Iconica Runs Alongside Girls on the Run for 14 Years and Counting

Every partnership starts somewhere, and ours began in 2012.

Back then, Girls on the Run Dane County was a young, fast-growing non-profit making a big impact in our community. A business colleague asked Iconica for help looking at space options and we gladly stepped in by offering to share our office space.

At the time, it didn’t feel like a big milestone, just one way to invest in an organization that serves our neighbors. Now, more than 14 years later, we see it as the start of a partnership that has grown stronger every year and become one of the longest in Iconica’s history.

The organization has expanded its reach and is now Girls on the Run South Central Wisconsin. Their team is bigger, they reach more people, and they occupy their own suite within our same building. Iconica is still involved every year, whether it’s writing checks, packing goody bags, or serving snacks at the finish line.

A Mission Worth Making Room For

Girls on the Run South Central Wisconsin inspires girls in grades 3-8 to be joyful, healthy, and confident through a fun, experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates movement. Each year, the organization serves about 2,200 girls across 27+ school districts in 11 Wisconsin counties, supported by more than 700 volunteer mentor coaches. Every 9-week season builds toward a celebratory, non-competitive 5K that reminds each girl she is capable of achieving more than she ever imagined.

Sharing a building with Girls on the Run means our team sees their mission in action every day. We don’t just read about them in a newsletter or hear about them at an annual luncheon. Being close every day changes how we see this partnership. It’s one thing to support something from afar, but it’s different to watch it grow up close and feel truly invested in its future.

“Our partnership with Iconica means so much more than shared resources. Their team has embraced our mission in every sense of the word, from providing welcoming office, training, and storage space, to volunteering behind the scenes to prepare supplies, to showing up on 5K day year after year. Iconica has become an extension of the Girls on the Run family. We are especially touched that Iconica’s leadership and staff continue to show up in meaningful ways, reminding the girls we serve that an entire community is cheering them on every step of the way. We honestly could not do what we do at the scale we do it without the team at Iconica, and we are incredibly grateful for their commitment to our mission.”

Christine Benedict – Executive Director, Girls on the Run South Central Wisconsin

Showing Up Has Always Been a Team Effort

Iconica employees and interns are always eager to lend a hand, jumping in to prepare supplies and support Girls on the Run long before race day. This summer, our interns proudly carried on that tradition by leading the assembly of race essentials for community members who join in the event.

For our interns, it was hands-on, purposeful work. It was also their first direct look at everything that goes into planning a community 5K like this: the coordination, the care, and the sheer number of people involved. But more than anything, it was a natural extension of something our team has always believed: that showing up for this community is everyone’s responsibility, not just a task for one department or one season.

“Putting together the goody bags gave me a whole new appreciation for what goes into an event like this. There’s so much planning and so many hands involved before anyone crosses the finish line. Getting to be part of that process, even in a small way, made me proud to support what Girls on the Run is doing for these girls.”

Brie Faber – Iconica Marketing Intern

What a Real Partnership Looks Like

Iconica serves as a financial partner to Girls on the Run South Central Wisconsin, and our team participates in volunteer opportunities throughout the year. But what defines this relationship isn’t any single contribution. It’s consistency.

Anyone can write a check. Fewer will show up to pack supplies, cheer at the finish line, and pitch in wherever they’re needed, year after year. That’s the part of this partnership we’re most proud of.

Investing in the People Who Will Shape Our Community

Programs like Girls on the Run do something difficult to quantify and impossible to overstate. They teach young girls that they are capable, that hard work pays off, and that showing up for each other matters. Those aren’t just values for a 5K. They’re values for life.

Iconica believes that strong communities are built through meaningful partnerships and active involvement. Supporting organizations like Girls on the Run isn’t separate from our work. It’s part of who we are.

We’re grateful for more than 14 years of shared purpose, and we look forward to many more years of being part of this community.