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October 26, 2010

Edmond woman relishes leadership roles

Mark Schlachtenhaufen The Edmond Sun

EDMOND — An Edmond woman who attended a national womens’ leadership conference wants to work on health-related issues in Oklahoma.

Adeline Meismer Yerkes, of Edmond, was one of hundreds of delegates from across the country who were in Philadelphia on Thursday and Friday attending “Vision 2020: An American Conversation about Women and Leadership.”

Yerkes said for true equality to exist there needs to be a critical mass of women in leadership roles. Also, the country’s education system is not doing enough to prepare youth to be successful in the competitive global economy, and women are key to positive changes, she said.

Lynn Yeakel, Vision 2020 co-chair and director of the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership, said the conference will embark on a decade-long action agenda to advance gender equality and women’s leadership.

“The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote but stopped short of making us equal,” she said.

Vision 2020 co-chair Rosemarie Greco said equality seems simple but the facts show women have a long way to go.

“While women have made great strides we still hold only about 17 percent of elected positions and corporate board seats,” Greco said. “Vision 2020 will begin to change the tide of leadership.”

Two women leaders were selected from each state to attend the congress of national delegates. Oklahoma was represented by Yerkes and Secretary of State Susan Savage.

The delegates participated in eight “conversations” on topic areas of arts and culture; business law and finance; communications and media; education; politics and government; health; philanthropy, faith and volunteerism; and science, technology and engineering. Each discussion was led by three expert panelists and two moderators.

Following the conversations, the delegates will sign the “Declaration of Equality” and craft an action agenda with information from the conversations. They will return to their home states and begin to work on their action projects.

“I’m interested in trying to improve the status of family health in Oklahoma,” Yerkes said.

Yerkes has more than 45 years of experience in various community heath settings and roles.

She has served at the Oklahoma State Department of Health as the chief of chronic disease where she planned and implemented chronic disease prevention programs. She has also been commissioner for the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women, and served as chair of the Women’s Physical and Mental Health Topical Committee, and co-chair of the Oklahoma Solutions Initiative to Reduce the Incarceration of Women.

Savage, who was Tulsa’s first woman mayor, was appointed secretary of state by Gov. Brad Henry in 2003. Savage has been recognized for, among other things, promoting human rights and religious freedom, and for her advocacy on behalf of education, women and environmental protection.

The 10-year project seeks to advance equality and women’s leadership. The first-of-its-kind event was created by the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine.

For more information about the leadership congress, visit www.drexel.edu/vision2020.



marks@edmondsun.com |  341-2121 ext. 108

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