Megan Brown-Saldana is absolutely a girl on FIRE, and she’s lighting up the Quad-Cities with warmth, community activism and professional development. The 31-year-old executive director of the growing nonprofit Lead(h)er is ready to celebrate the fifth birthday of the women’s mentorship and empowerment organization. Lead(h)er is hosting their fifth-annual Girl on Fire Awards on Wednesday, Sept. 1st at 12 noon, virtually. They honor women who have exemplified the mission of fueling career and community engagement in the workforce. “Area organizations and businesses are stepping up to make sure... Read More

The Quad Cities Community Foundation Tuesday announced the recipients of more than $111,000 in its spring 2021 Nonprofit Capacity Building Grants. With up to $15,000 in funding available for each project, the grants provide powerful support for investments in equipment and technology, training for staff and board members, and strategic planning work, among other areas. This cycle’s grantees represent an equally broad range of industries, from arts and culture to workforce development. What unites them all is a strong vision for the future—both of their individual organizations and of the community... Read More

For four years, the Quad-Cities nonprofit Lead(h)er has spread warmth through its “Strike a Match” mentoring program. Now, it has formally caught fire with its 103-year-old big sister, YWCA Quad Cities. The two nonprofits – which both work to empower area women – now share office space, at the aptly named Iowa Empowerment Center at One River Place, 1225 E. River Drive, Suite 110, Davenport. Leaders of Lead(h)er and YWCA will make a formal announcement of their new match on Dec. 1, at 1 p.m., which also will be livestreamed on Facebook. After months of discussion, the nonprofits decided... Read More

The Iowa Women’s Foundation (IWF) has announced 2021 Core Grant awards to United Way of the Quad Cities and Lead(h)er, for programs that help young girls and women. The grants are among $100,000 to 13 organizations across the state – raising the total granted to over $1.1 million since the program began in 1997. IWF works to improve the lives of Iowa’s women and girls. Grants are awarded to projects that focus primarily on serving the needs and aspirations of women and girls. Six specific areas have been identified as the most critical barriers for Iowa women and girls: employment, child... Read More

We’re falling into fall, and looking at some of the good news and positive things going on around the Quad-Cities, as we HAVE DONE (foreshadowing there) every month in What’s The Good News, Quad-Cities? Every month around this time, we’ve dropped this column on QuadCities.com and I appear on our media partner show, “Paula Sands Live” on KWQC-TV6 to give you a rundown of some of the cool things going on in and around the area. It’s all good news, all the time. AND… because this has been such a popular feature since it debuted three years ago, we’ve decided to give you... Read More

In a virtual 4th birthday celebration, Tuesday, Sept. 29, Lead(h)er shared stories from across its 300-plus matches of female mentors and mentees, highlighted successes, and announced the 2020 Girl on Fire Award winners. The awards honor Mentor of the Year and Mentee of the Year — amazing women nominated by their peers who show exceptional commitment. Lead(h)er offers free mentorship to young professionals, free networking, guest speakers and professional development, as well as an inspirational spark to serve their community. All day Tuesday, on the organization’s Facebook page, they celebrated... Read More

Megan Hasselroth wouldn’t be where she is today – the executive director of a Quad-Cities women’s business organization – without influential mentors. Since January 2020, the 30-year-old Sherrard High School alum has led Lead(h)er, just the second director (and only paid staffer) of the nonprofit since it was started by Melissa Pepper in August 2016. In a virtual 4th birthday celebration, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, Lead(h)er will share stories from across 300-plus matches of female mentors and mentees, highlight successes, and announce the 2020 Girl on Fire Award winners. The awards honor... Read More