Governor: Leigh Hedgpeth
Governor-elect: Teresa Young
Treasurer: Kathy Newsom
Secretary: Kelly Landry
District I Director: Kimberly Doty
District II Director: Jacque Sappington
District III Director: Shebra Hackett
Leigh Hedgpeth
SCR Governor
Leigh is a 25-year member of Soroptimist of Vandalia, Illinois. She has served as both the District I Secretary and the South Central Region Secretary. She is semi-retired but has worked as a data information processor, owned a dry cleaning business, and was an executive secretary for the Fayette County Farm Bureau in Vandalia.
Leigh has two passions in life besides family — Soroptimist and horses. Get her talking about either and she can talk your ear off.
Leigh can be reached at governor@scrsoroptimist.org
Teresa Young
SCR Governor Elect
Teresa Young has been involved in Soroptimist in Plainview, Texas, since the early 2000s and has held most every office in her club as well as served two terms as District III Director. A long-time employee of a private Christian university in West Texas, Teresa loves the education emphasis of Soroptimist the most because she believes in the transformational power of a good education. She is currently a fundraiser at Wayland and enjoys connecting with people and building relationships that bless both students and the donors. Teresa is a dog mom to four puppy kids: Maggie, Maya, Murray and Molly. She is active member of SouthCrest Baptist Church in Lubbock, and serves on the local RSVP and United Way boards.
Teresa can be reached at govelect@scrsoroptimist.org
Kathy Newsom
SCR Treasurer
Kathy has been involved in Soroptimist of Wichita, Kansas since 2008. She has served as President, Treasurer, Service Committee Chair, and Live Your Dreams Awards Chair. As a CPA, she worked for a private family trust for 36 years. Kathy served as South Central Region Treasurer from 2016 to 2020 and Region Finance Committee Chair from 2020 to 2024. She is dedicated to the mission of Soroptimist as she believes that access to education benefits not only the women and girls we serve, but also their families and communities.
In the Wichita, Kansas community she has volunteered with the Wichita Family Crisis Center for over 40 years, raising awareness of the needs of victims of sexual and domestic violence.
Kathy can be reached at treasurer@scrsoroptimist.org
Kelly Landry
SCR Secretary
Kelly Landry has been a member of Soroptimist International of the Americas for 15 years. Kelly started
with the SI Valencia club in Los Angeles, CA. She transferred her membership when she moved to Kansas
City, MO in 2015. During her time with Soroptimist, she has served in nearly every board position at the
club level and has also been Membership Chair for the South Central Region. She has always had a
passion for helping people in need, and having been a single mom (often a struggling one!) for many
years when she lived in LA, she has a special desire to help women.
Kelly is the Director of Financial Planning with CONA Wealth, Inc. She has worked as a holistic financial
strategist since 1999, helping individual clients/families as well as small business owners achieve their
financial goals in the areas of retirement planning, risk management, investments, and estate and tax
planning.
Kelly has 2 young adult sons that are 28 and 29 that she is very proud of. They grew up around lots of
women in Soroptimist! Kelly also has 2 sweet little rescue doggies named Todd and Oliver that are about
14 and 12. She is an active member in the Catholic Church.
Kelly can be reached at secretery@scrsoroptimist.org
Kimberly Doty
District I Director
A member since 2003, Kimberly has served as club president, president-elect, and secretary. She was on the board and was the treasurer of the SI Kansas City Foundation, and has only missed one District/Fall Meeting in 15 years!
Kimberly served as the South Central Region’s parliamentarian from 2006-2020. She is the co-owner of RCS Engraving & More and worked as a senior programming analyst for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City.
Professional Affiliations
- National Association of Parliamentarians 2010 – 2017
- Liberty Chamber of Commerce in Liberty, Missouri 2018 – 2020
- Awards and Personalization Association 2018 – 2020
- National Association of Professional Women 2015 – 2017
- American Business Women’s Association 2019
- Victorian Estates Homeowners Association Board Director and Secretary for over 10 years (and still going…)
Kimberly can be reached at d1director@scrsoroptimist.org
Jacque Sappington
District II Director
I’ve been a wife to Matt, for other 26 years and mother of two boys, Zeke (23) and Dagan (21), whom I’m extremely proud. We have made our home in Carthage, MO. I’m currently a Senior Tax Manager who oversees Sales & Use Taxes for Leggett & Platt, Inc. at the corporate office in Carthage. In 2018, I joined SI Carthage wanting to join an organization who supports missions bigger than myself, and I immediately fell in love with Soroptimist. After my boys graduated HS and moved away to college, I found myself needing more and then I was asked to serve as Treasurer on our Board. With this position, I was fortunate to interact with most, if not all of our members and formed lifelong friendships. The women in our club are all likeminded in our support of the Soroptimist mission of supporting women and girls and that filled my heart. My close friend approached me in 2023 and not only asked me to serve as President but lovingly encouraged me to step up as a leader. Honestly, I was nervous; however, felt very comfortable knowing our club would support me in my role. As President, I attended my first District Meetings and Region Conference and knew immediately, this is where I belong. Now serving as District II Director for a short time, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting tremendous, strong, confident women who have a passion for serving others. Thank you, South Central Region, for pouring into my heart and giving me the opportunity to serve.
