Courtney Ackerson believes her background in the nonprofit sector will serve her well in her new role as the executive director of the Bondurant Chamber of Commerce, a position she started in March.

Ackerson, who is also a licensed therapist, recalls getting involved in volunteer work as part of her sorority in college, later volunteering with the board of directors for the Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association. She said she caught the volunteer bug and began engaging with various boards, including the Drake Neighborhood Association. 

She has continued her work with the Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association, serving as its executive director along with her new job leading the Bondurant Chamber of Commerce.

It is that job and her work with the neighborhood association that she feels will benefit her the most as she tackles her new role, Ackerson said.

“I learned about the benefits of getting businesses together and community organizing,” she said. “I learned a lot from that process. I really like working with businesses and making sure they thrive.”

The Business Record sat down recently with Ackerson to learn more about her and her vision for leading the Bondurant Chamber of Commerce. Her responses have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

What attracted you to the Bondurant position?

I like learning about neighborhoods and why they have business here and residential there, and why zoning is the way it is. So I just got interested in that. When I saw the post from Bondurant that they were hiring an executive director, I felt like that could be a good fit. I told them, “I know I’m a therapist but hear me out. I have a lot of volunteer experience that could help you guys and really, the chamber is a nonprofit and the skills I’ve learned from other nonprofits that I volunteer for have shaped me and given me a wide perspective.”

How do you see your experience with your prior nonprofit roles helping you in your new position?

The background I have in policy development can help sustain things long-term. Having that process, that procedure, I think can help them. I’m still diving into that. They’re pretty organized and have a lot of that hammered out, but I’m trying to use those skills to help them sustain that so that the next board coming in gets good orientation. And I think my people skills, too. Just working with businesses. It’s very similar to the Iowa Mental Health Counselors Association. You have to reach out to people and say, “Hey, do you know we exist? Do you know what we do?” You need to have those organic conversations and be where you need to be so you can meet new people and branch out.

What is your management style?

I’m very creative. I’m very organized. I think it’s important to have the space to come in and dump crazy ideas and see what sticks and what works. So I’m comfortable trying something and if it doesn’t succeed, trying it again or fixing it. I think I’m very comfortable with messing up, in a good way. It gives freedom for all those board members to come in with their own passions. We have a group mission, but each follows their own passion, and then how can I as executive director help you execute that? How can you surround yourself with the right people to help you execute that?

You grew up in Carlisle before moving to Urbandale as a child. How do you maintain that small-town culture and feel in a community that is growing as fast as Bondurant?

I don’t know the perfect combination yet, but I think creating destinations to pull people in. I think of a town square or having that congregate place for people to gather and for events to happen where people see each other. Giving them that sense of community. People want to feel a slice of home. I think people look for that, and Bondurant needs to be that, so I think we need to capitalize on that.

Describe the importance of volunteering.

In the nonprofit world, we have big businesses that thrive all around us and the only way nonprofits will continue to work is if your time, your energy, your money goes somehow into nonprofits. The amount of time a board dedicates to make sure a nonprofit runs is insane, and it’s so cool. But it takes a lot of time and energy and they need a break. So it can’t be the same people doing the same work all the time. So if you think you can’t contribute to a nonprofit board, you’re out of your mind. Go do it. Pick something you are passionate about. Find a mission that speaks to your heart and go give back in some way, shape or form because we need you. If you think you have some sort of skill set, we probably need it.

What tips would you give someone thinking of volunteering about balancing their time?

I think three ways. First, find joy in what you are doing and find energy from it. Organize and stack your life to help with your time management. And just do it.