Board of Directors

Executive Director

Dawn Peterson - Ms. Peterson has worked in the area of civil rights since 1976. She has been a civil rights investigator, mediator, supervisor of investigators, and program administrator. She is a certified facilitator, a grant writer, and serves on numerous committees in government and community circles. From 1984 to 1994, management and supervision of intake, mediation, conciliation, investigative, and steno pool staff. As a member of the management team, involved in the day-to-day decision-making, administration of policy and management of the agency. Coordination of the continuous quality improvement efforts, including Accountable Government Act, since October 1991. Since 1992 coordinated conferences and special projects of a statewide to international scope. Began the volunteer attorney program that utilized the pro bono services of approximately 70 labor and employment law attorneys and other volunteers. Since September 1993 have facilitated project teams and steering committees throughout state government. Since December 1993, have written and administered grant applications for the agency. Since July 1999, have managed the resource services/education division.

Board of Directors

Kimberly Baxter, Chair - Ms. Baxter has advocated for equity, and on the importance of a diverse workforce for over the past 15 years. A graduate of Iowa State University, she is currently the Director of the Iowa Accountability Program, an initiative established from funding by the U.S. Department of Justice to increase system accountability to better protect victims of domestic violence, hold batterers accountable, and integrate the concerns and expertise of African Americans into domestic violence prevention and intervention. In August 2003, Governor Thomas Vilsack appointed Ms. Baxter Director of the Iowa Commission on the Status of African Americans which afforded her the opportunity to regularly speak on, and advocate for, the importance of diversity and inclusion on behalf of the Governor’s Office and Iowa Legislature. In addition to her previous work for Governor Vilsack, Ms. Baxter has previously served the citizens of Iowa by working on as a state Employment Specialist and Hearing Officer for Workforce Development, the state Radiological Officer for Homeland Security, a Senior Consultant on Affirmative Action and Equal Employment issues in the private industry and Victim Advocate for the Story County Attorney’s Office.

Jerry Tormey, Vice-chair - Mr. Tormey has spent almost the last 30 years in the field of mental health. He has acted in every capacity from counselor to administrator. During part of that time he was an adminstrator for two Residential Care Facilities. Much of that period he also handled all of the human resource responsibilities. He has been a national, state and local member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). He currently is the Chair of the state and local chapter of the Diversity Committee for SHRM. Among Jerry's other volunteer work, he has been elected to the Urbandale School Board of Directors and served seven years in that capacity, he is on the board for Grand View College Human Service and Psychology Business Alliance, charter member of the Healthy Polk 2010 and the mental health sub-committee, member of the Polk County Suicide Prevention Coalition and chair of the Schools Group sub- committee, past coordinator of the Central Iowa Health Care Providers Group, board member of Latinos Unidos of Iowa, and coordinated multiple fundraisers for many diffenent organizations.

Michael Bowser - Mr. Bowser is a 2006 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a BA in Communications with an emphasis in Electronic Media and is a 2002 Matthew Shepard Scholarship Recipient. At the University of Northern Iowa, Mr. Bowser served as President of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allied Union and launched a magazine for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and allied high school and college students in Iowa called Queer and Allies. He served on the Board of Directors for the Community AIDS Assistance Project in Eastern Iowa for four years as Communications Director. Currently, he is Executive Director of the Eychaner Foundation and serves as a Des Moines Human Rights Commissioner.