Registration Opens for the 2023 Iowa Rural Summit

Registration has opened for the 2023 Iowa Rural Summit, which will occur April 11-12 at the Gateway Conference Center in Ames. Hosted by the Iowa Rural Development Council, the Summit brings together rural leaders from across Iowa who share successes and best practices in the areas of housing, leadership, broadband, entrepreneurship and community development.

The 2023 Rural Summit will feature keynote addresses from two powerful speakers. Danielle Nierenberg is the opening speaker on Tuesday, April 11. In 2013, Danielle founded Food Tank, a nonprofit organization focused on building a global community for safe, healthy, nourished eaters. She won a Julia Child Award in 2020 for her work. Carrie Henning-Smith will provide the closing keynote on Wednesday, April 12. Carrie is an associate professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and Deputy Director of the UM Rural Health Research Center and Rural Health Program. Her work focuses on health equity for rural residents, with particular attention to structural barriers to health and social well-being.

Rural communities are once again being asked to bring a three-person team to the Summit, an approach that has helped generate post-Summit momentum in previous years for those places that were represented. Three-person community teams can go online and register at a special, discounted rate. Interested individuals can also register online.