Supporting Northwest Missouri's Journey in Dreaming Big and Growing Together
We live in a beautiful region in the heart of the country, with endless potential. To fully reach our potential, each community needs each other for the region to thrive. Like the monarch butterfly, our population has been challenged to face a decline in health, wealth, and population. In the case of the monarch, the effort of many people and the resiliency of monarch butterflies themselves, their population is slowly stabilizing to rise again. The same is happening for us in northwest Missouri!
Our region’s population and prosperity can rise again through thinking bigger and trying new ideas!
Maximize Northwest Missouri is the regional vitality initiative of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. Through a proven asset-based community development [ABCD] approach to coaching and training leaders, the Maximize NWMO Guiding Coalition supports leaders in many sectors and jurisdictions who are committed to working together to dream big, decide wisely, and maximize the region’s potential by growing together.
Connecting and Promoting the Region
We serve as a resource guide that is non-competitive, non-partisan, and non-duplicative. Our Network Support and Coordination Team is here to uplift the great things already taking place in the region and help the people who are willing and able to fill in any gaps.
This work is all about supporting meaningful and continuous advancement across traditional geographic, sector, and industry boundaries to help make a bigger difference together than any one organization, entity, or community can make on their own!
In addition to our leadership development and community coaching programs covering systems thinking, design thinking, community engagement, strategic action planning, perspective inclusivity, and more, we also provide an interactive website that is a public participation platform and portal of information for the region right here at www.maximizenwmo.org.
Maximize NWMO's Navigational Statements
Updated 11.2024 by the Maximize NWMO Regional Partner Council, a member group of the Guiding Coalition
VISION: A connected region where communities and counties work together to maximize the shared potential as an exceptional place to live, learn.
MISSION: Invite, inspire, and guide communities and counties to dream big, grow leaders, and collaborate across health care, economics, education, housing, and other quality of life aspects through connection and a proven set of tools for meaningful collaborACTION.
PURPOSE: Grow the region's population and prosperity by building resilient and innovative attitudes and behaviors and promoting a spirit of community through systematic and inclusive action.
Through these efforts, Maximize NWMO exists to help expand the region's leadership capability and capacity to sustain successful existing and new community development efforts. By following a proven approach that can transform how residents and other stakeholders contribute, belong and thrive, we work with people who are willing and able to act on shared strengths, challenges, and opportunities.
WHO IS INVITED? Anyone interested in helping to build a more thriving region, vibrant communities, and prosperous people.
A Proven Playbook for Advancing Communities through CollaborACTION
This community development approach improves quality of life collectively by helping people come together to act on what’s important to them. Through a series of questions and helpful resources, individuals, organizations, and communities are guided to discuss ideas, decide on options, and excel together. The Maximize [My Community] Journey inspires, informs, and empowers participants to learn and apply the playbook's tools that are helpful in creating the results wanted in communities, generation after generation.
The Maximize [My Community] Journey's Milestones:
- Knowing your story and better understanding what is happening in your community by listening to as many voices, perspectives, and sources of trusted data as possible.
- Looking deeper into the current realities within your community and envisioning an agreed-upon future story.
- Developing a complete plan and moving towards collaborACTION, cooperating, and working together while thinking innovatively.
- Aligning and integrating projects and ongoing processes to reach goals faster.
- Celebrating progress and looking at results to decide what to do next through repeating the sustainable cycle.
The milestones include and uplift existing efforts so that everyone can experience even greater outcomes more quickly by dreaming big and working together! Maximize NWMO supports purposeful performance excellence within the region!
Join the action and help maximize your region's potential!
Maximize NWMO exists to help guide and support local communities, regional organizations, and the region’s many individual formal, informal, and elected leaders. Our programs encourage people to dream big and work together in better knowing and understanding their current story through the gathering of facts and many diverse perspectives; envision a future story that is crafted by input from many voices sharing in the vision and setting priorities; and, taking action to create a new story by implementing a strategic action map of collaborative efforts.
Maximize NWMO Offerings:
Regional Forums Conversations
Broad gatherings of leaders and residents to share information, discuss challenges and opportunities that are common across traditional borders, and decide on what priorities to focus on in the short- and long-term.
