Rebecca Malotke-Meslin
AAUW Naperville Area is pleased to name Rebecca Malotke-Meslin as 2025 Woman of the Year for her life’s work dedicated to advancing equity for women and girls through education, advocacy, and leadership development.
From her early work with girls in foster care, through Girl Scouts, to her academic background in Women’s Studies, Rebecca has remained focused on creating opportunities for women to thrive. Her commitment to community, equity, and uplifting women is unwavering.
Rebecca founded Pleasantly Aggressive (www.pleasantlyaggreesive.com) in 2022 to provide one-on-one coaching to early and mid-career women leaders in schools and non-profits. She helps them gain valuable leadership skills, rediscover their authentic voice, and build the confidence they need to achieve their goals.
Rebecca provides workshops and keynote speeches to audiences from local high school students to national women’s conferences. She combines her background in social research with 20 years of sales, marketing, communications, and school leadership to tackle topics like dismantling bias, building confidence, and advocating courageously. Her work inspires real action: participants have gone on to successfully negotiate raises, navigate challenging professional conversations, and change the trajectory of their careers.
A Naperville resident for 13 years, Rebecca embodies community service and civic engagement. She ran for Naperville City Council in 2023, championing equity, affordable housing, and representation for all. She currently serves on the DEI Advisory Committee for the DuPage Children’s Museum and the board of Planned Parenthood Illinois Action. Rebecca also fosters connection and growth by creating women-only spaces like her local bowling league, a Women’s Entrepreneur Meetup, and IVY, a Naperville-based conference she created to support women’s health, relationships, and careers. Through her podcast Confidently You: Women in Leadership, she amplifies the voices of women leading in education.
Rebecca will be honored at the AAUW Spring Awards Brunch on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at Bolingbrook Country Club.
New for 2026, AAUW Naperville Area’s Career Development Grant program champions gender equity in education and workplaces by providing financial support to women and non-binary persons pursuing a certificate, credential, or training program needed to enter, transition back into the workplace, or advance in their career. Funds may be used to obtain certifications, attend refresher classes, learn new technologies, update work skills, or other applications that will help re-entry or advancement in the workplace.
