Small steps have led to great change and national recognition by Campus Compact for Wartburg College junior Madison Stumbo.  

The national coalition recently named Stumbo, a business administration major from Boone, a Newman Civic Fellow. Campus Compact brings together more than 1,100 college and university presidents committed to educating students for civic and social responsibility. Stumbo is one of five Iowa honorees. More than 200 college students were honored nationwide.

As a freshman, Stumbo helped found a Net Impact chapter on campus. The nonprofit empowers students and professionals to drive transformational change in the workplace and the world. She discovered Net Impact’s Small Steps, Big Wins Campus Challenge the next year.

“I knew that was what I was meant to spend my year doing,” said Stumbo, who rallied support from about 20 percent of the Wartburg population to help the college win the competition by a landslide.

Stumbo and Alyx Coble-Frakes, a 2013 graduate, used door-knocking and guest speaking to convince classmates to document everything from drying clothes on racks instead of using a dryer to voting and volunteering.

For leading by example — Stumbo logged more individual points than 1,300 other national competitors — she was awarded a job-shadowing opportunity at KaBOOM, a nonprofit that builds neighborhood playgrounds in low-income communities. This summer she will intern there, managing volunteers throughout the building process.

Kacee Garner, the Net Impact adviser, called Stumbo’s commitment to a variety of causes “impressive.” 

“Within a minute or two of meeting Maddie you know she’s special. She has a spark, an enthusiasm, and a sophistication that leaves me with no doubt as to her ability to be successful on campus and in the wider world,” Garner said.

Stumbo is helping organize the Midwest Service Leaders Conference, Oct. 24-26, on the Wartburg campus. She also consults for a local nonprofit.

“She understands it will take creativity and determination to solve the challenges facing the world today and has used her time at Wartburg to develop and hone the skills to really be a changemaker,” Garner continued.

Stumbo said her family first instilled in her a desire to help others. Her Wartburg College experiences “accelerated” that passion.  Stumbo, who also is pursuing a minor in social entrepreneurship, expects to continue her work with Net Impact upon graduation.

“Every time you open a newspaper you can read all the bad things happening,” she said. “It only takes one person to open the newspaper and see an opportunity. I don’t want future generations to live in a scary world. I want them to live in a world where they can grow up happy and healthy.”