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Good morning, Fearless readers:
I’m hopeful the 2024 Olympics, held in the city of light, will be a source of inspiration for women and girls worldwide.
The founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, once said women competing in the Games would be “impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and improper,” according to this story in the Associated Press.
Can you imagine if we had listened to him?
Today, there is a children’s nursery at the center of the Olympic Village, where athletes can pump breast milk, change diapers and bond with their children. (You can find a photo of the nursery here.) Athletes like Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson and Katie Ledecky are very much the face of the Games. And, the Olympics are very close to achieving total gender parity.
I’ve got my watch list ready, following my favorite gymnasts and other athletes from all over the world. I will be on Paris time for the next couple of weeks. Will you? Grab a baguette and join me. (And yes, the athletes will have freshly baked baguettes ready for them.)
In this week’s Fearless e-newsletter, you will find:
- A news story about Catherine Johnson and Disability Rights Iowa, which is celebrating 40 years of advocacy.
- Another question and answer from the Business Record’s 2024 Women of Influence honorees: What will it take for women to achieve gender parity in leadership positions?
- In the headlines: Iowa’s abortion ban law goes into effect today.
- In case you missed it: Learn about a hobby embraced by Cathy Padilla, chief information officer, enterprise service management, Wells Fargo.
- Lots more!
– Nicole Grundmeier, Business Record staff writer
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OVERCOMING DISCRIMINATION & ADVERSITY
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Led by Catherine Johnson, Disability Rights Iowa looks to grow its advocacy as it celebrates 40 years
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BY EMILY BARSKE WOOD, BUSINESS RECORD SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
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Catherine Johnson. Photo by Duane Tinkey.
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Growing up in Iowa City, Catherine Johnson distinctly remembers watching Geraldo Rivera’s 1972 investigative documentary that exposed inhumane living conditions at Willowbrook State School, a facility for youths with intellectual disabilities in Staten Island, N.Y. She shared with her mom how appalled she was that people could be treated so poorly, and her mom told her, “Maybe when you grow up, you can do something about it.”
Just 8 years old at the time, Johnson took her mom’s message to heart and eventually started on a career path in civil rights that led her to find a particular passion for disability advocacy. In 2021, Johnson left her role as an attorney at the Disability Rights Center of Kansas to lead Disability Rights Iowa as its executive director.
Established in 1984, Disability Rights Iowa is the state’s designated advocacy organization and is part of the National Disability Rights Network, created by Congress to protect the rights of all individuals with disabilities. The designation allows the nonprofit access to what are referred to as locked facilities to check the living conditions and services being provided.
Additionally, this year, Disability Rights Iowa projects it will receive 2,500 requests for help from Iowans with disabilities via the nonprofit’s free advocacy and legal consultation, to help with issues like working with an employer on accommodations.
As the organization celebrates its 40th anniversary, one of its main goals is to be more known statewide.
“In Iowa, about 12.5% of Iowans identify as having a disability — that’s, give or take, about 400,000 Iowans — for a staff of 20,” Johnson said. “But before you can reach out to ask us for help, you have to first know we exist.”
That involves a lot of outreach, she said, and it also means ensuring Iowans know what disability means. The nonprofit uses the federal definition of disability.
“We need to make sure that all Iowans are aware of the fact that, if they have cancer or they have asthma, or they have depression, that, under federal law, all of those types of conditions are considered disabilities,” Johnson said. “And they’re entitled to free service from our agency to the level that we can provide.”
The organization’s other main areas of focus include fostering an intersectional approach to its services so it can be welcoming to all, providing a systems-approach to advocacy in instances where multiple individuals are experiencing a similar barrier and establishing new revenue streams so the organization can ramp up advocacy.
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Another critical question with the Business Record’s 2024 Women of Influence
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BY EMILY BARSKE WOOD, BUSINESS RECORD SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
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Question: What will it take for women to achieve gender parity in leadership positions?
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Rona Berinobis
Senior vice president of corporate social responsibility, organizational development and internal communications, Athene USA
Men championing it.
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Monica Chavez-Silva
Vice president for community engagement and strategic planning, Grinnell College
More leaders willing to act as advocates and allies by offering leadership roles and hiring women into leadership positions.
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Jean Duffy
Senior vice president and principal, CapTrust
As a society, we need to start instilling confidence in girls at a younger age. As these women enter the workforce, they will need to use this confidence to step up and ask for leadership roles. Their male counterparts will need to speak up as allies and provide opportunities. Organizations will need to make gender parity a higher priority and look for opportunities to promote mentorship, sponsorship and leadership programs specifically designed for women. And we all need to understand that this will take time.
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Miriam Erickson Brown
Chair and CEO, Anderson Erickson Dairy
The combination of brave, gifted, persistent women, along with leaders who are inspired to entrust both men and women with unique talents and skills to guide and shape their continually evolving businesses and organizations.
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Jann Freed
Owner and leadership development consultant, Jann E. Freed LLC
Women need to continue to “lean in” and not self-select themselves out, thinking they are not ready. Once women get into a position of power, they need to support one another. Everyone needs to mentor, sponsor and coach — both men and women. One silver lining of the pandemic was how organizations had to become more flexible with remote and hybrid work — valued by both men and women. Research indicates most employees, regardless of gender, appreciate having more agency over their work-life integration.
I am reminded of a poem about support systems written by Natasha Josefowitz in the 1980s. Elaine Szymoniak, former state senator and city council member, shared this poem at a leadership workshop I attended:
My right hand is being held by someone who knows more than I,
And I am learning.
My left hand is being held
By someone who knows less than I,
And I am teaching.
So both my hands must thus be held
For me – to be.
