the story of our history

Local conversations began in the 1980s, when Louise Noun called together a group of women to hear from Marie Wilson, then Director of the Ms. Foundation, the first and only national foundation focused on Women and Girls. 

Louise wanted others to understand the rationale and challenge of establishing a women’s fund to serve Iowa and continued to convene like-minded women for further planning. Other efforts arose, including by Iowa Senators Elaine Szymoniak and Mary Kramer, who were exploring establishment of a women’s foundation in Des Moines. 

By 1986, there were 35 established women’s funds in the United States, and a National Network of Women’s Funds had been created to assist continued efforts. 

Louise grew impatient with the planning process, and called her attorney, Barbara Barrett, to develop an application to establish a private women’s fund, funded entirely by Louise Noun, and Chrysalis was established in 1989 with a board of directors including Louise, Barbara, and Senator Szymoniak. Funded entirely by Louise, Chrysalis began making grants for local events and organizations working to improve women’s lives. 

It wasn’t long before Chrysalis became recognized for its grant-funded projects. Increasingly, there developed public motivation to contribute to its work, leading the foundation to become a public foundation. 

preserving women’s history in iowa

We all love storytelling. Stories from the past can be entertaining, educational, inspirational, motivational -- sometimes even comical. But in capturing history, women seldom played a featured role and were often left out of the narrative. It was as if women didn’t have a history. 

The importance of women’s history was recognized decades ago by Chrysalis founder Louise Noun. During her research for one of her many books, Strong-Minded Women: The Emergence of the Woman-Suffrage Movement in Iowa (1969), she learned that there were few records and little documentation available about Iowa women, their lives, and their accomplishments.  

Inspired by the History of Women in America at Radcliffe College, Louise partnered with Mary Louise Smith, a colleague and prominent political figure and women’s rights activist, to establish a special collection documenting Iowa women at the University of Iowa. Their goal: raising $2 million to establish the Louise Noun – Mary Louise Smith Iowa Women’s Archives. 

Both women acknowledged that, even though each was willing to contribute, raising this amount of money would be a long, tough job. Louise realized “I had this Frida Kahlo (original painting) that was becoming increasingly valuable every year, and I just thought ‘I’ve got an endowment hanging on my wall’ and I decided to give it.” 

And on May 15, 1991, Kahlo’s 1947 painting “Self Portrait with Loose Hair” was auctioned at Christie’s in New York, netting $1.5 million to establish the Iowa Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. The purchase price set a record for work by a Latin American Artist and kicked off both publicity and donations in support of the Archives. The Archives formally opened on October 29, 1992. 

In the decades since its opening, over 1,200 manuscript collections, as well as oral histories, celebrations, and exhibitions now document the remarkable accomplishments of Iowa women. Be sure to plan a visit soon! 

creating chrysalis after-school program 

EARLY 1990s

In the early 1990s, Terry Hernandez had applied for funding to start an after-school program for girls. This was during her career with the YMCA of Greater Des Moines and after she observed girls “hanging out” at the Riverfront YMCA, eager to find boyfriends. 

The grant wasn’t funded (based on the misunderstanding of the YMCA as a “men’s organization”), but through this effort, Terry met Senator Elaine Szymoniak through work together on a community project to prevent teen pregnancy. This was the connection to her being later hired as the foundation’s first director in 1997. 

The same year (1997),Chrysalis received a gift of $150,000 from longtime donor Melva Bucksbaum with her request to “start significant that will truly make a difference.” By this time, the board had developed an understanding of the challenges girls face at adolescence. 

Chrysalis board member Andi Gordon had been volunteering as a mentor to girls in local schools and expressed the importance of helping girls navigate the challenge of adolescence by connecting through schools. She recognized that there needed to be a program to help girls gain self-esteem and confidence, as well as skills that would keep them in school and prepare for their futures.  

Chrysalis convened local teachers, counselors, and administrators to consider whether an after-school program might make a difference for girls, and Chrysalis After-School was born. 

1998

Funded in in 1998 in 8 local middle schools, Louise Noun insisted the program be named “Chrysalis After-School for Young Women,” expressing the need to help girls feel valued as future women. An academic evaluator was also engaged to determine the program’s success. 

Over the years, Chrysalis tested new models including high school programs, special programs for girls in nontraditional schools, and programs based at local nonprofit organizations. It soon became clear that schools needed to host the program onsite in order to build girls’ connections to school as a safe and supportive environment. Each program added a nonprofit partner staff member in order to ensure program meets quality standards of 1 adult to every 15 girls. Programs can vary in size – most involve 15-35 girls – and all girls at the school are eligible. 

2007

By 2007, Chrysalis realized that it might be important to reach girls earlier than middle school, and 5th grade programs were funded in local elementary school sites. 

2012

And by 2012, Chrysalis added its GirlPower high school mentor program through a partnership with MercyOne, recruiting high school CAS alumni to learn and teach curriculum to younger girls. 

TODAY

The overwhelming success of Chrysalis After-School, now involving over 800 local girls and young women in 30 school sites, can be attributed to its remarkable and life-changing results. Our investment in curriculum development, training, supplies, activities, and evaluation has been made possible by friends like you - your investment of $1 a day - $365 – supports an entire year of participation for a Chrysalis After-School participant.