The Women’s Foundation recently celebrated its 25^th year in Kansas City, and Park University celebrated with them. On October 3, several students, staff and faculty from Park were invited to attend the “We Work for Change” event which featured speakers such as Missouri’s First Lady Sheena Greitens, Mayor Sly James and the keynote speaker, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power.

Greitens spoke first, explaining that the administration implemented under her husband has worked to increase the number of women involved in Missouri politics, along with other initiatives intended to create equal opportunities for women throughout the state – such as policy changes regarding paid maternity leave.

“Paid family leave is important for keeping women in the work force,” Greitens said. Almost 600 state employees and their families have benefited from this change, which provides six weeks of paid leave for state employees who are primary caregivers and three weeks for secondary caregivers.

Additionally, in an effort to empower more women in government, Greitens said, “The governor’s office has committed to appoint 25 women to the state’s boards and commissions in the next 25 days.” This initiative is in honor of the Women’s Foundation’s 25^th anniversary celebration.

Mayor Sly James, who spoke next, said of this announcement, “It’s an astonishing thing to do; it’s the right thing to do.” His speech insisted on the importance of increasing the presence of women in leadership roles.

“More work needs to be done,” James said, “to ensure that women are not just at the table but at the head of the table.”

The president of the Women’s Foundation, Wendy Doyle, spoke about working to do just this and about the importance of empowerment. She said, “Working for change is about using our resources and privilege to lift the voices of others.”

Doyle discussed the Women’s Foundation’s Appointments Project. This project provides resources for Missouri and Kansas women interested in seeking board and commission opportunities. On October 3, the day of the celebration, the 50^th successful appointment through this project occurred. But the project is far from over. “Perhaps what’s most thrilling about the Appointment Project,” Doyle said, “is that it’s just getting started.”

Doyle said, “Without women’s voices at the ballot box and in government and leadership positions, we cannot advance.”

After this, former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power expressed the necessity of organizations such as the Women’s Foundation. “Women and organizations and networks like the Women’s Foundation are needed now more than ever,” Power said.

Power discussed a significant lack of women in the field of foreign policy, in academia surrounding foreign policy and in journalists who report on foreign policy.

“Hiring men and women in roughly equal numbers,” Power said, “requires, at times, to fight gravity.”

Power discussed how, in her travels, she’s met girls from all over the world and heard of their struggles and their aspirations. “If we want to inject the perspective of women into public life … we cannot hang back,” Power said. “We cannot let our doubts silence us. And we have to take the time to encourage young women to engage in new ways with the world around them.”

Power mentioned EMILY’s List, a political action committee which works to help elect Democratic, pro-choice women to office. Since Election Day, 18,000 women have signed up via this group to run for office; the previous record was only 900. Power sees this as a victory; “What we see, matters,” she said.

Power also discussed why she views voting as important. She said, “We’ve got to rally our family and friends, having fought so hard for so long to secure a political voice for women, we have to utilize that.”

“I’ve been completely amazed,” Power said, “by the work of the Women’s Foundation…promoting opportunity for women of all walks of life.”

Though this is what the Women’s Foundation does intend to do, there seemed to be a lack of discussion regarding issues facing LGBTQIA+ women.

There was also a lack of focus on issues which are more specific to women of color, though Mayor Sly James did touch on the importance of women of color in leadership. Following his metaphor on having women at the head of the table, he said, “And when we talk about making sure women are at the table, do me a favor: make sure some of them are black and brown.” Apart from this, though the conversation did not in any way exclude women of color or LGBTQIA+ women, there was just a lack of issues that are actively specific to these groups.

Park’s students in attendance greatly enjoyed the opportunity to see the speakers and learn more about the Women’s Foundation. One student in attendance, Haley Weatherford, a senior business administration major, said, “It was amazing to have such a huge event in celebration for women in Kansas City and see how change is being impacted outside of giant metropolitan areas.”

More information on the Women’s Foundation, the Appointments Project, and other ways to get involved can be found at their website, www.womens-foundation.org.