CLASS NOTES
CLASS NOTES
Sherry Turner is the founder of OneKC for Women, an alliance of resources helping to empower women and lead them to success in the business world.
WORKING FOR WOMEN Turner making mark on business in greater Kansas City area Sherry Turner ’81 has become an influential voice for advancing women in business in the Kansas City metropolitan area. She is the founder of OneKC for Women, an alliance of organizations to help women connect and succeed. It helps women grow their businesses while providing guidance and support to women trying to overcome barriers to success. Turner’s effect on the Kansas City-area business is visible through the lives of hundreds of women she helps each year. In 2015, she won the Missouri Women’s Council Award of Distinction at the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development. The award is presented to an individual or organization for having a significant impact on women and their families. “We created the alliance for OneKC for Women to help brand all of the services and resources that are available,” Turner said. “Our models and everything that provides resources is done through education, which leads to empowerment. We don’t enable any
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of our clients. It’s not a handout. It’s simply resources that are available to help them determine what their options are.” Founded in 2009, the alliance brings together organizations to assist women on their journey for personal, professional and financial sufficiency. “When someone is teaching you how to pull your credit report, look at it and determine what is on it or what needs to be assisted,” Turner said. “There might be a collection on it that you are not aware of, and being educated about those things produces an amazing empowerment for the client. The more education that we have in the space of understanding our own financial destiny, the better off we will be. That empowerment has a ripple effect, meaning a lot of our clients come to us because they have been referred to a client that has already been through one of our programs. It’s got its own juice and its own way of really being exciting for other people to participate.” Turner’s motivation is to fill gaps for women in the business world and workforce.
NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I SPRING 2019
“There are gaps for pay equity, there are gaps for women in business funding, access to capital and access to grow their businesses,” she said. “Those are all the motivations for staying in this space because there are still things to be done and there are still problems that are not fixed.” Women all over are starting their own businesses. Turner sees doors opening with new options. Society is changing and women need to know their options. But she says there’s still work to be done. “I’ve worked in corporate, federal government, entrepreneurship with family businesses,” Turner said. “I’ve had a lot of past experiences and I’m here today because it’s not fixed. We can’t ask women to be successful in their businesses if they don’t have access to capital. We needed to fill those gaps that have those big deficits. It’s motivating but entrepreneurial. It’s business and financially focused for the client.” For more information about OneKC for Women, visit onekcforwomen.com.