ALTON - Rebecca “Becky” Cowart cares about the future, so she acts today.
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Cowart, one of the YWCA’s ten 2025 Women of Distinction, will be honored at the Y’s annual gala for her commitment to the community. Cowart is involved in several local organizations, from the YWCA to the NAACP, and she shared that her mission to get involved started with her own children, ages 9, 8 and 1.
“My children are the most important children in the world to me,” she said. “Essentially because of them, I’ve made choices because I want them to experience community and I want them to experience a diverse community so that they can see the importance of making space, celebrating, respecting and learning from diversity.”
Cowart homeschools her children and makes sure they are involved in the community through initiatives like Diverse Story, a YWCA program that offers storytimes with diverse characters and books that kids can take home. She also helps organize Solidarity, which brings together Black and white women to talk about their experiences and how they can support one another.
As a member of the executive board for the Alton chapter of the NAACP, Cowart supports the organization’s projects in Alton and beyond. She is also a member of WRESTLE, an Alton-based women’s group that provides family events, and she is especially excited about a group called Brand New Village that hopes to start an afterschool empowerment program for kids.
Working with kids has always been important to Cowart, who trained as a teacher. She noted that while people tend to think of kids and their impact on the future, she believes they deserve to have a say today, too.
“I hear a lot of people talk about how the children are the future, and I agree,” she explained. “I also feel like they’re the present, and so wanting my kids to know that their voice matters now, that it’s not something they’re preparing to impact the world when they’re older, but that they can have that impact now, and to bring that sense of value to them at the ages they’re at. It’s not something where they’re waiting to be valuable when they’re older and can contribute, but they can do that now.”
Cowart said the Woman of Distinction recognition has been “such an honor.” Upon reflection, she has realized that much of her community service traces back to previous Women of Distinction honorees, and she’s “completely humbled” to be included among their ranks.
For others who want to engage in community service or start volunteering, Cowart has some compelling advice. She encourages people to think about their values and their boundaries and let this knowledge guide them.
“I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned that began last year for me is the importance of knowing myself,” she said. “There’s no point of perfection with any of this. It’s all a learning journey. I have been practicing saying no to more things and honoring that intuition that starts to come up and really practicing listening to that, and trusting that others will be respectful of that and know that it’s with no ill intent that I step away from one event or one situation, but that I’m doing it with the intent of being able to serve and serving myself in order to continue to serve the community and people that I love.”
This is the seventh in a series of articles about the ten 2025 Women of Distinction. For more information about the YWCA’s Women of Distinction Gala, visit the official YWCA Facebook page.
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