Quoted in No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan by Robert Shelton

As we embark on our journey into the new year, we want to thank our Iowa LCANs for their ongoing dedication to their students and communities. Gains made during the past 12 months in supporting students' postsecondary pathways and meeting workforce needs - in addition to other LCAN goals - stem from your hard work. We are poised in 2023 to leverage opportunities and take on challenges, and we look forward to doing so alongside our LCAN networks.

As you may have heard during the Governor's State of the State address earlier this month, Governor Reynolds is launching a review and possible realignment of state government agencies and resources to increase overall efficiencies. While the specific details of any potential realignment have yet to be determined, there will be no immediate changes or disruption to any Iowa College Aid programs or services, including LCANs.

We are in the process of centralizing LCAN grant training tools and resources. Our goal is to provide easier access to LCAN- and Collective Impact-related resources, while keeping the LCAN program agile.

Finally, we are looking forward to our LCAN gathering in March! We realized that many in our Iowa LCAN community have yet to meet in person. So we are excited to connect in the same physical space in a few months (additional information on the March conference is below).

A heartfelt thank you to all LCAN members for your time and commitment to this work.

In the coming year, as Dylan says,

May your heart always be joyful.
May your song always be sung.

Latino Education Summit, March 3

The Latinos CAN Iowa Latino Education Summit will be held March 3, 2023, at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. This summit is geared toward educators, K-12 staff, community advocates and service providers, college students and parents.   General admission registration is filling up fast, while many spots are still open for college students. If you are interested in attending, please register soon.   Also, if you know a college student that would be interested in participating in this event or have a way to share it broadly with college students in your area, please share the information with them! Registration and Summit information can be found here.

Iowa LCAN Spring Conference, March 8-9

Registration is now open for the 2023 Iowa LCAN Conference to be held March 8-9 at the Gateway Hotel and Conference Center in Ames, Iowa.     We are excited to host the first in-person Iowa LCAN Conference since 2019.    The March 8 afternoon sessions are intended for newer and prospective LCANs. In addition, we will have a pre-conference gathering on the evening of March 8 that all are invited to attend as your travel schedule allows. Finally, sessions on March 9 are geared toward all current LCAN grantees.     We are lining up some great sessions for our time together and look forward to sharing a detailed agenda with you soon. Please reach out to Megan Sibbel or Anne Thomas with any questions. Also, if you know of an individual, organization, or community that would benefit from learning more about starting an LCAN in the upcoming grant year, please share the conference with them!

2023 Rural Summit, April 2-5

The Partners for Rural Impact 2023 Rural Summit will take place in Charlotte, N.C., April 2-5, 2023. Registration information is available here.

The agenda for this summit is still forthcoming. In the meantime, you can view information about the lineup from past Rural Summits here.  

Tamarack Institute Educational Opportunities 

The Tamarack Institute of Canada is a critical partner in Collective Impact. Iowa College Aid uses research and training materials to build and revise the Iowa LCAN grant program.

We have been fortunate to have Sylvia Cheuy, Consulting Director of Collective Impact at Tamarack, as a guest speaker at two of our Iowa LCAN Conferences.

You can find out about upcoming Tamarack workshops, webinars and online courses here.