Heather Sievers of Altoona was elected to the Heartland AEA Board of Directors during a special director district convention on Jan. 20, 2025. She fills the seat of Kelly Simmons who resigned from the Board in fall 2024. Sievers will represent the Baxter, Bondurant-Farrar, Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell, Lynnville-Sully, Madrid, Newton, North Polk, PCM and Southeast Polk school districts as the District 1 board member.
Sievers holds master’s degrees in counseling psychology and clinical nurse leadership and currently works as a Manager of Performance Improvement focusing on improving operations, financial health and care delivery for a healthcare system. She is the founder of Advocates for Iowa’s Children, a lobbying group focused on community education and legislative advocacy for Iowa’s AEAs and the public education system. Her daughter, Rowan, lives with rare disabilities, and Heartland AEA has been supporting her and their family since she was an infant.
Why were you interested in being a member of the Heartland AEA Board of Directors?
My daughter’s life changed because Heartland AEA was a part of hers. I founded Advocates for Iowa’s Children to bring educators and families across the state to advocate for AEAs and the public education system at the state capitol. When state legislation changed the structure of how AEAs were able to deliver services and cut millions of dollars from special education services, I ran for the Iowa House of Representatives to continue my advocacy work. I will not stop fighting for AEAs and having the opportunity to serve on the Board is an honor that I cannot really express. I want to share my gratitude through action.
From your perspective, why are AEAs important to Iowa’s education system?
This is a gold-standard system that other states are trying to replicate from in-home Early ACCESS services to integrated providers in our schools. AEA providers start early intervention and support transition into early preschool to give children the best chance of success when they need extra support. They are parent advocates, too.
Many people know how AEAs serve children with disabilities or special needs but do not know about the services provided within media services or professional development. An example within media services is the delivery of books, technology and science kits to schools when many could never afford it. AEAs had economy-of-scale purchasing ability to close equity gaps for rural communities before the changes in legislation in 2024. This made sure every child and every school had the services and the materials they needed to provide an equitable and quality education to all students while supporting training and development opportunities for their amazing teachers. AEAs are an integral part of our public and non-public schools. Even through the recent changes, I know AEAs will figure out how to serve our children, and I am grateful to be a part of it.
Tell us about the services Rowan has received from Heartland AEA providers.
My daughter, Rowan, was born with Smith-Magenis Syndrome, a disability of global developmental delays. Even as a healthcare professional, I wasn’t sure what to do. Before we received her diagnosis, I left my healthcare job to care for her full-time when she was a baby. We couldn’t get into specialists for nine months to a year, but Heartland AEA staff came into our home to start services when everyone else created barriers to helping our daughter. They evaluated her and brought in an abdominal binder when she was having trouble swallowing her food, sensory devices when she was overstimulated, communication devices when we couldn’t purchase our own and the list goes on.
They also supported us with our complex social work needs and helped transition Rowan into early preschool. Heartland AEA providers have been with her as she entered school in our local district. She went from having no speech and falling 10 times a day to chatting up a storm, dancing and graduating from many services. She has surpassed what the literature said she could achieve, and I know Heartland AEA made the difference. To serve on the Board now is an honor and my way to pay it forward.
What is one thing you’ve been surprised to learn about Heartland AEA or Iowa’s AEAs?
The resilience and the dedication of the staff. I know there have been so many recent challenges and hardships. But AEA providers have become our family. The mission of caring for kids is clear, and I have never witnessed a group of individuals that demonstrates this level of commitment through the ups and downs. They amaze me, and I am so proud to serve alongside them.
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