We’ve both served on community boards and committees.
From local groups to state and national boards and organizations, we’ve met and planned and worked and volunteered. We’ve been part of arts and history groups, educational and workforce advisory boards, entrepreneur events, professional associations, local and rural initiatives.
Our work helped us find ways to work inside and outside of formal groups.
Deb holds an Institute for Organizational Management certification, graduated from Leadership Iowa and the Ag-Urban Institute in Iowa.
Becky completed the Governing Officials Institute in Oklahoma. She earned her BS in Business and certificates in Facilitating for Results and Quality Leadership.
Sometimes you have to understand the system in order to find a better way.
We’ve listened to over 1700 rural people in our Survey of Rural Challenges. We understand small town realities.
Our own personal experiences working in business, agriculture, services, media, nonprofits and associations drive us to keep things simple and practical.
We’re not biased toward any specific program or solution. We give honest advice.
Deb was the director of the Chamber of Commerce in Webster City, Iowa, and Becky was running a retail store in Alva, Oklahoma.
"We should do something together to serve small town people," Becky said.
"I don't want to wait," Deb said.
So we started that week.
Deb lives in Mississippi, and Becky lives in Oklahoma in a house her grandparents built.
This pic was in Emporia, Kansas, in 2021.
Building Community and saving your town can be overwhelming when you try to do it all alone. This year our focus is helping you along the way.
Photo from Dallas, 2023