My appetite for Olympics-related news is elephant-sized, so we have a separate section of good reads about women athletes in addition to the usual one. If you only have time for one, I’d recommend this package from the Washington Post on Olympic moms.
As we start working on our annual Fearless publication, we're looking for fearless women to profile. Do you know of someone who has a compelling story? Let us know! (You can also see last year's Fearless profiles on our website).
Fearless is a Business Record initiative with women-centered content and events designed to help women and the companies and allies who both value and support them. The elements of this brand can be simplified into one goal: We want to help empower Iowa women to succeed in work and life.
In doing so, the team behind Fearless is always looking for stories to tell about Iowa women.
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.
Do you know of any women or nonbinary Iowans who have a great story to tell? Do you have a story you'd like to tell us about yourself? Let us know below.
After a half-century of waiting, Wally Funk — who trained for NASA's Mercury program but was denied the opportunity to go to space — has finally gotten her time amongst the stars. Last week she flew to space with Jeff Bezos, Mark Bezos and Oliver Daemen on a 10-minute thrill ride on Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket as an "honored guest."
The 2021 Paralympic Summer Games in Tokyo, which will take place Aug. 23 to Sept. 5, are a historic moment for para athletes: For the first time ever, Team USA Paralympians will be paid the same as their Olympic counterparts for their medal wins. Previously, Paralympians were paid $7,500 for gold, $5,250 for silver and $3,750 for bronze. Now, every medal-winning U.S. athlete will be paid $37,500 for taking home gold, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze.
Applications for Women Lead Change’s Girls with Goals Grant are now open. The $500 grant supports nonprofit organizations across the state that work to empower girls between kindergarten and eighth grade. Grant recipients in 2020 included Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cedar Rapids & East Central Iowa, Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa, Junior Achievement of Eastern Iowa, Junior League of the Quad Cities Inc., YMCA of Greater Des Moines and Girls on the Run chapters in eastern Iowa and central Iowa. Application materials are due Aug. 16. More information can be found on the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation website.
EMC Insurance Cos. announced it has signed the Employers for Pay Equity Consortium's White House Equal Pay Pledge. By signing the White House Equal Pay Pledge, the Des Moines-based insurance group commits to analyzing gender pay annually, reviewing hiring and promotion processes, and taking steps to reduce unconscious bias, among other efforts.
KNOW YOUR WORTH: FEARLESS STORIES AT WORK, BY
Advocating for Others: Lynh Nguyen Patterson Lynh Nguyen Patterson knows how to talk teeth. And she knows how to make you care. That’s her job as government relations manager at Delta Dental of Iowa, a nonprofit insurance company. Patterson’s primary responsibility is to convey to legislators the value of oral wellness as a critical public health issue and call for supporting policies. Patterson didn’t realize it at the time, but what was absent from her childhood laid the foundation for her future career. Her parents weren’t political. Like many Vietnam War-era immigrants, their struggles revolved around emerging from poverty. READ THE FULL STORY>
"TO LOVE WHAT YOU DO AND FEEL THAT IT MATTERS–
HOW COULD ANYTHING BE MORE FUN?" KATHARINE GRAHAM
Worth checking out
How the new child tax credit is already changing lives (Intelligencer). What matters in a name sign? (New York Times). My slightly unreal pandemic pregnancy (The New Yorker). The Dear America series taught young girls they had a place in history (Refinery 29). Latina journalists' ousters from Denver TV powerhouse spark outrage (National Public Radio). America needs to talk about miscarriage (Vox). I tried to live off women-owned businesses. Turns out, men still run everything (Time). Meet Edith Renfrow Smith, the first Black woman to graduate from Grinnell College, whose grandparents were enslaved (Chicago Sun Times).
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Worth checking out – Olympics edition
They are Olympians. They are mothers. And they no longer have to choose (Washington Post).Two Iowa women qualify for 2020 Paralympic Games (Iowa Public Radio).48 athletes – 31 of them women – to watch at the Tokyo Olympics (Time).This deaf-blind Paralympian was told to navigate Tokyo alone. So she quit Team USA (Washington Post).Women’s handball players are fined for rejecting bikini uniforms (New York Times).
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Join us at Jasper Winery this Thursday at 4 p.m.for a casual get-together to celebrate Fearless’ national recognition. Drinks are available for purchase and Decoy will be performing beginning at 6 p.m.
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