Kim Callahan

(she/her)
Membership & Database Coordinator

kim@iowacci.org

Kim joined Iowa CCI's membership team in August. She is excited to help build the people power that drives the work. She comes to the organization from a non-profit that focuses on poverty awareness and social justice programming. Kim spent the last 2 years in an elected position in Iowa infrastructure politics. She spent many months showing up on Zoom, trying to learn, and building relationships. Kim is grateful for the opportunity to meet so many Iowans across the state while serving in this capacity. She continues to be involved in this work.

Kim is a Des Moines native and graduate of the University of Iowa. After finishing her degree, she moved to Chicago with her husband. They loved the city and stayed for 11 years. In 2005, her family moved to Vancouver, BC, Canada, and enjoyed an incredible experience living abroad. Ask her about the healthcare! Kim and her family returned to the States in 2011 and settled in Des Moines. Kim is a proud public-school parent. She believes in equity, empathy, and compassion. She knows we all do better when we all do better.

Matthew Covington

(he/him)
Strategic Operations Director
matthew@iowacci.org

After completing a year in Americorps doing lead-abatement in Minneapolis and receiving his degree in Public Policy, Matthew knew he wanted to work with everyday people to push for bold policies that put people before profits and communities before corporations. He joined CCI in 2007 as a neighborhood organizer, and since then has worked on issues related to predatory lending and banking reform, protecting and expanding Social Security and Medicare, and most recently our work to get profits out of healthcare.

Hugh Espey

(he/him)
Strategic Adviser
hugh@iowacci.org

Hugh has been an Iowa CCI organizer since 1979. He’s worked on lots of issues over the years, and has seen the organization grow and change in big ways. Hugh grew up in Quincy, Illinois – still has family there – and came to Iowa in 1972 to go to college. He’s been here ever since. 

Amanda Gran

(she/her)
Membership and Database Assistant
amanda@iowacci.org

Amanda has been working part-time at CCI since 2018.  She keeps the database working, processes your donations, and sends you lots of mail. She loves working at CCI because everyone deserves clean water, healthcare, to earn a true living wage, and to feel safe in their community. She hopes that her behind-the-scenes work helps the organizers in their work of changing the world.  

When not playing in the database, Amanda can be found dancing, drumming, knitting, sewing, cooking, reading, or playing video games with her two children. She graduated from Carleton College in 2000 and made Des Moines her home in 2005.

Karsen Duve

(she/her)
Farm & Environment Organizer
karsen@iowacci.org

Karsen started as a Farm & Environment organizer in December of 2023. She graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Studies, with emphasis in sociology, sustainability, and communications. Karsen grew up in and still lives in West Des Moines, and in her free time enjoys being outside, movies, writing, sewing, and card games

Jaime Izaguirre

(he/him)
Community Organizer
jaime@iowacci.org

Jaime’s role at CCI focuses on getting profits out of healthcare. He’s from Muscatine, Iowa and found CCI when he went to college at Drake University in Des Moines. The thing that most inspires Jaime in this work is the thought of millions of people like his family standing up for what they deserve.

Taylor Nelson

(she/her)
Movement Politics Organizer
taylor@iowacci.org

Taylor is a Movement Politics Organizer who builds CCI Action’s people and political power through issue-driven candidates and campaigns that put people before profits and communities before corporations.

Taylor grew up in Des Moines, graduated from Carlisle High School in 2015, graduated from Coe College with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies/public relations in 2019, and has done a mixture of field organizing, advocacy, and communications work at the local, state, and federal levels in Iowa and Arizona. Taylor lives in Des Moines with her cats Ripley, Ebby, and Simba. She enjoys reading, watching TV, seeing the theater, listening to music, and getting to know Des Moines better.

Lisa Whelan

(she/her)
Executive Director
lisa@iowacci.org

Lisa works closely with CCI’s key leadership to guide the overall direction of the organization, manage institutional fundraising strategies, coordinate training opportunities and ensure a unified approach to our organizing across issue campaigns. She supports CCI’s Healthcare Justice campaigns and manages our healthcare organizing staff. 

She joined the CCI staff in 2002 as a Farming & Environment organizer after spending two years at People’s Action (then National People’s Action) as a research analyst. She became the Rural Project Director in 2006 and the Operations Director in 2010. She returned to CCI in 2019 after working as medical social worker for a central Iowa Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) for four years.

Kira Murrill

(she/her)
Farm & Environment Organizer
kira@iowacci.org

Kira’s role is to connect with people on their concerns for Iowa’s land and environment and unite them in the fight against factory farms and CO2 pipelines. She believes that power belongs to the people and admires the strong community that Iowa CCI offers.

Kira has spent most of her life in one town or another across Iowa. The youngest of four, she became the first of her family to complete college when she earned her associate in marketing. Kira believes that systemic change is needed to improve the quality of life in all communities. That starts with tearing down the walls that stand between us and our neighbors. 

Sharon Zanders-Ackiss

(she/her)
Racial Justice and Equity Director sharon@iowacci.org

Sharon has been an organizer with Iowa CCI for 26 years. She supervises the Immigrant Rights and Racial Justice Campaigns. She has always fought for and with the underdog. 

Working for CCI allowed her the opportunity to continue standing up and fighting for justice. She is proud of all the good things that were accomplished over her years of doing community organizing, fighting for justice and developing leaders to pass the baton to.