This story appeared in print as part of “From the Ground Up.” Verna Laboy has been channeling the spirit of Anna Fisher for the past two decades. Laboy is a health educator with Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services as well as a community activist. Fisher, who lived from 1867 to 1938, was an […]
Cannabis has arrived. Missouri is among at least a dozen states looking at medical marijuana legalization in 2018. Twenty-nine states already allow that, with nine having given the thumbs up to recreational use. And despite U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ promise to stamp out pot, a Gallup poll last October found nearly two thirds of
A Capitol Conversation: The Politics of Cannabis Read More »
In 1982, Carol Miller opened Central Missouri Auto Body with her husband. In the ensuing years, Carol found her passion for the automotive repair industry, even through their separation. “The business had become my passion,” she says. “It had been our livelihood for close to 30 years at the time we were deciding its fate.
When Ann Covington began practicing law in Columbia in the late 1970s, she often heard her profession preceded by her gender: woman lawyer. She didn’t mind the adjective all that much. She had heard worse. But she also didn’t believe it was necessary. “I wanted to be perceived as a lawyer. Not as a woman
Groundbreaking Women Who Paved the Way in Columbia Read More »
Title IX is a short and simple federal law. It reads, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” But the interpretation of the law and
Local Title IX Coordinators Discuss their Programs Read More »
We hear a lot about the challenges women face when working toward positions of leadership, but we hear less about how those challenges are being met on the local level. Here, three female leaders in Columbia’s corporate world — Dr. Amanda Andrade, chief people officer for Veterans United Home Loans; Jennifer Peck, vice president of
Executives on Leadership: Dr. Amanda Andrade, Jennifer Peck, and Randa Rawlins Read More »
Where is poverty in Columbia? If you looked, where would you find it? What would it look like? What about the poverty factors that aren’t easily visible? A community assessment report completed for the Heart of Missouri United Way in late 2011 found that 40 percent of Boone County residents said they had little or
In Focus: Breaking Down the Sweep of Poverty in Columbia Read More »
In 2002, JoDee Herschend, a Springfield resident, had a powerful dream that drove her to start an organization to bring the love of Jesus Christ to those who are struggling. After several trial programs, Herschend formed The Caring People, and she sharpened its mission: to train Christian women to lead Christ-centered care groups for single
The Caring People: Providing Care to Single Moms Read More »
As a community, we are blessed with many women leaders supported by some wonderful men. You don’t have to look far to see elected women leaders on school boards, in city and county government, and in several deanships in university and college leadership. I have always considered myself blessed, both as an elected official and
