Kimberly Baxter

Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing Kimberly Baxter, Executive Director of Special Projects and Director of the Iowa Accountability Program for the Iowa Judicial Branch, as our Iowan of the Week.

To those who know her, Director Baxter’s mission is very clear: leave things better than how she found them. She strives to shine a light on all voices – making sure everyone is not only heard but also understood – and to unite our communities. She is a firm believer that change starts when we make the effort to stop and listen to each other.

Over the years, Director Baxter has had many opportunities to further that mission in the State of Iowa. She helped to establish Iowa’s first-ever domestic violence court and other innovative programs that offer safety and resources to victims as well as offender rehabilitation. In her current role as Executive Director of Special Projects, she continues to provide assistance to and perspective on underserved populations.  Through the Iowa Accountability Program, she seeks to make “Good Courts – Great Courts” by examining how the Iowa Judicial Branch can improve policies on handling domestic violence cases and enhancing access to justice.

In partnership with the Iowa Judicial Branch’s Education Division, Director Baxter also was instrumental in the development and co-facilitation of an implicit bias training program; it included Harvard’s Implicit Association Test – which helps people to identify subconscious preferences and gives them the chance to educate themselves based on the results.  This training was given to the Iowa Supreme Court and became a requirement for all judicial employees to participate.

Previously, Kimberly Baxter served as the Division Director for the Iowa Department of Human Rights’ Commission on the Status of African Americans – where she tackled racial disparities and disproportionate actions against Black Iowans. In this role, she also helped to create programs to help educate Black leaders concerning domestic violence and help people to understand the impacts of violence.

Kimberly Baxter also served as Board President of the Friends of Iowa Civil Rights Commission, where she helped develop annual diversity conferences that offered workshops on social awareness, self-care, implicit bias, discrimination, and expanding organizational outreach to communities of color.  She also helped organize annual Friends Luncheons to recognize Iowans’ recent and lifetime efforts to improve civil efforts across the state.

In addition to all this important work, Director Baxter also has produced an annual statewide African American Resource Guide over the past 15 years, mapping out Iowa’s Black-owned small businesses, organizations, and resources to help support Black communities across our state. Currently, Director Baxter is in the process of making this Resource Guide digital, so it can be accessed from anywhere and updated in real-time.

This week, we celebrate Juneteenth – a time to rejoice on the steps towards greater freedom and justice but also a time to really reflect on the choices that our country has made. Director Baxter called this a time of recognition – knowing how far we have come, but also understanding that there is still so much work to be done.

Today, I extend that spirit of recognition back to Kimberly Baxter. Her goal has been – and remains – bettering Iowa’s communities with each passing day. We can honor the work she has done for our state while holding her words with us to acknowledge that there is still much more work to be done. In reflecting on the road ahead, she said that while she doesn’t believe justice has been delayed, she believes true equality has been. She referenced the march at Selma – the images of people of all colors and creeds locking arms and marching as a community – seemed to be repeating itself with this current movement and community activism.  She expressed hope that this new movement would go even further than we have before.  

Iowa, and our entire nation, have come a long way since those steps were taken 55 years ago. But we still must recognize that there is a long road ahead to true equality. I want to recognize one of the women who has worked so hard to get us to where we are today, but also who encourages us to never settle and to continue fighting to leave things better than we found them. It is my distinct honor to recognize Kimberly Baxter as our Iowan of the Week.