Discovery Groups
Held as needed to pull experts together to dig deeper into priority topics and discover facts and perceptions helpful to decision-making.
CollaborACTION Teams
Project-focused teams of volunteers and professionals implementing strategies, projects, and initiatives aligned with the shared vision and goals chosen by those participating in the above programs and events.
Community Development Leadership Learning Programs
A series of programs for individuals, organizations, and local communities on how to collaboratively expand and strengthen local and regional connections, decide on shared priorities, and implement strategic action plans together.
- The Top 5 Impacts on Community Success - 30-45 minutes webinar or lunch speaker - FREE | Best for groups or individuals
- What is Community Development? - FREE webinar coming in Fall 2025! | Best for individuals
- Reaching Common Goals Faster: An Introduction to Community Excellence and The Maximize [My Community] Journey Playbook - Full-Day in person or 6 sessions live online - PROGRAM FEE (This program will also be released in Fall 2025 as an on-demand webinar series of 15 short videos.) | Best for individuals and small groups
- Building Strong Teams for Community Excellence - Yearlong monthly with both in-person and live online sessions - PROGRAM FEE with optional Community-Centered Coaching | Best for groups desiring to become more effective teams within their community or county
Community-Centered Coaching
In addition to participating in any and all of the above learning and connection activities, think of this opportunity as your local community’s personal coaching team. Quickly move your community to collaborACTION and continuously deepen leadership values, principles, and the innovative can-do spirit founded in The Journey over several years!
Join us today to learn how to make meaningful changes to improve our community’s knowledge and skills, health, wealth, and quality of life!
Just email together@maximizenwmo.org or call 816.588.2730.
You can also drop us an instant message on our Maximize Northwest Missouri Facebook page.
Maximize NWMO is the regional vitality initiative of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. It is made possible through partnerships with Communities of Excellence 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development (USDA-RD), University of Missouri Extension, Patterson Family Foundation, and the generosity of many private donors.
Supporting Northwest Missouri's Journey in Dreaming Big and Growing Together
We live in a beautiful region in the heart of the country, with endless potential. To fully reach our potential, each community needs each other for the region to thrive. Like the monarch butterfly, our population has been challenged to face a decline in health, wealth, and population. In the case of the monarch, the effort of many people and the resiliency of monarch butterflies themselves, their population is slowly stabilizing to rise again. The same is happening for us in northwest Missouri!
Our region’s population and prosperity can rise again through thinking bigger and trying new ideas!
Maximize Northwest Missouri is the regional vitality initiative of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. Through a proven asset-based community development [ABCD] approach to coaching and training leaders, the Maximize NWMO Guiding Coalition supports leaders in many sectors and jurisdictions who are committed to working together to dream big, decide wisely, and maximize the region’s potential by growing together.
Connecting and Promoting the Region
We serve as a resource guide that is non-competitive, non-partisan, and non-duplicative. Our Network Support and Coordination Team is here to uplift the great things already taking place in the region and help the people who are willing and able to fill in any gaps.
This work is all about supporting meaningful and continuous advancement across traditional geographic, sector, and industry boundaries to help make a bigger difference together than any one organization, entity, or community can make on their own!
In addition to our leadership development and community coaching programs covering systems thinking, design thinking, community engagement, strategic action planning, perspective inclusivity, and more, we also provide an interactive website that is a public participation platform and portal of information for the region right here at www.maximizenwmo.org.
Maximize NWMO's Navigational Statements
Updated 11.2024 by the Maximize NWMO Regional Partner Council, a member group of the Guiding Coalition
VISION: A connected region where communities and counties work together to maximize the shared potential as an exceptional place to live, learn.
MISSION: Invite, inspire, and guide communities and counties to dream big, grow leaders, and collaborate across health care, economics, education, housing, and other quality of life aspects through connection and a proven set of tools for meaningful collaborACTION.
PURPOSE: Grow the region's population and prosperity by building resilient and innovative attitudes and behaviors and promoting a spirit of community through systematic and inclusive action.
