DES MOINES, IA (March 20, 2023) – ICON Water Trails is pleased to announce that it has hired Monica Converse to serve as the organization’s Project Manager. Converse fills this newly created position, established to bring five of ICON’s downtown sites to fruition over the next few years. ICON Water Trails will break ground on the first of its downtown access points, the Scott Avenue dam site, in April.

Converse most recently served as the Executive Director for Go Polk City Chamber + Economic Development, but most of her career has been spent as a civil engineer leading within the project management space. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge related to construction and development along with a skillset honed in relationship building, stakeholder engagement, and process implementation.

“We are thrilled to have Monica leading the charge on ICON’s downtown site installments,” Hannah Inman, Interim Director for ICON Water Trails, said. “Her expertise within the nonprofit sector adds to her rapport with our community partners, and we are confident that she will provide both the technical and relational competencies needed to be successful in this endeavor.”

Converse is an Iowa native who graduated from Iowa State in 2007. As a child, she spent time canoeing and tubing on the Turkey River and hiking in the woods on her family farm. Converse now lives with her husband and two children in Polk City where they enjoy many of the city’s outdoor amenities. Her first day with ICON is March 20.

About ICON Water Trails

Iowa Confluence Water Trails — ICON, for short — will connect 80+ improvements across 150 miles of rivers and creeks in Central Iowa. Initiated by the Central Iowa Water Trails Consortium, including Capital Crossroads, Catch Des Moines, the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, Des Moines Area MPO, Greater Des Moines Partnership and the Great Outdoors Foundation, ICON represents a new commitment to water safety and conservation as well as a concerted effort to drive economic development, visitor attraction and workforce retention. Learn more at ICONwatertrails.com. Follow along on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.