was disbelief. I’ve battled imposter syndrome, often questioning if I was “enough.” Instead of trying to hide it, I chose to be honest about what I was feeling. That honesty deepened my relationships as people used my vulnerability as an opportunity to connect and open up in return. These connections reminded me how many of us wrestle with those doubts, even when we look like we have it all together. This award didn’t just push me forward; it reminded me that showing the real side of growth creates space for the right people to walk alongside you.

Christie Vilsack, writer, community leader
As first lady of Iowa in 2004, I endorsed John Kerry on the steps of the Iowa capitol surrounded by supportive legislators. Within a week, his numbers moved significantly among women and he won the Iowa Caucus. He asked me to speak on his behalf at the national convention in Boston. I was nervous about speaking in prime time in front of thousands, but I accepted. I realized that I had developed my own political identity. My husband says, “It doesn’t do any good to have power if you don’t use it,” so in 2011, I announced that I was running for Congress challenging five-term incumbent Steve King. I was 62 years old, running for office for the first time, but I knew I had name recognition, could raise the money, debate the issues and become an example for other women who might be reluctant to run.

2025 Iowa Women of Achievement Award nominations open. Nominations are open for the 2025 Iowa Women of Achievement Award presented by Women Lead Change. The award recognizes the contributions of historical Iowa women who made lasting contributions to Iowa, the nation or the world. Nominees will be selected on merit in four areas: making lasting contributions; serving as a role model or change agent; impacting the social, cultural, economic or political well-being of the community, state or nation; and inspiring future generations. Nominees must be deceased women who were born in Iowa, achieved prominence within Iowa or had been a resident of Iowa for an extended period of time. The honorees will be recognized at a luncheon at the Women Lead Change Conference on Oct. 15 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. The annual award is commemorated with plaques on the Iowa Women of Achievement Bridge in Des Moines. Nominations are due by Aug. 18.

State announces $5M in funding for child care, preschool partnerships

Gov. Kim Reynolds recently announced $5 million in funding to expand 19 child care and preschool program partnerships. The Continuum of Care grant program aims to encourage partnerships between child care providers and preschools and help ensure full days of care for 4-year-olds to improve school-age readiness. The awards will expand the number of children served through supportive staffing, hours of operation, and transportation options for child care and preschool programs. A second round of Continuum of Care grants for child care and preschool expansions will be announced this fall for the 2026-2027 school year. Grants of up to $300,000 over three years will support partnerships between Statewide Voluntary Preschool Program (SWVPP) sites and licensed child care centers. The program received more than 120 applications for funding, a news release said.

Black Women's Health Conference 2025 speakers announced. Black Women 4 Health Living announced its lineup of speakers for its 2025 Black Women's Health Conference. Minister Theresa Whitfield, a mental health and community empowerment advocate, will be the keynote speaker. The lineup of speakers covers an array of topics around physical, mental and emotional health. The conference aims to celebrate and empower Black women's health by providing a safe space for them to receive expert insights, resources and community support. Get tickets here.

Iowa’s Norris says it’s ‘time for an educator’ in U.S. Senate campaign launch. Des Moines school board member Jackie Norris announced her campaign for the U.S. Senate last week as a Democrat. She is the fourth Democrat running in the 2026 election for the seat held by Sen. Joni Ernst, who has not yet announced if she plans to seek another term. Norris worked on former Gov. Tom Vilsack's first gubernatorial campaign in 1998 and President Obama's 2008 Iowa caucus campaign. She has worked in several presidencies, both Republican and Democrat, including a stint as former first lady Michelle Obama's chief of staff. She is a former high school government and history teacher and president of Horizon Group, a market research and management consulting business in West Des Moines.

Iowan thought law cut costly breast cancer testing copays. Now she's stuck with the bill (Des Moines Register). Iowa’s new searchable child care website sees heavy use (Radio Iowa). Why women are weary of the emotional labor of 'mankeeping' (New York Times). Menopause retreat helps new generation of women find relief and cope with stigmas: "We're suffering silently and that's not OK"(CBS News). Jen Pawol will be MLB's first female umpire. Here are other women who broke officiating barriers (ABC News). Tea encouraged its users to spill. Then the app's data got leaked (NPR).

A notable policy leader has stepped into a role that will call on her expertise, experience and love for Iowa.

Andrea Woodard joined the Iowa State Association of Counties as executive director in August 2024. The position was previously held by William R. Peterson, who worked at ISAC for 45 years and served as its executive director for 29. Woodard was able to start before Peterson departed, and attended the National Association of Counties annual conference in Tampa with him last July, where he introduced her to many of their colleagues.

“To have that personal introduction from him [was valuable and an honor],” Woodard said.

“Truly, he’s seen as sort of the dean of his peers at the national level.”

Before joining ISAC, Woodard worked at the Greater Des Moines Partnership for more than nine years as senior vice president of government relations and public policy and most recently as director of regional community integration.

Her interest in government and policy work began early in life and many of her childhood experiences prepared her for her career, she said. Woodard grew up on a farm in Shueyville in the southeastern part of Linn County, near Cedar Rapids. When she was in high school, her family’s farm had 3,500 hogs and 1,000 acres of corn and soybeans. Today, her parents still operate the farm, minus the hog operation. Growing up the oldest, with four younger brothers made her tough; she doesn’t put up with a lot of nonsense, she said.

Civic engagement and community involvement were common in her family. Her grandparents were very involved in the community and local government. One of her grandmothers was a poll worker. One grandfather served on the township board of trustees. Her other set of grandparents were involved in the Teamsters-affiliated union for the local Cryovac plant, which for many years produced plastic food packaging in Cedar Rapids.

Woodard studied political science at the University of Iowa and worked for political campaigns before becoming a legislative clerk for the Iowa State Senate. She also worked as the Iowa State House campaign manager for the Iowa Democratic Party, a regional field organizer for One Iowa and an assistant to the leader at the Iowa House of Representatives. She then joined public relations and government affairs company LS2group as an account executive before returning to the House as a research analyst and later joined the Partnership.

She now leads ISAC, a private, nonprofit corporation made up of several statewide association partner organizations. ISAC members are elected and appointed county officials from the state’s 99 counties who work together to improve and maintain effective government for Iowans. ISAC serves as an advocate for counties, providing resources, training, networking and more. In her new role, Woodard looks forward to executing the group’s strategic plan and providing services to counties.

We sat down with Woodard to learn more about her background, ISAC and her goals for the future.

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