Squeeze The Day

Brenda Gilmore was born to serve others, especially her community. As a preteen, she collected glass (Coke and 7UP) bottles using the money from recycling to buy toiletries for seniors in her neighborhood. Her heart for serving others was born. Gilmore's twilight career on Nashville Metro's Council also led her to the State Senate spanning more than two decades of service. Learn about her love for lifelong learning and how it keeps her young and spirit-filled.

This slogan is how Gayle "GG" Goad lives her life and provides a guiding wisdom for all she does.

Moments later, he landed with a thud, but the short flight down never left his mind.

"Women are now 55% of the population so think of all the women who could vote, did vote, we could really make a difference."

And so begins our inaugural podcast … introducing Yvonne Wood — a lifelong advocate for women's equality

Yvonne Wood has been an advocate for women's equality her whole professional life. As a founding member and former chair of the Tennessee Economic Council on Women, she has served on every major Nashville board or council related to women's leadership, building opportunities for women in business and in life. Her advocacy culminated this past year as she served as President of the Tennessee Woman Suffrage Monument board. Her business acumen and connections helped pave the way for the formal dedication of the Tennessee Women's Suffrage monument held in Centennial Park on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. The monument stands as a testament to the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote and holds a special place here in Tennessee as the state was the 36th and final state to ratify the amendment. Years of work forging women's equality culminated in this beautiful monument designed by Nashville-based artist Alan LeQuire.

In this podcast, FiftyForward Communications Director Susan Sizemore, chats with Yvonne Wood about the planning for the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote and the events tied to the celebration. Wood also shares her thoughts on what voting looks like today for the more than 63% of women who are eligible to vote this year.

Yvonne's major success, as she describes it, was to plan the dedication for the Tennessee Women's Suffrage monument. In the events leading up to the dedication, of course, was the fundraising for the monument and the artistic vision for it.