Barb Rohwer, Nancy McDowell and Sherri Bootsma do not make a big deal about their roles as female leaders in O’Brien County government, yet their roles have historical significance. N’West Iowa Review

A group is hoping to erect a sculpture commemorating women’s voting rights on the Black Hawk County Courthouse lawn. Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier 

A new Corridor consulting firm is hoping to shake up the status quo when it comes to marketing, public relations and fundraising via “a social responsibility twist.” Be The Good Consulting, of Cedar Rapids, was founded by Anna Patty. Corridor Business Journal 

After spending the past 18 years teaching as a floral careers professor at Kirkwood Community College and the 18 years before that working in and managing local flower shops, Lora Dodd-Brosseau opened Lily and Rose Floral Studio in Marion on Feb. 1. Cedar Rapids Gazette 

Amy Jordan took over ownership of Kathy’s Pies in Cedar Rapids just a few weeks ago, and while her name is not Kathy, she plans to keep the name and most of what customers have grown to like about the bakery over the past few decades. Cedar Rapids Gazette 

USA Triathlon today announced Coe College in Cedar Rapids as the first school in Iowa to offer women’s triathlon as a varsity sport. Coe is the 29th school nationwide, and the 11th at the NCAA Division III level, to add women’s triathlon to its varsity offerings. TeamUSA.org 

NATION

The Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign has announced 15 new hires in key positions, 10 of whom are women. Refinery29 

When the college admissions scandal news broke this month, it exposed how the SAT and ACT tests could be gamed. Bloomberg Businessweek spoke to Rebecca Kantar, the founder of a startup called Imbellus, who thinks she knows how to shake things up. Bloomberg Businessweek

Nearly 100 female economists say a peer or a colleague has sexually assaulted them. Nearly 200 say they were the victim of an attempted assault. And hundreds say they were stalked or touched inappropriately, according to a far-reaching survey of the field. New York Times 

Karen Uhlenbeck, a mathematician and professor at the University of Texas, has been awarded this year’s Abel Prize, a mathematics prize modeled after the Nobels. It’s the first time the prize has gone to a woman. CNN 

Closing the gender gap is essential for equality, but it offers a purely economic benefit as well, with a potential $1.5 trillion boost for the U.S. economy alone should it happen, Katie Elizabeth writes. Forbes