Community Vitality Center Mission

The mission of the Iowa Community Vitality Center (CVC) is to serve as a catalyst for innovative projects and initiatives designed to improve the vitality of Iowa communities. The CVC facilitates networking among small and medium size rural communities, sponsors policy analyses, engages communities in dialogue, and fosters discussion among rural and urban interests.

Specifically, the CVC

• identifies policy topics of concern to rural communities;
• commissions research to analyze the priority policy topics and differential impacts of public policy on rural communities and rural areas;
• assesses best practices, lessons learned and performance of alternative strategies to improve rural vitality;
• fosters collaborative public-private partnerships to engage rural communities and diverse rural and urban interests in dialogue.

The Community Vitality Center is an independent policy analysis center established as a joint collaboration between Iowa State University and rural community leaders representing diverse public and private sector interests from across the state of Iowa.

The CVC Governance Board has adopted three primary initiatives:

• Enhancing Community Entrepreneurship in Iowa
• Improving Community Foundations and Philanthropy in Iowa
• Identifying and Analyzing Actionable Elements of the Rural Policy Differential

Iowa State University Extension provides administrative support and serves as the fiscal agent for the Community Vitality Center and its projects.