Minnesota Rising 101

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

[Minnesota Rising Dispatch] December 2013

[#mnrising Dispatch] December 2013

2013 was a banner year for Minnesota Rising: We hosted an incredible fourth annual Un/Conference: Cultivating Capacity for Collective Leadership; were featured in MinnPost, Twin Cities Business Magazine, and on MPR's The Daily Roundtable; unveiled the initial findings from the "Our Minnesota" Cascading Conversations Tour; and got to work alongside so many of you through events focused on redefining diversity, women's leadership, celebrating Hmong Americans in Minnesota, Give to the Max Day 2013, and the future of the Twin Cities region. Thank you for your partnership this past year and we hope you resolve to join us for more in 2014!

Minnesota Rising 2014 Groupthink & Goals Gathering 

Tuesday, January 7, 2014
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Grassroots Solutions 

RSVP today to minnesotarising[at]gmail[dot]com and help us pave a path forward for the year ahead!
Sondra Samuels

Recruiting the next generation of civic leaders

MPR News
 
Civic and philanthropic leadership organizations are looking ahead to the next generation of leaders. There are at least 52 networking groups in the Twin Cities helping young professionals connect and give back in their communities. Nonprofits are looking for ways to engage young people so they become current and future donors. From Twin Cities BusinessDiane Tran, founder of Minnesota Rising, put it this way: "How can we build the collective capacity of our generation to lead the new Minnesota?" She created Minnesota Rising to build relationships, trust, and a shared vision that emerging leaders can unite around. Among other events, Minnesota Rising sponsors the annual Un/Conference . . . which draws 100 or so emerging leaders for an all-day Saturday session of leadership training, inspirational speakers, and networking opportunities.Tran joins The Daily Circuit along with Jonathan Wilson, partner at the Best & Flanagan law firm, to discuss the future of local philanthropy. [Read more.]

December Update from LOTT

Sarah Bauer & Sally McGraw, Leaders of Today and Tomorrow
 
Since our last update, we selected an amazing group of 10 fellows and 10 mentors to participate in the 2014 Leaders of Today and Tomorrow fellowship program. We met with mentors and fellows for orientation sessions last month and are excited to get to know this amazing, diverse and brilliant group of women over the next several months. During the orientation sessions, past mentors and fellows shared their LOTT experiences with the group. This program has changed lives, simply stated. Leadership voices have been found, connections made, networks expanded, new jobs started, and much personal reflection done - resulting in great action. [Read more.] 
Bridging Arts and Audiences

OTA and Pollen Merge

OTA-Pollen

This isn't your typical job board. This isn't just any networking organization. And the events are anything but ordinary. OTA and Pollen, two incredible organizations that work to collide and connect creative and civic-minded individuals, are colliding themselves. And, in the process, they believe they might just spark a regional transformation in North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota with a world class network of individuals, organizations, communities and ideas. Not familiar with OTA or Pollen? Over the past five years OTA has formed a movement dedicated to 'connecting the disconnected' throughout North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota. Led by South Dakota native Hugh Weber, the OTA series of events brings together the region's best and brightest along with world leaders to share insights and expertise, develop relationships and create limitless possibilities. Pollen, over the past five years, has grown to become the Twin Cities' largest digital network of civic-minded connectors. The content is crowdsourced and created by a cross-sector community focused on elevating the personal and professional growth of its members. [Read more.]

Collaborators across borders

Diane Tran, 2013 American Marshall Memorial Fellow
 
On day four of the U.S. government shutdown, I and fourteen other American fellows flew across the Atlantic Ocean and began our Marshall Memorial Fellowship program. While questions related to the cause for the shutdown and analysis about its global impact varied, it was clear to the Europeans we met with during our travels that the shutdown was a poignant example of the inability of United States political leaders to compromise and develop solutions. With the question of working across parties at the back of my mind, I noted three particular examples of enduring partnership and innovative collaborations based in Europe that I'm hopeful we might take a lesson from in the United States. [Read more.] 


News from the Network

Updates and events with our esteemed network partners and collaborators!

Minnesota Rising 2014 Groupthink & Goals Gathering
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Grassroots Solutions
RSVP to minnesotarising[at]gmail.com

Census ACS: A fabulous and formidable data source
Twin Cities Research Group Brown Bag Speaker Series
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Wilder Foundation

Call for "Toward a More Perfect Union" Host Communities
Minnesota Humanities Center
Deadline: 4:00pm CST on January 14, 2014
Conversations must be held between March and December 2014

Accepting Applications: Lead a workshop, reading group, or class with EXCO
Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities
Applications due January 27
At EXCO, everyone can teach or take classes and all classes are free!

