Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mia!

Mia Peterson passed away on June 8, 2021. Today would have been her 52nd birthday.

I am embarrassed to admit that I knew very little about Mia until just recently. While attending the GiGi’s Playhouse National Leadership Conference in Schaumburg this month, Nancy Gianni — our Founder and Chief Belief Officer (and GiGi’s mom!) — challenged each of us to know the story of our Playhouse, from its beginning to what we are today.

It was only then that I started to notice Mia’s name appearing inside the Playhouse, like on this plaque in a tutoring room. Or on the outside – this dedication on a municipal bench found on the sidewalk a few yards outside the entrance to GiGi’s. It’s as if someone had planted these Easter eggs to see how long it would take me to get to know Mia and the impact that she had on the Down syndrome community. Well, that someone was Emma Walsmith, a new member of our Board of Managers. Mia was Emma’s cousin, and Mia is why Emma was drawn to GiGi’s Playhouse. I learned so much about Mia from coffee with Emma the other day.

Mia was born in Sioux City and grew up in Webster City with her parents Mike and Carol Peterson and sisters Missy and Jana. Mia graduated from Webster City High School in 1993 after participating in speech, theater and athletics like many of her peers.

In 1997 at age 24, Mia moved to Cincinnati, got her first apartment and started a job at Capabilities Unlimited. She took classes at Xavier University and carried the torch before the 2002 Olympic games. She also worked at the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati.

Mia became nationally known for her role in self-advocacy civil rights, and started her own business called Aiming High to further that work. She was an in-demand public speaker, sometimes speaking to groups of more than 1,000 people. At the National Down Syndrome Congress Conference in 1997, she was the first person with Down syndrome to give a plenary address. Mia facilitated workshops, was a co-author of two academic research studies, served as writer and editor for several publications, and testified before Congress on the ten-year anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 2000.  You could say that she was “GiGi” before the concept of GiGi’s Playhouse was ever hatched.

In 2005 Mia moved to Des Moines to be closer to family, serving on several boards and committees, including People First of Iowa, GiGi’s Playhouse, and the Iowa Governor’s Planning Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Iowa Commission on Persons with Disabilities.  Mia was the first person with Down syndrome to serve on the Board of Directors for the National Down Syndrome Society.

Gov. Kim Reynolds proclaimed Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, as “Mia Peterson Day in Iowa” to commemorate her life’s work life to promote self-advocacy and equal treatment. Mia is featured in The State Historical Museum of Iowa’s “Civics in Action” exhibit.

The stories that I heard about Mia were punctuated by something that Emma recalled her grandmother saying about Mia when she first laid eyes on her: “This baby is going to make us all better people.”  With the legacy that Mia leaves behind, she continues to make that prophecy come true.  

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mia. And thank you very much.