2026 Maximize NWMO Celebration Summit

The fourth annual event celebrating the accomplishments of all those involved in The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri's Regional Vitality Initiative, Maximize NWMO, will be held on September 23, 2026 in St. Joseph, MO.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

• Pre-Summit from 8:30-10:00 am for Session 12 of the current 2025-2026 BST cohort.
• Keynote Speaker (10:30 - 11:20 a.m.): Building Vibrant Communities, Quint Studer, national award-winning leader, author, and philanthropist
• Regional Roundtable Discussion: (11:30 - 12:15 p.m.)
• Break
• Lunch (12:30 - 1:00 p.m.)
• Community Progress Presentations (1:00-1:30 p.m.)
• Awards Presentation (1:30-2:00 p.m.)
• 1st session of Building Strong Teams for Community Excellence (2:00-4:00 pm) + Invite anyone who wants to stay for free as an introduction

REGISTER NOW TO SECURE YOUR SEAT

https://bit.ly/2026CelebrationSummit

2025 Maximize NWMO Celebration

The third annual event celebrating the accomplishments of all those involved in The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri's Regional Vitality Initiative, Maximize NWMO, was held over lunch on September 24, 2025 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. at The Comfort Inn & Suites, Chillicothe, MO.

More than 50 people gathered to connect and reconnect in person and acknowledge the investment of time, talent, and treasure by many. Several people were honored with awards including:

• Maximize NWMO Vision Award: Mary Hinde, President/CEO, The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri (Buchanan and Daviess Counties)
• Regional Navigator Award: Jackie Spainhower, Community Development Specialist, MU Extension (Worth County)
• Local Navigator Award: Caitlin Silver, Owner, Silver Consulting, and volunteer for M.A.I.N. [Maysville Area Improvement Network (DeKalb County)
• Special Recognition: Sandra Potthoff, PhD, Mentor to Maximize NWMO, Communities of Resilience & Excellence [C.O.R.E.], formerly Communities of Excellence 2026 (Minnesota)

The awards presentation was followed by a Regional Roundtable Discussion brainstorming answers to the questions, "What can individuals do to make NWMO feel like home . . . a place to live and love?" The many ideas shared will help the Maximize NWMO Communications CollaborACTION Team design a 2026 social media campaign titled, "MAKE IT HOME: Live Local, Love Local."

The event was a great celebration of the progress being made to collaborACTIVELY maximize the potential of this great region where we live, learn, work, give, and play together!

2024 Maximize NWMO Celebration

The second annual event celebrating the accomplishments of all those involved in The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri's Regional Vitality Initiative, Maximize NWMO, was held over lunch on September 25, 2024 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:55 p.m. at The Community Courtyard, 117 W Maple Street, Plattsburg, MO.

We enjoyed gathering volunteers, supporters, and partners from across our 18-county region to reconnect in person and acknowledge the investment of time, talent, and treasure by many. Several people were honored with regional and community navigator awards. Thanks for celebrating the progress being made to collaborACTIVELY maximize the potential of this great region where we live, learn, work, give, and play together!

2023 Maximize NWMO Celebration

The inaugural event celebrating the accomplishments of all those involved in The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri's Regional Vitality Initiative, Maximize NWMO, was held over lunch on September 13, 2023, at The Pearl in Hamilton, MO. Approximately 50 people gathered to reconnect in person and acknowledge the investment of time, talent, and treasure by many. Three individuals, in particular, were honored with the following awards:

2023 VISION AWARD - Lowell Kruse presented by Steve Wenger

2023 REGIONAL NAVIGATOR AWARD - Max Summers presented by Rachel Kagay

2023 COMMUNITY NAVIGATOR AWARD - Linda Place presented by Steve Wenger

Please scroll down for snapshots of key volunteers, donors, and measures of success over the past several years! For a copy of the event program with a listing of names, please download the PDF from the library on this webpage.