Sister Berta Sailer and Sister Corita Bussanmas Honored As Women’s Foundation Advocates of the Year

Sisters Berta Sailer and Corita Bussanmas

Last Thursday, April 9th, the Women’s Foundation honored Sister Berta Sailer and Sister Corita Bussanmas with the Karen Herman Advocate of the Year Award at a reception at Prairiefire Museum. 

This award is given to individuals who have exhibited a long-term commitment and demonstrated their passion through meaningful work to enhancing the lives of women and girls. 

Sister Berta Sailer and Sister Corita Bussanmas are the co-founders of Operation Breakthrough, a not-for-profit agency that provides childcare and a broad range of social services for working poor families at 31st and Troost in Kansas City. 

Sister Berta and Sister Corita Bussanmas founded Operation Breakthrough in 1971 in response to pleas from central city parents who wanted quality care and education for their children. It is now the largest single-site childcare center in Missouri, caring each weekday for nearly 400 children, who come to Operation Breakthrough from homeless shelters, foster homes and struggling single parent families. In addition to early childhood education and enrichment activities for school-age children, Operation Breakthrough provides medical and dental care, mental health services, tutoring, mentoring, parent education, a food pantry, emergency aid and case management for families in crisis. 

For over 40 years, Sisters Berta and Corita have advocated for Kansas City children in need at local, state and national levels. Although Sister Corita retired in 2013, she continues to care for children at home. Sister Berta and Sister Corita are licensed foster parents, with a house full of young people in need of a home, as well as their four adopted children, ranging in age from 14 to 21. 

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Women's Foundation Releases Gender Pay Discrepancy By County

ON AVERAGE, WOMEN IN MISSOURI MAKE 71 CENTS TO THE DOLLAR MEN MAKE; IN SOME COUNTIES IT'S AS LOW AS 51 CENTS

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – According to a recent research study conducted by the Women’s Foundation in partnership with the University of Missouri, women in Missouri make 29% less than men for the same work.  Today, the Women’s Foundation released a fact sheet that broke down this figure by county.  The fact sheet is available here:

The Women’s Foundation released this resource the same day that Wendy Doyle, President & CEO of the Women’s Foundation, testified before the Missouri Senate Committee for Small Business, Insurance and Industry in support of SB 144, a gender pay equity bill sponsored by Sen. Paul LeVota (Independence).  Last week, she testified in support of a similar bill, HB 44 which is sponsored by Rep. Stephen Webber (Columbia).  Either bill would begin to address the pay inequity that exists between men and women in Missouri in order to drive economic growth.

The full Status of Women in Missouri report and interactive research tools can be found here:  http://www.communitycommons.org/groups/womens-foundation/

The Women’s Foundation promotes equity and opportunity for women and girls, using philanthropy, research and policy solutions to make meaningful change.  More information about the organization can be found at www.Womens-Foundation.org.                    

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Why More Women Are Not In Positions Of Leadership

In a country where almost 51 percent of the population is female, positions of leadership in politics, education and business are largely dominated by men. On this edition of Up To Date, we discuss why women lag in leadership positions and how to reverse the trend.

Guests:

• Wendy Doyle is the Executive Director of the Women’s Foundation in Kansas City. 
• Dr. Judy Rogers is the President of Cottey College for Women in Nevada, Missouri.
• Nancy Mellard is Executive Vice President of CBIZ and National Leader at CBIZ Women's Advantage.

LISTEN to the full story here.