About ValpoNEXT

We energize Valpo residents to be a meaningful part of shaping our city’s future by serving as the "on-ramp" for civic engagement and by stewarding the long-range Vision Plan.

ValpoNEXT is a non-profit, 501c(3) organization, established with support from the City of Valparaiso, and dedicated to helping the Valparaiso community realize its bold, long-term vision as put forth in the ValpoNEXT Vision Plan, developed by hundreds of citizens and formally adopted by the City Council in 2014.

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Featured Updates

Popcorn Festival Booth Update

Emily Whited | October 4, 2019October 4, 2019

Our first time having a booth at the Popcorn Festival went great! We had a prize roundabout that was a huge hit for kids and adults where we had people spin the wheel and answer corresponding questions about Valparaiso or ValpoNEXT, and they got a piece of candy for answering! We also had a photobooth backdrop with many Valpo related props that was surprisingly most exciting for the kids that came by for the candy. We got to speak to so many wonderful people about ValpoNEXT’s vision and what we all love and would want to change about Valpo. It was very exciting to get such great feedback from Valpo’s residents and business owners, and to really get our name out there in the community. We thank everyone that took time out of their day to stop by our booth and unknowingly become civically engaged for a few minutes!

ValpoNEXT Civic Reflection Training Update

Bill Durnell | March 6, 2019October 4, 2019

Civic reflection is a discussion model that uses readings, images and video to engage people in productive conversation about issues that impact their communities and work, as well as build bridges of understanding in the midst of differences. This training gave citizens of Valpo the tools to facilitate difficult dialogue in a variety of contexts.

This took place on April 1st at 6:30PM. This was a FREE program, though donations are welcome to fund future programs like it.

This program is made possible by a partnership with Valparaiso Unversity’s Institute for Leadership & Service Civic Reflection Initiative.

ValpoNEXT’s Civic Incubator Pitch Night Update

Bill Durnell | January 30, 2019October 4, 2019

The Next Great Idea for Valpo… was Matthew Swinehart’s!

ValpoNEXT hosted a Pitch Night on February 28, 2019. Participants offered their BIG ideas to improve our city and compete to win a $250 prize for the best idea.

Matthew Swinehart came up with a detailed idea to make navigating the city’s government page much simpler, and to easily store any an all public documents that people would want to access online. There were many pitches that we were impressed by, but Matthew’s took the cake and we are excited to see where it takes us! Thanks Matthew!

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See additional updates here.

Vision Plan

880+ Citizens

2,090 Pieces of Input

9 Initiatives & 43 Actions

ValpoNEXT started in 2014 as a community-driven process to prepare the long-term Vision Plan for the City of Valparaiso. During a year-long planning process, a broad range of citizens thought creatively and acted boldly to create a plan that ensures Valpo will remain a leading place to live, work and play for decades to come.

Today ValpoNEXT is the name of the community-led nonprofit charged with keeping these aspirations alive and seeing the Vision Plan through.

You can download the original plan here.

ValpoNEXT