Through these efforts, Maximize NWMO exists to help expand the region's leadership capability and capacity to sustain successful existing and new community development efforts. By following a proven approach that can transform how residents and other stakeholders contribute, belong and thrive, we work with people who are willing and able to act on shared strengths, challenges, and opportunities.
WHO IS INVITED? Anyone interested in helping to build a more thriving region, vibrant communities, and prosperous people.
A Proven Playbook for Advancing Communities through CollaborACTION
This community development approach improves quality of life collectively by helping people come together to act on what’s important to them. Through a series of questions and helpful resources, individuals, organizations, and communities are guided to discuss ideas, decide on options, and excel together. The Maximize [My Community] Journey inspires, informs, and empowers participants to learn and apply the playbook's tools that are helpful in creating the results wanted in communities, generation after generation.
The Maximize [My Community] Journey's Milestones:
- Knowing your story and better understanding what is happening in your community by listening to as many voices, perspectives, and sources of trusted data as possible.
- Looking deeper into the current realities within your community and envisioning an agreed-upon future story.
- Developing a complete plan and moving towards collaborACTION, cooperating, and working together while thinking innovatively.
- Aligning and integrating projects and ongoing processes to reach goals faster.
- Celebrating progress and looking at results to decide what to do next through repeating the sustainable cycle.
The milestones include and uplift existing efforts so that everyone can experience even greater outcomes more quickly by dreaming big and working together! Maximize NWMO supports purposeful performance excellence within the region!
Join the action and help maximize your region's potential!
Maximize NWMO exists to help guide and support local communities, regional organizations, and the region’s many individual formal, informal, and elected leaders. Our programs encourage people to dream big and work together in better knowing and understanding their current story through the gathering of facts and many diverse perspectives; envision a future story that is crafted by input from many voices sharing in the vision and setting priorities; and, taking action to create a new story by implementing a strategic action map of collaborative efforts.
Maximize NWMO Offerings:
Regional Forums Conversations
Broad gatherings of leaders and residents to share information, discuss challenges and opportunities that are common across traditional borders, and decide on what priorities to focus on in the short- and long-term.
Discovery Groups
Held as needed to pull experts together to dig deeper into priority topics and discover facts and perceptions helpful to decision-making.
CollaborACTION Teams
Project-focused teams of volunteers and professionals implementing strategies, projects, and initiatives aligned with the shared vision and goals chosen by those participating in the above programs and events.
Community Development Leadership Learning Programs
A series of programs for individuals, organizations, and local communities on how to collaboratively expand and strengthen local and regional connections, decide on shared priorities, and implement strategic action plans together.
- The Top 5 Impacts on Community Success - 30-45 minutes webinar or lunch speaker - FREE | Best for groups or individuals
- What is Community Development? - FREE webinar coming in Fall 2025! | Best for individuals
- Reaching Common Goals Faster: An Introduction to Community Excellence and The Maximize [My Community] Journey Playbook - Full-Day in person or 6 sessions live online - PROGRAM FEE (This program will also be released in Fall 2025 as an on-demand webinar series of 15 short videos.) | Best for individuals and small groups
- Building Strong Teams for Community Excellence - Yearlong monthly with both in-person and live online sessions - PROGRAM FEE with optional Community-Centered Coaching | Best for groups desiring to become more effective teams within their community or county
Community-Centered Coaching
In addition to participating in any and all of the above learning and connection activities, think of this opportunity as your local community’s personal coaching team. Quickly move your community to collaborACTION and continuously deepen leadership values, principles, and the innovative can-do spirit founded in The Journey over several years!
Join us today to learn how to make meaningful changes to improve our community’s knowledge and skills, health, wealth, and quality of life!
Just email together@maximizenwmo.org or call 816.588.2730.
You can also drop us an instant message on our Maximize Northwest Missouri Facebook page.
Maximize NWMO is the regional vitality initiative of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. It is made possible through partnerships with Communities of Excellence 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development (USDA-RD), University of Missouri Extension, Patterson Family Foundation, and the generosity of many private donors.
