Leadership and Partnership: A Message from IEC's New President

Hello IEC members and supporters,

Thank you for investing your time and energy in Iowa’s future. Since 1995, our organization has focused on building a brighter and healthier future for Iowans through evidence-based advocacy and education. Our aim is to achieve our mission of creating a safe, healthy environment and sustainable future for all Iowans by inclusion of diverse staff, members, volunteers, and other stakeholders. 

I joined the Iowa Environmental Council (“IEC”) Board of Directors in 2012. I am proud to say I am a native Iowan having grown up in Des Moines. I also had the opportunity to spend five years living in Hawaii where I met my husband. After I graduated from college in Honolulu, we moved to Iowa City so that my husband could finish his undergraduate degree and I could go to law school. We made the decision to live and work in Des Moines and eventually had two daughters who are now six and thirteen.

We are blessed to live across the street from one of Des Moines’ beautiful parks and the entrance to the region’s extensive bike trail system. I appreciate the natural beauty and welcoming nature of our city and state each and every day.  

It is for the future of my children and all of our children that I have served as a board member of IEC for nearly 10 years. My personal goals for IEC are to provide increased awareness across the state of the need for clean energy and clean water and to significantly expand the diversity of our membership base. I want Iowa to continue to be a place we are all proud to call home. 

Long-term, I hope that together we can continue to advocate at the state and local levels for the protection of Iowa’s natural resources. I would like to see government officials and business leaders embrace our goals as mutually beneficial and obtainable instead of seeing organizations like ours as an obstacle. While business development and economic growth are important, it should not be at the expense of the environment. I hope we can balance state policy discussions, as well as other conversations, through education and coalition building to support Iowans’ rights to a clean and safe environment for many generations to come.  

Once again, thank you for contributing your time, talents, and treasures to IEC.  

 - Katie Cownie, IEC Board President