2008 Most Influential Women Honoree: Kathy Clancy

“I was terrified … because I really didn’t have any employment law experience,” said Clancy, who worked as a paralegal before taking the job in 1994.

Clancy didn’t start college until moving to Springfield. She started out pursuing a business administration degree at Missouri State University, but she says a bad experience with business calculus prompted her to transfer to Drury, from which she graduated in 1989 with a degree in paralegal studies.

The commission investigates alleged discrimination against legally protected classes, such as age, race, sex, religion and disability in housing and public accommodations within Springfield.

Prior to joining the commission, Clancy was working as a paralegal in the city prosecutor’s office, and while she enjoyed the job, she reached a point where she was ready to move on. Clancy’s new employer at the commission told her that they hoped she would stay for a long time. She responded that she usually changed jobs every five years. That was 14 years ago.

Clancy had experience as a paralegal in family and criminal law, but she had to learn about?employment.

“The nice thing about being a paralegal is you can work in all areas of the law,” she says. “You just have to train yourself.”

Clancy educates employers, employees and future employees about discrimination. She especially enjoys teaching Missouri State University students about what they might face, both as employees and members of management.

“A lot of people think anything and everything is discrimination, and it’s not,” she says.

Clancy has served as chairwoman for the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, a state agency, and she is chairwoman of a housing task force within Community Partnership of the Ozarks.

The Commission on Human Rights is responsible for enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act, so Clancy also is involved with educating employers about accommodating disabled employees.

“It is evident that over the years this act has been responsible for a lot of good things, but putting people to work has not been very successful,” Clancy says. “We organized a technology fair so that employers could see first-hand the newest and unique products that have been invented to assist people with disabilities.”

New for the commission this year is the Human Rights Award, which will be presented in three categories – to an individual, a business and a nonprofit – for exhibiting a commitment to and an appreciation for diversity and human rights.

Name an influential woman, living or dead, you’d like to meet. Why?

Carol Burnett. In my early 20s I lived with four other twentysomethings, and we always tuned in to her show. I loved her question-and-answer period at the beginning of each show and how spontaneous she could be with the unexpected. Sometimes it’s hard to make lemonade out of lemons in life, and I believe Carol Burnett is one of those few who had it mastered.

What advice do you have for young women just getting started professionally?

You never know it all! Life is about continual learning. Be involved in your community, your children’s school, a church, the library or a not-for-profit. Listen to those who have gone before you. And don’t get a tattoo or strange piercing where an employer will see it.

As a young girl, what were your career aspirations?

Going to Catholic schools through high school, I always thought I would be a nun. As I grew older, I decided that really was not what I was destined to be. When I first started working, I decided I wanted to be a woman in control of something. I think (that comes) from being second of eight children.

Tell us about your family.

My husband and I dated in high school. When he went to Vietnam, I left for the big city. We were married three years later in Manneheim, Germany. We will soon celebrate 37 years together. I have three great grown daughters, Kelly, Mindy and Beth, and at the present time, they all are living here in Springfield. In 2000, my husband and I adopted three more children, so we now have a son, DeShawn, 13, and twin girls, Teaira and Keaira, 10.

Web Exclusive: What’s Kathy’s best-kept beauty secret?

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