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Myrna Johnson
Executive director, Iowa Public Radio
We need to spend more energy in developing and supporting the self-esteem of girls and young women so they can better advocate for themselves in relationships, at work and in life in general. They are awesome and deserve the best!
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Rachelle Keck
President, Grand View University
Achieving gender parity will require ongoing comprehensive change involving individuals, organizations, communities and policymakers. Additional advancement is necessary in areas such as gender bias and stereotypes, access to STEM education, family-friendly employment policies, child care improvement, awareness and education, ongoing mentorship and sponsorship of women, efforts to increase women’s representation at all levels of government and leadership and the consideration of gender parity laws where needed.
Additionally, we need to continue to work to change our language from the male default – “you guys,” “chairman,” etc. We should promote love, admiration and support of women.
Achieving gender parity in leadership is a long game, requiring sustained commitment and collaboration from various sectors. Implementing these strategies and fostering a culture of expected equality can ensure the continued growth and strengthening of women into leadership roles.
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Deidre Williams
Vice president of organizational effectiveness, EMC Insurance
Achieving gender parity in leadership requires a sustained, multifaceted commitment that addresses the unique challenges faced by women of color. It involves allyship, advocacy and creating an environment where their talents are recognized, their contributions are valued, their voices are heard, and they have the support and psychological safety needed to ascend to leadership positions.
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Jenna Knox
Foundation director, Mission Cancer + Blood
An acknowledgement in the workplace of the “gender promotion gap.” It is well documented that women are more reluctant to share their accomplishments than men and often become less visible when it is time to consider promotions. This is not because women don’t have accomplishments, but culturally women are taught that being assertive is undesired. Gender parity in leadership will exist when women can feel invited, encouraged and supported to share their accomplishments and become authentically visible.
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Melissa Ness
Founder and CEO, Connectify HR
For women to thrive in leadership roles, we need representation and true sponsorship of others in leadership positions – both women and men. For me, that sponsorship was offered by Joel Duncan at Merit Resources/Aureon. As the CEO, Joel truly sponsored, advocated and mentored me through increasing levels of responsibility and leadership in the organization. Without Joel’s influence and support, I wouldn’t be where I am today.
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“ELIMINATE THE DOUBT. DON’T BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE PERFECT. THIS IS WHERE YOU’RE MEANT TO BE AT.”
SUNISA LEE
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Rachel Woodhouse. Submitted photo.
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Young Women’s Resource Center announces Woodhouse as interim executive director: The Young Women’s Resource Center named Rachel Woodhouse its interim executive director while the board of directors conducts a search for its next leader. Woodhouse started the role on July 22. Woodhouse has spent more than a decade of her career in philanthropy, supporting a variety of nonprofit organizations in Central Iowa and beyond. Woodhouse is replacing Kari Zimmerman.
Iowa abortion ban law to go into effect today: An Iowa judge has ruled the state’s strict abortion law will take effect today, preventing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant, according to this story from KCCI. The law passed last year, but a judge had blocked it from being enforced. The Iowa Supreme Court reiterated in June that there is no constitutional right to an abortion in the state and ordered the hold to be lifted.
Resiliency carries former Iowa sprinter Brittany Brown to first Olympics: Following an Iowa career that saw Brittany Brown become an 11-time all-American with school records in the 100 and 200 meters — but no NCAA titles — she entered track and field’s professional world unsponsored for the next year. That can be a daunting situation, full of financial and athletic uncertainties. But Brown was determined to make it work, according to this story from the Des Moines Register.
Iowa’s lack of beds at group foster homes leaves at-risk girls without specialized care: In the Midwest, many states have space – or beds – for boys who need a spot in a foster residential home, but there are not as many beds for girls, according to this story from the Midwest Newsroom/NPR. Janee Harvey, Iowa’s director of Family Wellbeing and Protection, said a growing understanding about how trauma affects behavior in girls has led to greater demand for Qualified Residential Treatment Program beds for them.
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How Kamala Harris manages her money: index funds and a 2.625% mortgage (Wall Street Journal). Are you a workaholic — or a hard worker? Why it matters for your health. (Washington Post). They say it’s a woman’s world now. The workplace tells a different story. (New York Times). Why Americans aren’t having babies (Wall Street Journal). ‘Help! I’m overwhelmed!’ Hundreds of girls say they face sexual harassment online. This is what they want to change (CNN Business). Mammograms have pros and cons. Women can handle the nuance, study argues. (NPR).
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Learn about a hobby embraced by Cathy Padilla, chief information officer, enterprise service management, Wells Fargo
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BY EMILY BARSKE WOOD, SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR
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Cathy Padilla. Photo by Duane Tinkey.
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Tell us a little about your hobby.
I have always loved traveling, and I picked up cycling about three or four years ago, and then I started blending the two. I am not a die-hard cyclist. The farthest I’ve ever done in a single ride was 76 miles with an e-bike. But I enjoy being able to clear my mind, spend time outdoors and see the beauty of nature.
When did this hobby start for you?
I have a very demanding job, and I am a single mom of four kids. Between work and my family, there really hasn’t been time for me, my wellness or my own personal hobbies. But as my kids got a little older, I realized it was time to do a little more to invest in my own wellness. Pre-COVID, in early 2019 I started to diet, exercise and focus more on my physical and mental health. I found I really enjoyed both pilates and cycling. Then during COVID when we were so limited, cycling became a great way to get out of the house, be safe and still do a little vacationing. We did roadtrips during COVID with bikes on the back to places like Colorado, Minnesota and South Padre Island, Texas.
Read the rest of the story.
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At its core, Fearless exists to help empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life. We believe that everyone has a story to share and that we cannot progress as a society unless we know about one another. We share stories through featuring women in our reporting, featuring guest contributions and speakers at our events.
We are always looking for new stories to share and people to feature. Get in touch with us!
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