2013 Forty Under 40 Winner: Rachel Rowley
Thursday, February 28, 2013 3:55 PM
Age 37 | Partner, BrownWinick PLC
Rachel Rowley is a competitor. Before having children, she regularly ran marathons, racing in the Seattle Marathon as well as a marathon in Colorado.
Now, she’s focusing her free time on tennis. She just won Aspen Athletic Club’s Iowa championship and is heading to sectionals in St. Louis.
“Tennis is easier on the joints,” she said.
Rowley lived and worked in Denver, Colo., for many years before moving to Des Moines with her family to practice litigation and transactional work at the BrownWinick law firm. “Our law firm was extremely fortunate in hiring Rachel in November 2007,” wrote Christopher Sackett, managing partner at Brown-Winick. “Denver’s loss has proven to be Des Moines’ gain as people like Rachel don’t come along often.”
Before Rowley studied law at the University of Denver, she received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Iowa State University. She can play both the flute and the French horn and now sits on the board of the Des Moines Symphony.
“It keeps the music part of me alive,” she said. “The foundations for a good community are to have strong arts programs. I feel like helping promote the symphony is what I can do to help the community.”
The mother of two, Luke, 7, and Anna, 5, also sits on the board and serves as legal counsel of the Bergman Academy, a nonprofit private school located in Des Moines. She said she got involved with the school after she took her son out of public school because he was being bullied.
“Rachel has been serving as legal counsel for the school and has led us carefully and thoughtfully through challenging times, particularly in this past year,” wrote Stephanie Kempf, chairwoman of Bergman Academy’s board of directors. “We have multiple lawyers on the school board and it became clear that Rachel is definitely a leader rather than a follower.”
Five reasons she’s a 40:
• Member of the Des Moines Symphony’s board of trustees, serving on the audit, fundraising and education advisory committees.
• Volunteer for Make-A-Wish Foundation’s art festival booth since 2010.
• Member of the Greater Des Moines Leadership Institute’s 2009/2010 class.
• Can play the flute and the French horn.
• Board member of the Bergman Academy, a nonprofit private school located in Des Moines.
Mentor: Rich Updegraff, attorney,
Brown- Winick
Fun fact: Rowley has an identical twin sister named Anne, who is a doctor practicing in Vermont.
Presenting the 2013 winners:
Desmund Adams, Principal, AdamsDouglas
Lindsay Alderman, Client operations manager, LightEdge Solutions Inc.
Erica Axiotis, Director of development, Mercy Foundation
Kate Banasiak, President and CEO, Diversified Management Services Inc.
Erin Beamis, Senior vice president of logistics and operations, IronWorks
Jonathan Brendemuehl, Marketing events coordinator, Bankers Trust Co.
Curtis Brown, Economic development director, city of Ankeny
Matt Connolly, President, Generation Green Builders Co.
Lawrence Cunningham, Director of business development, Catchfire Media LLC
Angela Dethlefs-Trettin, Director of community investment and initiatives, Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Josh Fleming, Digital strategy director, Lessing-Flynn Advertising Co.
Felix Gallagher, Principal, PharmServ Solutions
Lori Gelhaar, Director of career services/ corporate relations, Kaplan University
Tina Gray Carstensen, Marketing coordinator, Shive-Hattery Inc.
Shane Greenleaf, Vice president/commercial banker, First American Bank
Danielle Haindfield, Shareholder attorney, Ahlers & Cooney P.C.
Emily Harris, Patent attorney and shareholder at Davis Brown Law Firm
Matthew Harris, Division administrator, Iowa Arts Council, Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs
Angela Hilbert, Sales and marketing director, Deerfield Retirement Community
Joey Hinke, President, Miller, Fidler & Hinke Insurance Agency Inc.
Hannah Inman, Director of communications, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation
Keegan Kautzky, Director of national education programs, The World Food Prize Foundationn
John Lozier, Pediatric interventional cardiologist, Pediatric Cardiology P.C.
Dennis McDaniel, Police chief, Windsor Heights
Rachel McLean, Vice president/consultant, Ruan Cos
John Mickelson, Associate managing director, The PrivateBank & Trust Co.
Keith Olson, Commercial associate, NAI Ruhl & Ruhl Commercial Co.
Matt Ostanik, President, Submittal Exchange LLC
Benjamin Page, Director, Des Moines park and recreation
Dustin Peterson, Partner, McGladrey LLP
Nick Renkoski, Director of marketing and communications, Des Moines Metro Opera
Rachel Rowley, Partner, BrownWinick PLC
John Ruan IV, Vice president, financial institutions, Bankers Trust Co.
Jennifer Soma, Business lead, IDI Actuarial and Product Development Group, Principal Financial Group Inc.
Heather Starr, Real estate agent, RE/MAX Innovations
Aimee Staudt, Director of development, Knapp Properties Inc.
Courtney Strutt Todd, Shareholder attorney, Davis Brown Law Firm
Nikki Sylverson, Event Director, Des Moines Wine Festival Foundation
Howard Tempero, Experience design strategist, Spindustry Digital
Tony Timm, Executive director, Central Iowa Shelter & Services
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