The Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University awarded 26 Legacy of Heroines scholarships to students this academic year. Recipients were announced last month on the Catt Center’s website. 

Tamara Brunow felt career advancement was out of her reach. She was being pigeonholed and passed over as a woman working in the male-dominated construction industry. But today, Brunow, a 40-year-old single mother of three, is one of a few women in the country to lead her own construction business. Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil

Kristina Matheis fell in love with photography the first time she held a camera. It was her goal to own her own space since opening a studio in Stacyville in 2012. This summer, she bought a downtown location on Broad Street for Captured, portraits by Kristina. Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier

Susan Millar loves to tinker with things — woodwind instruments, in particular. This is Millar’s 30th year repairing instruments. She had worked at the Music Loft in Cedar Rapids before starting Millar Woodwind Repair 19 years ago. Cedar Rapids Gazette 

Allyson Bird, owner of All About the Stitch Custom Embroidery, believes there’s not much that makes a gift more special than having it personalized. Cedar Rapids Gazette 

Amanda Doty and Leah Johnson first met about eight years ago when they took jobs at Yellowbook in Cedar Rapids. Today, the pair own Rustic Chic Boutique in downtown Cedar Rapids. Cedar Rapids Gazette 

NATION

The largest public companies are doing a better job of recruiting women directors than newer, smaller businesses, research suggests. For real progress to be made, women also need to have more opportunities to serve in “power positions,” such as board or committee chairs. Los Angeles Times