Episode
A Legacy Earned with Ambassador Mary E. Kramer
- Podcast
- Legacy Leavers
- Published
- Dec 3, 2025
- Duration seconds
- 2640
- Processing state
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- https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cfgdm/episodes/A-Legacy-Earned-with-Ambassador-Mary-E--Kramer-e3bp9st
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Summary
Today on the Legacy Leavers podcast, we're pleased to have Ambassador Mary E. Kramer join us to tell her story as an Iowa trailblazer whose remarkable career spans classrooms, boardrooms, the Iowa capitol and even international diplomacy. An Iowa native, Ambassador Kramer spent twenty years teaching and serving as a school administrator. In 1975, she transitioned into the corporate world—first as personnel director at Younkers, then as Vice President of Human Resources and Community Investments at Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield. Mary entered politics in 1990 as an Iowa State Senator, ultimately becoming the first woman independently elected President of the Iowa Senate in 1997. In 2002, she chaired the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars, and in 2004, was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. She’s written two books and is an inspiring advocate and promoter of civility in life, work and politics. Mary Kramer embodies the wisdom that legacy isn’t given—it’s earned, moment by moment. Links from the Episode: Younkers Political Career More Than A Walk On The Beach: Confessions of an Unlikely Diplomat An Unlikely Ambassador and Her Diplomatic Daughter: Stories & Recipes for the Life You Want