TWC Breakout Session: How to Run for and Serve on Something

April 16, 2025

 

Join local leaders Jenn and Alex for a helpful session where they will share their personal journeys of stepping up to run for council.

Are you motivated to make changes in your community? Are you not sure where to begin? Hear about what inspired their decisions, the steps they took along the way, and how they decided on key issues to tackle first. Don’t miss this chance to find your own path to make change!

Participants will learn:

  1. What motivated local leaders, Jenn Wolff and Alex Watters, to run for City Council.
  2. What steps they took to gain their positions.
  3. Tips for how to take on a leadership role.

 

 

When: 
At the Together We Can Conference, May 3rd, 2025

Breakout Session/Time: 
Session One from 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

Track: 
Youth and Young Adult Leaders

Room: 
A-1

REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE HERE

 

 

 

Speaker Bio:

 

Alex Watters, B.S., M.S.; Alumni Engagement Director, Morningside University; City Councilman

 

Alex Watters grew up in Northwest Iowa, where his father was a police officer and his mother worked in their family-owned business. He moved to Sioux City in 2004 to attend Morningside University earning a degree in political science, followed by a Master's in negotiation and dispute resolution from Creighton University. After an internship with the US Department of Education in Washington, DC, Alex returned to Northwest Iowa in 2012 as a Field Organizer for the President’s re-election campaign. He currently is the Alumni Engagement Director for Morningside University and has been on the City Council for Sioux City since 2017.

 

 

Jenn Wolff, B.A., M.O.T., O.T.; Community Outreach Specialist, Waverly Caring Assistance Network and Waverly, Iowa City Councilwoman 

 

Jenn Wolff is a Community Outreach Specialist in Waverly, Iowa.   She is also on city council.  Jenn became disabled during graduate school which allowed her to experience needing care before providing it as a therapist.  This also opened her eyes to systemic discrimination the disability community and other marginalized communities deal with on a regular basis.  She organized with #UpgradeMedicaid to collect and share the stories of those most impacted by the care crisis happening in Iowa and across the nation to create change.