Kate Duncan Butler | YWCA Women of Excellence Honoree
What inspires you to get up and do the work?
Mr. Rogers said to look for the helpers. It's long been important to me to help people and communities who need my support, be they students at risk of dropping out of high school, low-income individuals in need of legal representation, or the LGBTQIA+ community. I want to use my voice and privilege to leave my community a little better than I found it, and I don't know a better way to accomplish that than by being a helper.
What have you learned about yourself through the challenges you have overcome?
Through my trials and tribulations, I have learned that I am resilient. My road to becoming a lawyer and engaged member of my community involved a lot of growing pains and missteps, never mind a surprise rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis a month after graduating from law school. Despite these challenges and occasional setbacks, I buckled down and kept pushing forward. Life is unpredictable, but I'm proud of my ability to weather those storms and keep doing the work.
How do you take care of yourself?
I am blessed with a circle of amazing friends who are always there to lend a helping hand, a conspiratorial ear, or a shoulder to cry on. They are fierce, loyal, fearless women who encourage me to spend my time and energy on the causes that I believe in, and they support me through the mundane and extraordinary times.
In addition to their support, I also try very hard to unplug for a little while every night by reading a book, watching a TV show, playing a video game, or listening to a podcast. (My cats help, too.)
What is the best advice you've ever been given? Or what advice do you have for others?
My first boss out of law school taught me to stop apologizing unnecessarily. Until she pointed it out, I never realized just how many times I repeated the words "I'm sorry" every day. I apologized for solicited suggestions, spelling errors, and even just taking up space in our office.
Her calling me out on this behavior (and my related imposter syndrome!) made me realize how women are pressured by society to apologize for their opinions, their intellect, and sometimes, their mere existence. Learning to treat my talents as a source of strength rather than shame has improved both my professional and personal confidence, and I hope to help pass that wisdom along to other women in my life.
What is your vision for our community? Has it changed through the pandemic and racial justice reckoning of recent years?
I fell in love with Topeka as soon as I visited in March 2010. I've found it a warm, welcoming, vibrant community, and I've been excited to see how it's grown in just the 12 years I've lived here. My vision is for Topeka is that it will continue to grow and work to embrace people from all walks of life, no matter their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, background, religion, socioeconomic status, or age. If the last two (or six!) years have taught us anything, it is that the world at large is not as welcoming or as accepting as we'd like to hope. I am trying to devote my time and energy to helping people find that acceptance in the town that I now consider my forever home.
The mission of YWCA is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. What does YWCA's mission mean to you?
I recently attended an all-women panel discussion where a presenter remarked how all her important mentors had been men. She wished that those of us in the room could all be mentors to the next generation of lawyers so that we'd eventually have panels where all the speakers would talk about their female mentors. To me, the YWCA's mission is similar to that presenter's wish. It means providing our community and its members with the support, encouragement, empowerment, and structural changes that will allow the next generation of bosses, mentors, and leaders to thrive—and, more than that, to look more like the community they represent.
