Support Needed: Level 10 Local Guide from Iraq Seeking Collaboration & Community Building

Google Maps tips & tricks
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Hello Google Local Guides team and fellow Local Guides,

My name is Haider Alghalbiy, and I am a proud Level 10 Local Guide from Iraq :iraq: with more than 110,000 points. I have been actively contributing to Google Maps since 2008, covering a wide range of mapping tasks across Iraq—including reviews, edits, photos, and adding new places.

Here are some of my key stats:

  • :star: Level: 10
  • :memo: Reviews: 5,567
  • :camera: Photos: 722
  • :hammer_and_wrench: Edits: 2,543
  • :house: Places Added: 325
  • :check_mark: Facts Checked: 4,434

As one of the very few active Level 10 Local Guides in Iraq, I am deeply passionate about improving map quality, especially in underserved regions. I believe that empowering local mappers is essential to make the maps more accurate and helpful for millions of users in my country.

My requests are:

:one: To explore how I can collaborate more closely with Google to strengthen the Local Guides community in Iraq.
:two: To get support for recognizing and encouraging Iraqi Local Guides who are working hard in difficult environments.
:three: To discuss possibilities for starting an official Local Guides meetup program or ambassador role for Iraq.

I am attaching a screenshot of my profile for verification (see below). I would love guidance on how to take this initiative forward and how Google can help make the Local Guides community more visible and impactful in Iraq.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing your advice and ideas.

Best regards,
Haider Alghalbiy
Level 10 Local Guide, Iraq

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Hello @Haydar74 congratulations on your achievements as a level 10 Local Guides and for keeping the volunteer activities in Iraq.

Regarding your questions, I will try to answer them from my experience and available information.

  1. You can write to Google directly and propose your ideas to them.
  2. There over 100 million Local Guides world wide including Iraq and similar countries. Active local Guides are recognized on Connect as Meet-up champions, accessibility Champions, etc. Some are celebrated across Local Guides social media pages and/or Google Blog. Google Moderators and the Google Team surely will discover co contributors who are exceptional on Maps and Connect. So encourage your community to stay active on Connect and on Maps.
  3. You can also rely on Google Team to give you this feedback on ambassador role. As a Local Guides, we all ambassadors in our community. We host Meet-ups, enlighten other interested people, engage businesses and support growth in our localities. So, think about various Meet-ups you could host and engage decision makers that will make impact in your community. It could be environment, accessibility, business, etc.
    There some local Guides who have been interviewed on national TVs, published in newspapers etc for their local guide activities - they are our ambassadors.

So, while you think towards engaging with Google officially, use your activities to achieve some of these requests you have outlined.

Happy Guiding.

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Hello brother, I am a Kurd and I live in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. I would like to help each other and create a strong community of local leaders in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region

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Welcome, brother.
I am happy to have you here and I am ready to serve you in this important area.
I am listening to your new suggestions.
Good luck.

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الله يسعدك ويوفقك

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Hello @EmekaUlor,

Thank you very much for your encouraging and thoughtful response. I truly appreciate your support and your recognition of my volunteer mapping activities in Iraq.

Your advice motivated me greatly, especially regarding community building, meet-ups, and engaging local contributors through mapping and geospatial awareness.

I have been contributing for many years through Google Maps Local Guides Level 10, OpenStreetMap, HOTOSM, and Yandex Maps, with a focus on humanitarian mapping, pilgrimage route guidance maps, and improving digital geographic information in Iraq.

Recently, I also joined the Geospatial Professional Network (GPN) and the British Cartographic Society to continue developing my professional GIS and cartography journey internationally.

I hope to continue supporting mapping communities in Iraq and building more collaboration opportunities in the future.

Thank you again for your support and guidance.

Best regards,
Haider Alghalbiy

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الله يحفظكم اخي العزيز