Background

Ed Fallon

Ed Fallon attended Marlboro College in Vermont for two years, after which he traveled the world for six years.  He worked on two farms in Nova Scotia, hiked the Pilgrims Way in southern England, stayed for three weeks with Carmelite nuns at a monastery in Cairo, spent time on a kibbutz in Israel, and served as a Franciscan Volunteer on an Indian reservation in northern Wisconsin.  In the mid 1980s, he attended Drake University, where he received a degree in religious studies. 

From 1986 to 1992, Ed worked in the peace movement.  He organized the Iowa stretch of The Great Peace March and founded a local peace group to work on a nuclear test ban, reducing military spending, and providing instruction in conflict management in the schools. Well-versed in the writings of Mahatma Gandhi, Ed traveled to India in 1995 to study ways in which modern Indians continue to use Gandhi’s ideas of non-violence to address contemporary social and political problems. 

From 1993 to 2006, Ed served seven terms in the Iowa Legislature, representing residents of downtown Des Moines, the surrounding neighborhoods and the City’s northeast side. Ed’s focus as a lawmaker was to champion the needs of constituency groups treated unfairly by government or neglected by the majority of policy makers.  He also became a leader on land-use, the environment, reforming tax increment financing (TIF), and opposing corporate welfare.

In 1998, Ed helped found 1000 Friends of Iowa, a land-use and anti-urban sprawl group. He served as executive director for five years.  In 2006, he ran for governor in a four-way Democratic Primary, receiving 26% of the vote – far more than the 5% - 10% pundits predicted. 

Ed is an accomplished musician on many instruments and speaks French and Spanish.  Ed was raised Catholic and considers himself staunchly ecumenical.  He lived in the inner-city of Des Moines for nineteen years and now resides in the Sherman Hill neighborhood.  He is an avid gardener and for many years grew much of his family’s food on land reclaimed from a clay parking lot.  He also established a community garden in the inner-city and maintains strong connections to his father’s farm in Ireland, where he organized the planting of 25,000 oak trees in 1999. 

Ed’s passion for justice inspires him, and his life is committed to working for progressive reform, both within and outside the political process.  While Ed feels he has been able to accomplish much during his years as a state lawmaker and through other venues of public service, what gives him the most satisfaction is when someone says, “Years ago, you helped me and my family with a problem and our lives are better for it.

Lynn Heuss

Lynn was a stay-at-home mom for 14 years and was active in church, community and school activities during that time.  She has three children: Jessica, a veterinary medicine student at Iowa State University; Alec, a student at DMACC-Urban in Des Moines; and, Samantha, a student at DMACC in Ankeny.  In 1996 she attended Grand View College part-time, eventually moved to full-time and received her bachelor's degree in religion in December, 2002.  She has also done post-graduate work in Theology at the University of Notre Dame. 

In mid-2003, she was hired as the executive director of The Connection Cafe', a volunteer-operated free-meal program for the homeless, low-income and working poor of Des Moines.  This ministry was an ecumenical effort of four downtown churches working to address the needs of the poor.  The program began by providing lunch three days a week, and increased to four meals a week after one year.  There are approximately 30 organizations involved with over 200 people volunteering each month to provide and serve the meals.  In 2006 she left to work in politics on Ed Fallon's gubernatorial campaign as press secretary and scheduler.  When Fallon was defeated in the primary, she went to work for Denise O'Brien, the Democratic candidate for Secretary of Agriculture, and helped several other candidates throughout the state.  In 2008 she was the campaign manager in Fallon's bid for Congress. 

Heuss is motivated by her passion for justice and the common good.  She is especially interested in working with others to restore the resilience and vitality to local neighborhoods and communities through sustainable practices.

I'M for Iowa

An Independence Movement for Iowa (I'M for Iowa) is a partnership set up by Lynn and Ed in 2006.  The business structure provides a broader scope for social and political activism than is allowed under a non-profit.  I'M for Iowa is supported by people who share Ed and Lynn's vision for progressive reform and who want to invest in their work.