Amy McAlpine grew up much of her life in Sioux Center, but she feels more knowledgeable, better equipped and more connected than ever before in her hometown.
The data and compliance specialist for Promise Community Health Center was among 20 professionals to graduate Wednesday from the Leadership Sioux Center program as part of its fourth class.
The intensive, eight-month program involved monthly, full-day sessions that explored various aspects of Sioux Center’s visionary past and its collaborative and progressive mindset. That education was mixed in with leadership training.
In the process, the program’s goal is to sustain and build upon an environment of success as the community transitions to new leadership in the future.
“There are a few qualities that stand out as essential to past success of Sioux Center and as a challenge to our group to continue on: collaborating with others groups and organizations, proactively and generously investing in the community, and striving for the perfect mix of humility and passion,” McAlpine said.
Monthly themes for this year’s class were:
October – Leadership Topics and Retail;
November – History of Sioux Center and Agriculture;
December – Education;
January – County and City Government;
February – Trip to State Capitol in Des Moines;
March – Business and Industry;
April – Diversity;
May – DISC Personality Assessment and “Now What?” discussion.
McAlpine shared her reflections about the Leadership Sioux Center experience:
Q. Why were you interested in participating in Leadership Sioux Center?
A. I honestly love to learn and loved the idea of being in that role of a student each month, learning about my hometown and leadership topics.
Q. What were the most interesting topics and/or places that you visited?
A. The tours were incredibly interesting – we visited places like Casey’s Bakery, Smithfield, Sioux Center Health, Family Crisis Center, Promise, Dykstra Dairy, the county courthouse, jail and the State Capitol. I was also able to do a full tour of Premier Communications and present a Business Case Study with a group. The tour and project gave me a lot of insight into their history, services and impact on the community.
Q. How will this program benefit you in the future?
A. I feel much more invested in the growth and future of Sioux Center. It takes a lot of people to help shape a healthy, positive community. With the help of the program, I’m starting to see what my role – and also Promise’s role – in that growth could look like.
Q. What stood out to you the most from what you learned?
A. Talking about topics like the growth of Sioux Center and its strengths and challenges was really eye-opening. I haven’t always had a clear picture of the history of Sioux Center or the proactive planning and collaboration that has taken place. We talked a lot about issues around employment, housing, economic development and city planning in general. I feel like I didn’t have a lot of insight into those areas, so the sessions really helped broaden my view.
Q. What was it like for you to be part of this group of participants?
A. It was an amazing group of people, and I loved connecting with them each month. It was very fun to go to Des Moines as a group. We all represented very different organizations, and so we often had a different lens on various topics. I enjoyed sharing more about Promise with the group. Promise was able to help lead the “Diversity” session, which prompted good discussion, and the topics of diversity, privilege and the challenges of certain groups in our community really resonated with many individuals.”
PAST PARTICIPANTS:
Amy McAlpine is the third person to represent Promise Community Health Center in the Leadership Sioux Center program. Jessica Mora, office manager and outreach coordinator, graduated from the program with the inaugural class in 2015, and Derrick Vander Waal, public relations officer, graduated in 2016.
MORE ABOUT AMY:
Amy McAlpine was born and raised in Sioux Center, but her family also lived in Costa Rica, Mexico and Bolivia for mission work.
After graduating from Sioux Center High School in 2006, she earned a bachelor’s degree in linguistics and international studies in 2009 from Central College in Pella. She worked as a quality assurance manager at Community Support Advocates in Des Moines for five years before moving back to Sioux Center and starting as the executive assistant at Promise Community Health Center in January 2015. She assumed her current role as data and compliance specialist in July 2016.
Amy and her husband, David – who works at Peoples Bank Wealth Management in Sioux Center and was a 2017 Leadership Sioux Center graduate – have two boys, Sam, 3, and Paul, 1. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, especially nonfiction; listening to podcasts; cooking and baking new recipes; playing with her boys; and traveling.