• Earned multiple recognitions, including as a Business Record Woman of Influence, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Alpha Award of Merit, and Iowa Juneteenth Citizen of the Year. • Has been involved with a number of local boards and organizations over the years, including Mercy College of Health Sciences, United Way of Central Iowa, and the YMCA of Greater Des Moines. Her Advice • Be positive and surround yourself with positive people. • Listen to others. If you don’t, “you might miss the opportunity of your life.” • Volunteer. “Be involved in as many ways as you can.” • Never forget those who helped you. “Be thankful and always willing to mentor others.” Community Voices “Ms. Carter-Lewis … always leads with a smile and a positive message of kindness, respect, and perseverance.” Angela Franklin, president of Des Moines University “Linda is a community leader who doesn’t just lend her Linda Carter-Lewis voice; she leads with action.” Kristi Knous, president of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines “In addition to her civic and community service, Linda is a mentor, life coach, supporter, and someone who inspires you to be the best you can be.” Mary Chapman, vice president emeritus of Des Moines Area Community College Dwight Jackson Dwight Jackson grew up in Chicago, where it was common to hear about Black men’s lives forever altered by a brush with the judicial system. They couldn’t find jobs and ended up back in the same situation. Sometimes, those affected were Jackson’s family and friends. “Most often, the punishment didn’t fit the crime,” says Jackson, now 74. “They have another punishment of forever being categorized as not having value.” As a teenager, Jackson turned away from the temptations he saw others succumb to. Both his parents were in his life, which wasn’t the case for some of his peers. At age 18, Jackson started working at Amoco (now BP), which eventually brought him to Des Moines in 1974. He’d leave the city three times, moving to various locations for jobs, before retiring here in 2013. Jackson has dedicated his life since to helping those recently released from prison reenter society. With the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families, he has developed and expanded a mentoring and transition program as well as Men on the Move, a clothing closet for men with job interviews. Jackson notes that 37% of offenders are arrested and sent back to prison within three years after release. “We try to give these people a reason not to go back,” he says. Jackson has been married to his wife, Gloria, for 40 years, and they have three children. 37
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