For the past 42 years, the Greater Mason City Chamber of Commerce has provided leadership training for up-and-coming business people from the North Iowa area. In addition to skill development, Leadership North Iowa (LNI) participants meet well-established business owners and have the opportunity to pick their brains concerning best practices.

First and foremost, this program exposes participants to all North Iowa has to offer. At the same time, our goal is to engage Leadership North Iowa participants and alumni—to connect them to our community and to each other. LNI graduates are high-potential prospects that are well-poised to play a more prominent role in the community.

This can and does take many forms. For some, it may be the call to action to run for elective office. For others, participation may ignite the desire to seek an appointment to local government boards and commissions. It may provide the foundation to volunteer at a church or service club. It might even help people to assert themselves more in their place of work. Whichever direction our alumni choose to go, we know that Leadership North Iowa is often credited as the catalyst for becoming more actively involved in something they care about.

Service Project

For decades, sociologists have detailed the decline of America’s civic engagement. They assert that American adults have gradually withdrawn from political and religious participation, lack significant workplace connections, and refrain from “neighboring”.

Our LNI participants engage in new forms of “connecting” activities that are relevant to our present and future. The activities they chose as Community Impact Projects will encourage their fellow citizens to spend more time in active connection.