Written by: Lindsay Wright, MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center
Leadership North Iowa is excited to introduce this year’s community impact project, “Growing Up Local”. Growing Up Local is a community-focused initiative designed to connect families with the many resources, activities, and opportunities already available across North Iowa. This project grew out of a simple but powerful idea: our communities are already doing great work—we just need a better way to help families find and engage with it.
Growing Up Local enhances existing community events and activities while helping families discover local nonprofits, schools, businesses, and youth programs. Rather than reinventing the wheel, the initiative focuses on making these opportunities more visible and accessible, while creating consistent opportunities for youth engagement throughout the year.
This initiative may look different from month to month. Sometimes Growing Up Local will show up as a presence within an existing community event, sometimes as a partner event alongside local organizations, and occasionally as a stand-alone family activity. No matter the format, each event is designed to be welcoming, low- or no-cost for families, and focused on creating meaningful connections.
Each Growing Up Local event will include community promotion, participation from local partners, kid-friendly activities or incentives, and a clear focus on collaboration. Safety and inclusiveness are also key, with each event supported by a code of conduct and emergency action plan. Success will be measured not only by attendance, but by growing partnerships, positive feedback from families, increased youth engagement, and steady momentum from month to month. Ultimately, the goal is to build stronger connections between families and the organizations that serve them, creating communities where young people can thrive.
As this project continues to take shape, we’re inviting Chamber members to be part of the journey.
Opportunities include:
- Sponsoring activities or incentives for youth
- Partnering in events or hosting a Growing Up Local presence
- Volunteering time, expertise, or resources
- Helping spread the word to families and employees
Growing Up Local is a reminder that when businesses, nonprofits, schools, and families work together, everyone benefits. We look forward to building this initiative alongside our Chamber partners and creating even more ways for North Iowa families to connect, engage, and grow—right here at home.
For more information or to get involved please contact Allyson Krull at the Chamber ([email protected] | 641.423.5724).