WHS graduate Erma Ratliff wins the NextGen Under 30 award
Erma Ratliff
by Amber Countryman, Sumner Newscow — Erma Ratliff, a 2011 Wellington High School graduate, has been volunteering in the community since high school, when she began working at the election polls.
“My first election was in 2012, and I noticed not many young people were involved in the election and other organizations around town,” Ratliff said.
Since then, she has volunteered at the election polls.
Recently, she was nominated for the NextGen Under 30 Kansas award for community leadership and her devotion to volunteer work. Out of 400 nominations, Ratliff won one of the awards, along with 200 other people under 30.
NextGen Under 30 Kansas is a statewide recognition program initiated by the Kansas Department of Commerce to recognize the first class of NextGen Under 30 honorees in hopes of encouraging young Kansas talent to remain in the state instead of migrating in search of higher-paying jobs.
“I started volunteering in high school in different clubs that I was in,” Ratliff said. “I was pretty involved in volunteering in high school as well.”
Ratliff attended a luncheon in Topeka with all of the award winners. Speakers at the event included Lt. Governor David Toland; Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents; Tory Arnberger-Blew, State Representative, District 112; Rui Xi, State Representative of District 25; Amanda Lewis, president of Coldwell Banker American Home Real Estate; and Korleone Young, retired MBA player for the Detroit Pistons. The awards banquet is slated for Dec. 2.
“I truly believe in helping others, from family to friends to the community,” Ratliff said.
Currently, Ratliff serves as treasurer of the Chamber of Commerce board, director of the Wellington Recreation Center board, vice president of the Wellington Young Professionals, Wellington Noon Lion’s Club board, Big Brothers/Big Sisters Leadership Committee, and vice president of the Eisenhower Elementary Parent Teacher Association.
In 2020, Ratliff led a peaceful walk in honor of Black Lives Matter. In June 2021, she organized a Juneteeth celebration which she hopes to hold that event every year. The celebration honors the struggle for the freedom of African Americans.
One of Ratliff’s favorite quotes is by Martin Luther King, Jr. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”
“I often take my two older kids with me to volunteer around town to show them how important it is to give back,” she said.
Currently, Ratliff works for the City of Wellington as the code official in the building and codes department. She resides in Wellington with her husband, Jeffrey Ratliff, and children, Mikkel, Nyah and Harrison.
