Attend the ICAN Conference in Des Moines
on April 21

By Betty Ahrens, Executive Director
 
I am pleased to invite you to attend ICAN’s Annual Leadership Training Conference set for Saturday, April 21 – from 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – at the Foxboro Conference Center in Johnston (6163 86th Street).  This year our keynote speaker is Barack Obama, U.S. Senator and best-selling author of The Audacity of Hope. In addition, we will offer a workshop on using Our Common Values to build progressive power and unite our voices around a shared progressive voice. Due to limited seating (and the popularity of our keynote speaker), pre-registration is required. There is a $35 registration fee per person ($40 if paid at the door) for the Conference, which includes lunch, awards ceremony, workshop and keynote speaker. I hope you will attend and bring other members of your organization to spend the afternoon and evening with ICAN.  We are going to have a great Conference and want you to be a part of this exciting day.  We are intent on “Using Our Common Values to Build Progressive Power,” but we can’t do it without you!


The Our Common Values training session will provide an interactive small-group experience that will stretch your ways of thinking and doing – and have practical application in our shared work. These small group sessions will be fun and high-energy as well as thought provoking. This is a great opportunity to develop new leaders or to give established leaders a fresh perspective on their work. Participants in this workshop will find themselves more savvy and effective advocates when they apply the lessons learned in this session to their on-going work. We are delighted to have a group of experienced, skilled facilitators joining us to lead the workshops:  Alexa Bradley and Dave Mann, of the Grass Roots Policy Project, Carolyn Castore of the Midwest States Center, Phillip Cryan of ICAN and Matt Russell, of the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture. 

In the U.S. Senate, keynote speaker Senator Barack Obama – who began his career as a community organizer in Chicago – has focused on tackling the challenges of a globalized, 21st century world with fresh thinking and a politics that no longer settles for the lowest common denominator. Amid the partisanship and bickering of today's public debate, he still believes in the ability to unite people around a politics of purpose - a politics that puts solving the challenges of everyday Americans ahead of partisan calculation and political gain.  Whether it's the poverty exposed by Katrina, the genocide in Darfur, or the role of faith in our politics,

Barack Obama continues to speak out on the issues that will define America in the 21st

Century. This makes him the ideal speaker to include in our day-long exercise of using

Our Common Values to build progressive power. Seating is limited, and as a result

we are unable to provide entrance to the keynote speech to individuals or groups who

have not attended the entire Leadership Training Conference.

Seating is very limited for the Conference.  Please register no more than 1 individual(s).

Pre-registration is required. Enclosed you will find a Leadership Conference Registration Form.  Please complete the form and return it to us in the enclosed envelope along with your $35 per person registration fee. Your pre-registration must be received by April 9.  Registration for the workshop and keynote speaker is on a first come first serve basis. The Conference will be well worth your registration costs!

We have reserved a limited number of special-rate rooms at the nearby Stoney Creek Inn if you require overnight accommodations on April 21.  Rooms will be available on Saturday night at a rate of $79 plus taxes; to make room reservations call 800-659-2220.  To secure the special rate, mention Iowa Citizen Action Network’s name. Reservations must be made on or before April 9 to receive the special rate.

We are grateful for the support of your organization, and look forward to working with you in the future.  If you have any questions, please call Gayle Warner at 319/354-8116 or e-mail gwarner@iowacan.org.

I look forward to seeing you on April 21!

In Solidarity,
Betty Ahrens, Executive Director