Kayley Rönnkvist (she/her) is a third-year student at Grinnell College originally from St. Peter, Minnesota, a town of about 10,000 people in south central Minnesota. She is majoring in French and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies.
Kayley began volunteering at Mayflower in 2019 when she helped coordinate the Adopt-A-Grandparent program between healthcare residents and Grinnell College students. She later assisted with other activities in Beebe Assisted Living and the Health Center. Kayley was part of the College computer science class that helped Mayflower residents develop the current online Mayflower residents directory.
Kayley is leading a multi-year project studying “Equitable Aging Practices in Rural Central Iowa,” alongside Dr. Karla Erickson, Professor of Sociology at Grinnell College. Kayley is examining the unmet needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender older adults, and the policies and practices older adult service providers can implement to better support these needs.
The project has been approved by the Grinnell College Institutional Review Board and is funded by an Andrew W. Mellon Humanities in Action Grant. This summer and fall, Kayley has engaged in an expansive review of existing gerontological research, met dozens of Iowa senior adult service providers, and connected with leaders in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or transgender aging activism at various organizations.
Working with Mayflower leadership to assess how Mayflower could establish more inclusive and fair practices, Kayley has developed a survey that is being administered with residents. Results from the survey will be used to learn more about our community members and to make Mayflower a more welcoming place.
— Steve Langerud, Mayflower Executive Director