Good advocacy takes many forms.
Sometimes it looks like changing a law. Sometimes it means making sure a person doesn’t lose their home. Sometimes it means showing up at a city council meeting, organizing a community, or making sure the voices of people most affected by a policy are heard.
This year, Empower Missouri is honoring seven people and organizations whose work demonstrate what sustained advocacy can accomplish.
This isn’t the first time we’ve recognized people for showing up for their communities. Our archives are full of their names, some I know only because someone took the time to write them down. I wrote more about a few of those people earlier this year. Read The Stories that Shape Us here.
We’ll celebrate this year’s awardees at our 125th Anniversary Dinner on October 1st at the Courtyard by Marriott in Columbia.
Sheena Rogers, Emerging Advocate
Sheena Rogers was instrumental in the effort to ban child marriage in Missouri, and her advocacy continues to reach people who are often left out of policy conversations. Through Show Me Justice for All, she works on reentry in the Springfield and Joplin areas and advocates for people experiencing domestic violence who become criminalized themselves.
We’re excited to recognize Sheena as an Emerging Advocate and to celebrate the leadership she’s already bringing to Missouri’s fight for justice.
Wayne Crawford, Sustaining Impact in Affordable Housing
Wayne Crawford has spent years working to make housing in Missouri more affordable, accessible, and inclusive. His work has helped advocates identify properties where Low-Income Housing Tax Credits are expiring, giving older adults, people with disabilities, and caregivers an opportunity to work with property owners before changes put their housing at risk.
He has also partnered on housing projects across the state and helped shape Missouri’s Master Plan on Aging. We’re proud to recognize Wayne for his sustained commitment to keeping Missourians housed.
Tracy (T-Spirit) Stanton, Sustaining Impact in Community Justice
Tracy (T-Spirit) Stanton’s advocacy is grounded in community. As an organizer and impacted person, Tracy has worked on issues ranging from jail deaths and courtwatch to police accountability, the death penalty, qualified immunity, and the criminalization of sex workers. Tracy also is a founding member of the No More Jail Deaths Coalition, working to bring attention to deaths in Missouri jails and demand greater accountability.
Whether speaking at a press conference, organizing in the community, standing with families outside a courthouse, or sharing her experiences with students, Tracy continues to bring people together around the fight for a more just legal system.
Harvesters – The Community Food Network, Sustaining Impact in Food Security
Harvesters has spent decades fighting hunger across Missouri, but its work doesn’t stop at getting food onto someone’s table. The organization has also worked to change the policies that determine whether families can afford food in the first place.
Through its advocacy and its network of community partners, Harvesters has helped make sure the realities of hunger are part of conversations about food security, from the people experiencing it firsthand to the policymakers making decisions about it.
We’re honored to recognize Harvesters for its sustained work to build a more food-secure Missouri.
NAMI St. Louis, Sustaining Impact in Health & Welfare
This year’s Health and Welfare award carries forward a piece of Empower Missouri history. For many years, we presented an Outstanding Service in Health and Welfare Award to recognize people making a meaningful difference in the health and well-being of Missourians.
This year, we’re proud to continue that tradition by honoring NAMI St. Louis. Its advocacy has helped expand mental health support for people transitioning from incarceration, veterans, and communities seeking more culturally responsive care.
Rhonda Perry, Sustaining Impact in Rural Advocacy
Rhonda Perry has been a force in Missouri’s rural and farm advocacy movements since the 1990s. A fifth-generation family farmer, Rhonda joined the Missouri Rural Crisis Center in 1991 and has spent decades building coalitions and advocating for the land, water, economic viability, and health of rural communities.
Her work has helped build a stronger voice for rural Missourians while keeping social, economic, and racial justice at the heart of rural advocacy.
Philip Minden and Julie Birkenmaier, Lifetime of Service to Empower Missouri
Philip Minden and Julie Birkenmaier have been part of Empower Missouri since the 1980s, when they first became involved as college students.
Over the decades, both have served on Empower Missouri’s Board of Directors, including in leadership roles, and have remained committed to the organization’s work long after their board service. Their years of involvement are a testament to what it means to make advocacy part of a lifetime.
We’re grateful for the many ways Phil and Julie have supported and strengthened Empower Missouri over the years.
Hear Their Stories on October 1st
Want to attend the dinner? Purchase a dinner ticket here!
Want to make a full day (or more) of it? Summit registration includes the 2-day conference and the October 1st dinner, giving you the opportunity to learn, connect, and celebrate with advocates from across Missouri. Register for the Summit here!
Come hear their stories. Come celebrate their work. And come be part of a community that keeps pushing Missouri forward.
Thank you to our 125th Anniversary Sponsors, who help make the Summit and Anniversary Dinner possible:
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