The countdown to coalition is over! Following National Campus Compact’s decision to dissolve its affiliate model, our network was faced with an opportunity to redefine our organizational identity and recommit to the vision and values that have guided our work for the past 30 years. Over the last two years, the Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact team has listened, reflected, and worked diligently to come up with a new name and brand that demonstrates our values and honors the work you do on your campuses every day. We are thrilled to welcome you all to the next chapter of our organization as
Seed Coalition: Colleges and Universities strengthening education for an engaged democracy.
Why Seed Coalition?
Our team has engaged in the process of examining our “why” and synthesizing it into an organizational identity that speaks to the heart of what we do. This led us to Seed Coalition for a few reasons:
- The symbolic representation of seeds – We often talk about community and civic engagement work as “planting seeds” of change. Our logo, meant to resemble two hands holding a seed, symbolizes the partnerships we work to facilitate and support. It is our hope that those partnerships serve as catalysts for fostering educational and civic opportunities that have the potential to flourish within students over time.
- Connection to the Midwest – This coalition is place-based. Seed is a nod to the agricultural roots of our region.
- A commitment to education – We believe centering community and civic engagement strengthens education in ways that benefit both students and society at large.
- Our purpose: an engaged democracy – Our mission remains: to fulfill the public purpose of higher education. Our end goal is to prepare citizens to take an involved role in democracy, thus promoting a more engaged, just, and democratic society.
- We are a coalition– More than a network, we are a coalition: a group of people moving together toward action. Seed Coalition is an organizing body for sharing resources, facilitating connection and communication, and building capacity of individuals and institutions. We know this is collective work, and we can do it better when we do it together.
We invite you to take a moment to hear from a few members of the coalition as they speak to the meaning and opportunity behind this exciting change:
What to expect moving forward
Our new website will be launching in mid-April, after we complete our celebration of the Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact awards. Be on the lookout for communication and newsletters from our new email addresses ([email protected]) around the same time. We are excited to launch our first academic year as Seed Coalition with member renewal in June.
