Leveling-up is about creating organizational breakthroughs for your economic development organization.
This prize is open to any economic development organization that is partnering with Dakota Resources to make their organization thrive. The Leveling-Up Award will be awarded on November 12, 2025 at the Using Public Policy for Local Development Thriverr Gathering in Murdo, SD. The purpose of this award is to recognize one organization that has leveled up their capacity to do more as an organization within the past 12 months. This can look like many different things in your organization, but some examples would be developing more partnerships, growing their leadership capacity as a board or Executive Director, accomplishing new projects because of increased capacity, growing your financial capacity, or putting bylaws into place.
The winning applicant will be awarded a $1,000 credit to go towards Dakota Resources services to be used however the organization chooses to empower their organization or community over the next calendar year.
Be as creative as you want with your application! Keep it short, clear, and simple. Write to the Selection Team; help them clearly see how leveling-up is changing your organization.
Optional: You may submit a 2-minute video link from YouTube or Vimeo with the application. It can be very homemade, or it can be polished—it’s about the innovation, not the production quality.
Steps to Apply & Timeline
Complete Application. Fill out this form before the deadline of Friday, October 24, 2025.
Interview. The Selection Team will interview an organization leader via Zoom around October 29.
Award Announcement. Semi-finalists will be asked to attend the Using Public Policy for Local Development Thriverr Gathering on November 12 and 13, 2025 in Murdo, SD where one community will be awarded the Leveling-Up Award.
