Economic empowerment of girls and women was the focus of the YWCA Hearts of Gold luncheon held on March 4th at the Marriott Muehlebach Hotel. The keynote speaker, Joy Wheeler, knows a bit about the topic.

Wheeler is president and CEO of FirstGuard Health Plan and, as its leader, took the company from the starting gate to more than $230 million in annual revenue. The former emergency nurse and health care management consultant built the corporation on a foundation of values like honesty and caring. For example, Wheeler’s customer service employees stay on the phone until the job is done regardless of call length time. That philosophy brought FirstGuard the 2001 Kansas City Business Ethics Award for small businesses.

The YWCA of Greater Kansas City has itself become a beacon of economic empowerment from its historic home in Kansas City, Kansas. The YWCA has raised more than half of the $4.2 million it needs for a massive renovation that will add a theater, gallery, and women’s health and fitness facility. The organization has already completed construction of a coffee shop. During the first year, its Corner Coffee CafŽ and catering had sales of $92,000. All of this puts the YWCA of Greater Kansas City at the forefront of entrepreneurial nonprofits.

The mission of the YWCA Ð to empower girls and women and eliminate racism Ð includes more than economic empowerment. 1992 Hearts of Gold Honoree Cynthia Smith served as 2005 honorary chair. She introduced four remarkable award winners who personify the best in four areas: volunteerism, girls advocacy, racial justice and, yes, economic empowerment.

Bev Chapman, Volunteerism
What began as an attempt to better cover the area’s growing Hispanic population has grown into a passion for Bev Chapman, a reporter for KMBC-TV.Ê Chapman took Spanish lessons years ago, and rapidly began using what she learned to assist Spanish-speaking residents. She has volunteered at Our Lady of Guadalupe School on the West Side, and sometimes spends weekends volunteering at Turner House Clinic in Kansas City, Kansas.Ê She even used her language skills to help save a life.Ê She and her husband, Steve Hall, attend Village Presbyterian Church.Ê When the church asked for volunteers for a medical mission to the Dominican Republic, they signed up.Ê Chapman was there to produce a documentary, but she got involved when she came across a little girl with a high fever.Ê The doctor that Chapman found administered life-saving antibiotics to the little girl, who had pneumonia.

Since then, Chapman and her husband have returned to the Dominican Republic eight times, leading groups of doctors, nurses and volunteers on medical missions.

Angela Curry, Girls Advocacy
By day, Angela Curry helps people who have complaints about companies or services as At Your Service columnist for the Kansas City Star. But Curry doesn’t quit helping people when 5 o’clock rolls around. She also serves as director of “Awesome Ambitions,” a program that connects professional women with ninth grade girls to help the girls set goals and make healthy choices about their lives. The program involves some 30 professional women who work with the 140-plus girls who are selected each year from the Kansas City, Missouri, School District. The program challenges girls to achieve academic success by building a foundation that will carry them through high school and on to college and beyond. By connecting them with professional women, the girls get to see women in different career fields and find out what tools they used to overcome obstacles. For Curry, the reward is seeing girls, many from difficult circumstances, go on to earn scholarships and attend college.

Mamie Hughes, Racial Justice
All her life, Mamie Hughes has been a builder of bridges. When she and her husband moved to Kansas City in the 1950s, she found a town that was separate and unequal and chose to do something about it. She completed surveys for the City of Kansas City’s Human Relations Department to assure that the public accommodations ordinance was upheld, so that people of color could eat in the same restaurants as white customers. Since then, the former teacher has served metro Kansas City in many capacities, among them as a charter member of the Jackson County Legislature, executive director of the Black Economic Union and charter member of the Central Exchange. She is perhaps best known for her work on behalf of residents affected by the Bruce R. Watkins Drive project, who relied on her for information about their rights.

Rebecca Jaramillo, Economic Empowerment
Thirty years ago, Rebecca Jaramillo investigated the status of women in the world as member of a United Nations commission. The commission found that too many of the world’s women and their children live in poverty, a situation that she says has improved little in the intervening years. In 1979, Jaramillo became national chairwoman of the D.C.-based IMAGE Women’s Action Committee. She led women representing ten national regions in developing strategies for improving the economic and education status of women and children. Jaramillo serves as associate editor of Dos Mundos/Two Worlds Bilingual Newspaper.

Jennifer Wilding is a board member for the YWCA of Greater Kansas City. Jennifer is also the Director for the KC Forums Project of Consensus. Contact her at 913.371.1105.

Article Source: http://www.flourishmagazine.com