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Sharon Malheiro followed the advice of a former Des Moines mayor and head of one of the city’s legendary law firms to become one of the state’s leading advocates for gay and lesbian rights.

Malheiro joined the Davis Brown law firm in 1990 after clerking there while attending Drake University’s School of Law.

The late Arthur Davis was the head of the firm then, and the iconic lawyer and former Des Moines mayor told Malheiro that, in addition to building her practice, community service came with the job, but it couldn’t be involvement in any old cause.

“Arthur Davis said, ‘Pick something where you have a passion; with passion, you will succeed,'” Malheiro said. She did, and she has.

Malheiro, 53, was elected president of the firm’s board of directors earlier this year, a position that has her presiding over an operation with 140 employees and a roster of 76 attorneys. Among her practice areas is employment law, including employment discrimination and corporate employment practices and policies. She also specializes in media and communications law.

She grew up something of a newspaper brat, moving about the country as her father pursued jobs primarily on the business side of journalism. None of those stops were in Iowa. She attended Drake University because its journalism school was regarded as one of the tops in the country.

After graduating in 1978, Malheiro went to work for the Register and Tribune Syndicate, which was later sold to Hearst Corp. and its King Features Syndicate Inc. She edited everything from comic strips to cooking columns. Then she turned to law and made a home in Iowa.

Following Davis’ advice about community involvement, Malheiro started working on issues confronting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people soon after joining Davis Brown.

“I realized that too many others were afraid to speak out for fear of losing their job or other forms of retaliation,” she said. “I knew that the firm was supportive of my work, and I felt that because of my safety at work, I had the obligation to speak out.”

First on the list was amending Des Moines’ human rights ordinance to include protections for gay and lesbian people. She was involved in the attempt to introduce gay and straight alliances in high schools, the introduction of the Iowa Safe Schools legislation and adding an LGBT amendment to the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

“When the issue of marriage equality came up, many said that Iowa would not embrace marriage equality,” Malheiro said. “I was determined to prove them wrong. Along the way, however, many others have worked as hard if not harder.”

She founded One Iowa, the educational and advocacy organization that brought the issue before Iowans.

“I will always maintain that Iowans are honest and fair,” Malheiro said. “If you have an opportunity to talk to Iowans about fairness, they will give you a hearing. In more than 30 years in Iowa, I have come to appreciate the caucus style.”

Malheiro persuaded a national legal foundation that focuses on LGBT issues to argue on behalf of marriage equality before the Iowa Supreme Court. She served as an expert witness in the case, as did fellow Davis Brown attorney Deborah Tharnish.

In 2009, after the court ruled that same-sex civil marriages were protected by the state constitution, Malheiro married her partner of 20 years, Sue Ackerman.

• Education: Drake University and Drake University Law School

• Hometown: Chicago

• Family: Spouse, Sue Ackerman; three adult stepchildren, five grandchildren

• Hobbies: Gardening, entertaining, collecting wine

• Favorite quote: “The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.” – Wade Davis