The prestigious award recognizes individuals who are making a difference in their community.
On Saturday, September 28, 2024, YWCA Quad Cities held its 6th Annual Race Against Racism 5K run/walk, an event dedicated to promoting racial justice and unity within our community. This year’s race took place at Schwiebert Park in Rock Island.
The Race Against Racism is more than just a run; it’s a movement that brings together individuals and families from all walks of life to stand against racism and support the mission of the YWCA – to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all.
Proceeds from this event support YWCA Quad Cities’ social, justice, youth, and advocacy programs.
Here are the top three best times for Female and Male:
Top FEMALES
1st | Inga Hemmert | time 20:13
2nd | Lorelei Smith | time 24:07
3rd | Chri Saxby | time 25:28
Top MALES
1st | Joseph Kallenbach | time 18:58
2nd | James Hunter | time 22:06
3rd | Kevin Hansen | time 22:37
In addition, as part of the annual Race Against Racism presented by IH Mississippi Valley Credit Union, YWCA Quad Cities recognizes and honors Quad Citizens for their personal impact on fighting racism in our community with the Ambassadors of Change Award! This award recognizes individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing racial equality and promoting social justice in the Quad Cities area.
Congratulations to this year’s Ambassador of Change Award Winners!
Bonnie Ballard, President of the Rock Island County NAACP
Bonnie Ballard has been a staple in Rock Island for many years, as an educator in the Rock Island-Milan School District, and then as a retiree volunteering her time and effort toward the betterment of the community. Bonnie invests her time and talent and shares her insight freely so that others can find success. As a professional woman of color, Bonnie has broken through a concrete ceiling upheld by male standards of performance and leadership biases. Her perseverance over the years, being present in crucial conversations, and doing the “hard things” (her words) to overcome discrimination, unconscious bias, and conscious biases. Bonnie learned to seek out women who empower her as well so that she can help cheer on others help others and develop their strengths and address their weaknesses in order to better meet challenges in the workplace.
Lexy Larson Bonds, Grant Writer/ YWCA Quad Cities
In Lexy’s first year with the YWCA, she organized a YWCA Quad Cities’ group for Witnessing Whiteness and actively participated in the 14-week workshop series aimed at helping white people unlearn racism and confront their internal biases. She then used this workshop series as inspiration to apply for the Healing Illinois grant and create YWCA Quad Cities’ own anti-racist group, Community Advocates for Racial Equity, Quad Cities (CAREQC), to bring anti-racist work to our community. For Christmas in 2023, Lexi purchased and collected gifts for youth at thePlace2B. In Summer 2024, Lexi was awarded a grant for a youth summer jobs program that served minority and at-risk youth. Lexi is dedicated to eliminating racism and is very passionate about anti-racism work.
Sarah Stevens, Owner of By Sarah Stevens and Sanctuary Studios
Sarah has created a space at Sanctuary Studios that is welcoming to all. Three times a week, she personally leads movement classes where Quad Citizens from all races come together to find peace. The safe atmosphere she has created also exists even on days when she isn’t in the studio. Sarah is also a fantastic advocate and leader in the DEI space. She has a way of creating a vision within nonprofits that will have a long-standing impact on both the employees within the organization and the constituents that the nonprofit serves. The space she reserves within her trainings gives everyone the opportunity for their voice to be heard.
Ashley Velez, Humility Homes & Services President/CEO
Ashley has built her career on building bridges to other non-profits and supporting ALL Quad Citizens. She works tirelessly to make sure that every person in the Quad Cities has a place to call home. She treats everyone she meets with the same respect and dignity that they deserve, whether it’s an individual on the street, someone staying in the emergency shelter, or a corporate donor at a community event. A social worker prior to taking over at Humility Homes & Services, Ashley embraces the culturally competent social work practice by maintaining respect for the culture and languages of diverse individuals. She practices radical acceptance, welcoming participants as equals – believing everyone should have a future that is not dictated by their past. Ashley is past president of the Quad Cities Housing Council and a member of the QC Community Foundation’s Nonprofit Excellence Advisory Committee. She was recently named to the QCBJ 40 under 40 2024 cohort.
Amy Schaefer, Executive Director of YWCA Quad Cities Empowerment Center
Amy views the world through an equity lens every day. She is constantly thinking of ways to make our community a more equitable place for everyone. As the Executive Director of the Empowerment Center, Amy helps meet our clients’ immediate needs and puts them on a path toward self-sufficiency. She was recognized as an emerging leader at the 2024 YWCA USA Leadership Capacity Building Institute, facilitated the Women’s Entrepreneurship 360 course to establish and continue to support women in becoming entrepreneurs, co-facilitated the YWCA Summer Jobs Program, which helped at-risk youth explore career options and gain work experience and has done so much more for our community.
Fred Thomas, Humility Homes & Services Shelter Operations Supervisor
Fred firmly believes in the power of youth and the importance of positive role models in the BIPOC community. He emphasizes that men must set strong examples and be leaders to help guide young people away from the streets and poor decisions that could affect the rest of their lives. He embers this both in his work as a security officer at Central High School and as a boxing coach. Through the sport, Fred teaches discipline, hard work, and resilience, mentoring young athletes and traveling with them to competitions across the Midwest and beyond. He shows them that there is a world beyond their neighborhoods and that they can achieve great things.
Susan Molina-Padro, EL Teacher at Denkmann Elementary School
Sue has been a huge advocate in the Rock Island-Milan school district for recognizing student culture. She has been invited and attended many students’ cultural celebrations. Each year, she has her students create a book about their culture and have it published. Despite her huge caseload, she sees each student as a unique individual and embraces each of their stories. She is truly an inspiration to other educators and should be honored for her contributions to making students of various racial backgrounds feel welcome at school.