More than 230 Iowans – 90 of whom were new to the organization – packed the Henning Student Center at Grandview University in Des Moines on July 25 for Iowa CCI Action’s 51st-annual convention, on the theme “Building the Iowa WE Need.”
The convention followed last year’s blowout 50th-anniversary celebration, and focused on all the things CCI Action does well: protecting Iowa’s environment, water and schools, and especially this year, protecting Iowa’s elections.
“Our efforts this election cycle include equipping eligible voters with the information they need to successfully cast their ballots, while working with partner organizations and county auditors across Iowa to get the lay of the land and identify any vulnerabilities that might exist,” says CCI Action member Julia Rendon.
Indeed, CCI Action is meeting with auditors in all of Iowa’s 99 counties, to ensure every eligible voter can cast their ballot without fear or intimidation this year.
Highlights from the convention included a keynote by Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson, former co-executive director of the Highlander Research Center, who reflected back to CCI Action’s members the value in what they do, and the power of long-haul organizing. Henderson got more than 100 people to commit to taking concrete action this year to protect elections.
“I want to be where people are trying to save this place,” said Henderson, capturing the can-do spirit of the CCI Action members who turned out for her keynote address.
Workshops included “Issue Organizing 101s,” in which participants could learn more about the area of CCI Action’s organizing that interests them most: Public School Strong, No CO2 pipelines, the Community Pulse project to expand Iowa’s electorate, and data centers.
Each of these campaigns had multiple victories to celebrate this year, which include stopping Summit Carbon Solutions from breaking ground on a proposed CO2 pipeline across the state, and stopping the Cancer Gag Act, a bill which sought to shield pesticide manufacturers, like Roundup maker Bayer, from lawsuits when a company failed to warn consumers of health risks.
Another highlight of the event was the announcement by Norm Eisen, executive director of the Election Safeguards Response Network, that their sister c3 organization, Iowa CCI, will take the statewide lead in Iowa for the coalition’s efforts to ensure election integrity.
Eisen is the former White House Ethics Czar and U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic under President Barack Obama.
“For more than 50 years, Iowa CCI has been leveraging the power of communities to strengthen civic engagement and help people live healthy, joyful lives and to demand a system where elected officials put people before party,” said Eisen. “That’s why we at the ESRN are so excited to have the Iowa CCI working with us in the election safeguard response network to safeguard the Iowa elections and to help lead pro-democracy, pro-voter efforts in the state.”