Rebecca Stavick at the historic Wallace House in Sherman Hill. Photo: Duane Tinkey
The Wallace Centers of Iowa recently hired Rebecca Stavick to be its new executive director. She moved to Des Moines from Omaha, where she had worked for the Omaha Public Library and co-founded Do Space, the country’s first community technology library, which attracted nearly 100,00 members, recognition from Forbes and NPR, and was replicated worldwide.
As she stepped into her new role overseeing the Wallace House in Sherman Hill and the Wallace Farm in Orient, we asked her a few questions about her plans.
What drew you to the job at the Wallace Centers?
The breadth of the work. It spans historic preservation, agricultural innovation, community impact, fundraising and organizational development, and that combination maps well to my background. As founder and CEO of Do Space, I built something new in a space where most people didn’t see the potential. I saw a similar opportunity at the Wallace Centers. The family’s legacy is genuinely significant, and the organization has real room to grow its community impact. That’s the kind of challenge I’m drawn to.
Your background is in tech and libraries. What connections do you see with your new role?
On the surface, tech and libraries don’t seem like an obvious path to running a historic farm and museum. But building Do Space taught me a lot about measuring community impact and scaling it over time. That matters right now because the Wallace Centers are actively rethinking how we serve the community and what our impact can look like going forward. As an entrepreneur, that’s exactly the kind of challenge I love. I also have a degree in history, I grew up on a farm and my background in libraries positions me well to oversee museum operations. When you add it all up, it’s actually a pretty natural fit.
What’s one surprise you’ve learned so far about the Wallace family?
Multiple generations of this family used local resources to drive global change. As leaders, writers, inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs and public servants, the Wallaces were relentlessly curious and committed to improving the world. Henry A. challenged how people thought about corn and agriculture, and that drive eventually became Pioneer Hi-Bred, which started 100 years ago and transformed farming worldwide. That legacy is still relevant today. It’s a reminder that you don’t have to look beyond your own backyard to work on problems that matter at a national or global scale.
How can the public interact with the Wallace Centers this summer? Any particular events or programs you’d recommend?
Pizza on the Prairie at the Wallace Farm is a great entry point. It’s casual, it’s outdoors, it’s genuinely fun and it puts you on a historic property in a way that doesn’t feel like a museum visit. And if you haven’t explored the farm itself, there’s no better time of year to do it. We also have farm-to-table dinners at the Wallace House for a more intimate experience.
Since your move from Omaha, what’s one difference you’ve noticed about living in Des Moines?
Honestly, the two cities feel more similar than people might expect. Omaha is a bit larger, but Des Moines is growing at a much faster rate, and you can feel it. There’s an exciting energy here that comes with rapid growth, and with that comes new opportunities and real challenges. It’s a good place to be doing this kind of work right now.
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