Want to Run for the North Loop Board? Your Questions, Answered
There will be five open board seats at the 2027 North Loop Neighborhood Association Annual Meeting, which will be held on January 27, 2027. Board members serve two-year terms. Interested in running? Here are answers to the most common questions we hear about board service:
What do you people actually do?
We’re all volunteers who take on projects that will connect neighbors, beautify the neighborhood or promote our business community both inside and outside the North Loop. For example, there are some board member-volunteers who are passionate about green spaces, so they spend time coordinating Service Saturday projects and volunteers, meeting with Park Board staff, counting trees (really) and battling the stubborn buckthorn that chokes other plants along the river.
How much time does all that take?
It depends on your project. If one of your projects is pulling off a community event, like the Halloween Party, you’ll put in 30-40 hours coordinating the details of the event, but you might have a lighter load on non-event months. If your projects have a more regular cadence to them, like writing the monthly newsletter, you can count on 3-4 hours a month for something like that.
In addition to project/initiative work, it’s about two hours each month to attend monthly board meetings, plus an additional hour or two each month if you also serve on one of our committees. You’re only allowed to miss two board meetings each year.
There are committees too?
Yes! Board members also typically serve on one or more committees that align with their interests and expertise. We currently have three committees:
- Business Engagement: These volunteers promote the North Loop business community through events and social media, as well as connect business owners to each other through business networking events. These volunteers also administer our Business Collaborative.
- Planning+Zoning: P+Z listens to proposals from developers and entrepreneurs who want to do business in North Loop. Most of these volunteers are long-term North Loop residents who have expertise in architecture, commercial real estate development and urban planning.
- Parks+Public Art: These volunteers coordinate Service Saturday riverfront projects, pursue public art opportunities and work with Park Board staff on initiatives like the new North Loop Park on N. 3rd Street and the new dog park.
Important note! You don’t have to be on the board to volunteer on a committee! Just show up to a committee meeting to learn more.
Who’s allowed to run for the board?
Any North Loop resident, property owner, business owner or business representative.
Where do you need help the most?
All candidates with a love for North Loop who can handle the time commitments are welcome to run, but we really need more people to help with business engagement, graphic design, feature writing, social media and video production.
I’m in! What’s next?
- Great! Tell us more about you here. We’ll host candidate information sessions in December so you can meet current board members, ask questions and learn more. Plus, we want you to get used to attending meetings!
- Produce a 45-second video with your pitch. We produce a video for our website featuring all board candidates introducing themselves and making their pitches, and we also play this video at the Annual Meeting. Candidate nominations are accepted up to and during the Annual Meeting on January 27, but to be included in the candidate video, we need to know you want to run by January 13 and your candidate video sent to us by January 20.
- Plan to be at the January 27 Annual Meeting. Board candidates are encouraged to visit with neighbors starting at 5pm, and will be invited to the stage at 6pm for a 60-second pitch to the audience.
- Voting will occur during the Annual Meeting, and you’ll be notified of the results within 24 hours.
Thanks for your interest, and thank you for loving North Loop!
— By Mary Binkley, NLNA President