Opinion: Honorees are agents of change that strengthen community’s social fabric

Maile Auterson

As readers of Springfield Business Journal, let’s take a moment to celebrate an outstanding class of women who have been nominated to receive this award. To those of you receiving the award, please take the time to reflect on what you are about to receive. You have been nominated and recognized by your peers, and for this, you should feel honored!

Along with my neighbors, many of whom are women, I have a vision for a more equitable and sustainable Springfield in which all our neighbors have a better quality of life. What I love about working with women is that they have a bedrock understanding of human-scale economics. Perhaps because of the way women are socialized from a young age, or perhaps due to the workplace challenges they’ve always had to (and, unfortunately, still must) navigate, women understand connectivity and that the transactions we make daily are inherently relational and dependent upon our ethics.

Each of you has an internal ethic that drives you to make a difference in the lives of those around you. You have taken the time to make daily interactions with others meaningful. In fact, this award may come as a surprise because you’ve been so busy doing good work that you haven’t noticed how many others are watching.

It is my hope that more women like you in our metro area of nearly half a million people – the fastest-growing part of the state of Missouri according to the latest census data – will look to you for guidance and understand more deeply that they, too, are agents of change and that each individual effort made will ultimately strengthen the social fabric of our community with threads of functionality and connection.

Your influence is exponential. Your actions will be multiplied in ways you cannot measure. Continue to be inclusive, mentor other women and provide an example of a strong and caring woman to others. We need visible examples of what it means to be a good steward of our land, the people and the planet.

I have been mentored all the way along my journey. Strong and compassionate women and men have helped us write our first grant, build our nonprofit and give good advice on selecting board members. They continue to cheer us on.

There are many cities our size in the U.S. and with leaders like you, we can make a collective impact that can serve as a model to others for system changes. Those of us who recognize you for your efforts will be here to lift you up and cheer you on as you continue on your journey making Springfield and the metro area a better place to live. Congratulations on a job well done.

Maile Auterson is the founder and executive director of Springfield Community Gardens and was a 2022 Most Influential Women honoree. She can be reached at maile.auterson@springfieldcommunitygardens.org.