Jacque can be reached at d2director@scrsoroptimist.org
Shebra Hackett
District III Director
With a focus on preparing today’s youth for a successful future, Shebra Hackett dedicates her time and expertise to giving to her community. Her passion is to give back tenfold what she received as a young lady herself. Personally, she wears many hats: child of God, wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and began work on her masters at the University of Dallas. Professionally, she owns R & R Insurance Group Incorporated, an exclusive Allstate agency and JR Squared Incorporated, a corporate real estate entity. With 25+ years of experience with Allstate Insurance Company, she has served in the financial capacity, management team and finally the sales force. Shebra serves her community well. She is an active member of Sunset Baptist Church and the Grand Prairie Chamber of commerce. She is a sitting board member of Helping Us Help Her, Soroptimist International of Grand Prairie and the Grand Prairie Metro Rotary Club.
- Matriculated through DISD, graduating from Skyline High School in 1992.
- Graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 with a degree in Mathematics, minoring in Finance.
- Has resided in Grand Prairie since 2001.
- Started R & R Insurance Group in 2008, located at 410 NW 11 th St in Grand Prairie.
- Expanded to purchase the building in March of 2015 under JR Squared Inc.
- 25+ years of experience in the insurance industry and 8 years in commercial property management and leasing.
- Youth Director, Sunset Baptist Church (6 years)
- Financial Director for Helping Us Help Her (10+ years)
- Member of Grand Prairie Metro Rotary since 2013 (Positions held include President, Social Director, Youth Services Director and New Member Trainer)
- Member Soroptimist International of Grand Prairie since 2014 (Position held include District Director, President, Vice President, Yearbook Coordinator, and Director)
Shebra can be reached at d3director@scrsoroptimist.org
Freda Powell
Parliamentarian
Freda is the second of five children and was raised in Amarillo and throughout the United States. Her father served our country in the United States Air Force. She graduated from Amarillo High School and earned a degree in Management Development. Freda and her husband Dennis have been married for 45 years. They
have a daughter and four grandchildren. Freda has had a notable career, serving Xcel Energy (Southwestern Public Service Company), Bell Flight (Bell Textron), BP America Production Company, General Office Supply and LINN Energy. She currently is the office manager for Warford Mortuary, LLC. For more than three decades, Freda has been a member of Soroptimist International of Amarillo, one of 3,100 Soroptimist clubs. Freda works with other Soroptimist members to effect social change and to increase the collective impact they have on the lives of women and girls. In addition to having served a two-year term as Governor of the Soroptimist South Central Region (a seven-state region), Freda is a member of the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, a silver life member of the NAACP Amarillo Branch, and a life member of Light of Hope. She previously served on the boards of the Amarillo Women’s Network, Amarillo Opera, Access Community Credit Union and Airport Advisory. She is currently a board member of Downtown Amarillo, Inc. and a member of Jenkins Chapel Baptist Church where she serves as secretary and is on the finance team. Freda received the Amarillo Opera Dee Lifetime Volunteer Award in 2009 and was named the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce Women’s Council Business woman of the Year in 2011. Additional awards include the Girl Scouts of Texas Oklahoma Plains’ Women of distinction – Take Action Award in 2013; Church Women United Humanitarian Award in 2013; the 7 th Annual Louise Daniel Women’s History Lecture and Luncheon Recognizing Texas Panhandle Women in Banking (for service to the Access Community Credit Union Board) in 2016; Woman of Leadership 2017 Award; Beta Sigma Phi Sorority 2020 Woman of the Year and 2022 NAACP Amarillo Branch President’s Award. On May 6, 2017, Freda became the first African American woman elected to the Amarillo City Council. She served as Mayor Pro Tem from June 2019 to June 2020. She recently completed her third term in Place 2 and served as Mayor Pro Tem from June 2021 to May 2023. Freda is a frequent speaker on the topics of leadership and civic engagement.