John and Jackie Norris are back in town, living with their three sons and dog Boss in a Waterbury neighborhood house where former Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson and author James Autry had lived. The couple had worked in Washington, D.C., for years, then spent the better part of two years in Rome. 

Here, in John’s words, is how they ended up back in Des Moines, where John is now co-owner of State Public Policy Group with Brad Knott and Jackie is getting ready to begin work as CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa. 

“Both Jackie and I decided that we really wanted the boys to be finishing school and growing up in Iowa, and for Iowa to be a place they called home and we called home. Iowa is a place where you can invest your time and talents and really make a difference. Washington was an interesting town. We actually were pleased with the schools our boys were in and our neighborhood. But you really felt a disconnect between your efforts and having an impact. This just felt more of the life we wanted to live. We got back in mid-August. We had this set up before we got back. 

“Over Christmas and New Year’s last year, we had a family talk about whether we wanted to stay away for another year. We were eager to get back home, and the boys were good with it either way. So Jackie started contacting folks back in Iowa and told them we were thinking of coming back this fall and would start looking for opportunities. Somebody told somebody who told somebody that Tom Slater was looking to someone to take over SPPG. Jackie had worked here part time while she went back to get her teaching certificate in 2001-02. I had known Tom for years, since the Farm Crisis days. Also in D.C., Brad Knott, who is from Carroll, Iowa, Tom Slater’s hometown, heard about it as well. So Brad and I started talking in March. We talked to Tom. Brad was looking to move back, too. Our mutual connections got us both linked up with Tom, and Tom linked us up.”

Independently, Jackie Norris was selected as the new CEO of Goodwill Industries of Central Iowa, where she starts this month. The family had lived the better part of two years in Rome, where John was minister-counselor for agriculture for the United States Mission to the United Nations Agencies and Jackie was a lecturer at John Cabot University. Previously, Jackie served as first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff and taught at American University in D.C. John was a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and an aide to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.