Local Leaders Graduate from Respected Statewide Program
July 5, 2018
CORALVILLE – Forty Iowans graduated from the distinguished Leadership Iowa program during the 2018 Taking Care of Business Conference in Coralville last month. (A full class list can be found here.) Leadership Iowa, a program of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (ABI) Foundation, is the one of the state’s most respected professional development opportunities.
“Leadership Iowa identifies some of the state’s best leaders and emerging leaders, and gives them the knowledge, tools and connections to make an even bigger impact,” said Mike Ralston, ABI president and 1991 graduate of Leadership Iowa.
Leadership Iowa gives participants a wide range of experiences that focus on the unique challenges Iowa faces. From October 2017 through June 2018, participants traveled to numerous locations throughout the state to learn about those issues and to gain a better understanding of the role they can play in addressing them.
The class visited Winterset, Greene County/Jefferson, Decorah, Des Moines, Fairfield, Franklin County/Hampton, Clinton and Coralville/Iowa City. There they learned from experts about agriculture, changing demographics in the workforce, economic development, education, government, innovation and entrepreneurship, manufacturing and renewable energy.
“The program equips leaders to better appreciate and understand the condition of the state,” said Ralston. “It also builds a network with fellow participants that often lasts a lifetime.”
Since its inception in 1982, Leadership Iowa has graduated nearly 1,200 individuals from both the private and public sector, representing each geographical region of Iowa. Each year, 40 talented participants are selected from a large applicant pool.