Writing for a Change:  A panel discussion with four local leaders advocating for change.

In her book, More Than Words: Turn #MeToo into #ISaidSomething, Kirsten Anderson shares her remarkable journey from the debilitating despair of harassment to hope.  After years of employment in a verbally abusive environment at the Iowa Statehouse, she lost her identity as an assertive, career-minded, confident, and empowered woman. Her relationship with her toxic employer ended when she was fired just hours after issuing a formal complaint. A legal and personal journey ensued.

Anderson won her case. Since then, she has made it her mission to educate others about the complexities of sexual harassment, bullying, and retaliation in the workplace. By sharing the realities targets of harassment face, she intends to educate readers, help targets move forward and initiate change in toxic work environments to eliminate harassment once and for all.

Kirsten Anderson is a passionate communicator who began her professional career with a degree in broadcast journalism from Northwest Missouri State University. Anderson was 2018 Metro Woman of the Year and a finalist for Inspiring Woman of Iowa. She found herself an unlikely advocate for others after experiencing sexual harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination in her role of Communications Director at the Iowa Statehouse. She took her former employer to court and won. She took her former employer to court and won.  She is a passionate communicator with a degree in broadcast journalism from Northwest Missouri State University. In 2018, she was named Metro Woman of the Year and a finalist for Inspiring Woman of Iowa.

Rekha Basu writes commentaries that appear twice weekly on the opinion pages of The Des Moines Register. She is the author of Finding Her Voice.

Artis Reis is a retired senior judge of District 5C of Iowa. She became a district judge on this court in 1998, after serving as a district associate judge since 1995.   Her newsletter is available via Substack at “Old Judge.”

Victoria Herring is retired from the practice of law in Des Moines and is a partner in Artisan Gallery 218.