Words from the World Wide Web

December 2013 Edition 

Why Millennials Are Immature, Entitled and the Best Hire | December 27, 2013 | Entrepreneur.com
"In the case of Generation Y, twenty-somethings bring new perspectives and habits to the workplace that add value to their employers, even though those strengths also carry inherent weaknesses."

10 Ways Millennials Are Creating The Future Of Work| December 16, 2013 | Forbes.com
"By 2025, millennials will account for 75% of the global workforce and by next year, they will account for 36% of the American workforce. Relative to boomers and Gen X'ers, millennials have a different view of how work should get done and come into the workforce with a different set of expectations."

Millennial Searchers | November 30, 2013 | New York Times
"Though their managers, according to the study, continue to think that millennials are primarily motivated by money, nearly three-quarters of the young adults surveyed said that 'meaningful work was among the three most important factors defining career success.'"

 

Making Our #MNRising Mark!

Don't forget to tag your upcoming emerging leader events, thoughts, musings, and more, #mnrising, on Twitter and Facebook. Let's aggregate and organize ourselves for increased interaction and potential for collaboration! 
Copyright © 2013 Minnesota Rising, All rights reserved.

Monday, December 30, 2013

The journey

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"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end."
-Ursula K. Le Guin

Friday, December 27, 2013

You're Invited | 2014 MMEP Conference: Education Equity in Action!

If the price tag is too much, consider requesting one last holiday gift in order to attend the 2014 MMEP Conference: Education Equity in Action! For educators, learners, and community leaders alike, this year's event features two stellar keynote speakers and session topics ranging from race equity and excellence policies and plans, how to end student discipline disparities in schools, and collective impact initiatives. Save the date for the premier multicultural multi-sectored gathering around education equity policy and practice!


A Conference Bringing together Educators, Community leaders, Students, and Advocates around Education Equity and Practice in Minnesota
MMEP’s statewide conference will be held at Coffman Union, at the University of Minnesota on Thursday, February 13, 2014– past MMEP conferences have attracted over 400 educators, policymakers, and community leaders, and students and garnered media attention from MPR and local media outlets to highlight the phenomenal keynote speakers, presentations, and community of collaborative leaders in addressing education equity and excellence in Minnesota.
The theme this year is “Education Equity in Action: A Conference for Educators, Community leaders, Students, and Advocates” – and will highlight emerging education equity work in Minnesota.
There will be plenary sessions throughout the day focusing on:
  • School and Community Race Equity and Excellence Policies and Plans
  • How and Why to End Student Discipline Disparities in Schools:
  • Collective Impact Initiatives for Aligning “cradle to career” School & Community Action
  • Pathways for Teachers of Color
Keynote Speakers
Dr. David Stovall
“Organizing Youth and Families to Address the Discipline Gap”
David Stovall is an Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His scholarship investigates four areas 1) Critical Race Theory, 2) concepts of social justice in education, 3) the relationship between housing and education, and 4) the relationship between schools and community stakeholders. In the attempt to bring theory to action, he has spent the last ten years working with community organizations and schools to develop curriculum that address issues of social justice. His current work has led him to become a member of the Greater Lawndale/Little Village School of Social Justice High School design team, which opened in the Fall of 2005 where he also serves as a volunteer social studies teacher.
Furthering his work with communities, students, and teachers, Dr. Stovall works with a collective of college professors in California, Arizona, and New York who teach high school courses in addition to their duties and responsibilities as university faculty. “I’ve been working with this group for eight years. The idea is to provide historically underserved schools with college access through their interactions with us. We've been enrolling the students that take classes with us in our respective universities to get early college credit.”
Dr. Stovall, a native of Chicago graduated from Luther HS South in 1990. He received his undergraduate degree and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His motivation for going into the field was the combination of family members, neighbors, and members of community organizations that supported him in doing educational justice work without fear of persecution. Dr. Stovall is a very powerful speaker and champion of social justice.

Maria Hinojosa
“Demographic Shift and its Impact on US Education Policy”
Maria Hinojosa is an award-winning trailblazer in news and investigative journalism. Her over 25-year history reporting on critical issues and focusing on the changing cultural and political landscape in America and abroad have won her the highest levels of recognition in journalism, including: four Emmys; the 2012 John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism; the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Reporting on the Disadvantaged; the Studs Terkel Community Media Award; and the Edward R. Murrow Award from the Overseas Press Club for best documentary for “Child Brides: Stolen Lives,” among other awards.
In April 2010, Hinojosa took her mission of reporting on stories ignored or overlooked by mainstream media to another level by creating the Futuro Media Group, a multimedia nonprofit production company based in Harlem with the mission of giving voice to the social and civic justice issues facing a more diverse America. In addition to producing Latino USA, Futuro Media is also developing America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa, a series for public television to be distributed spring 2014. America by the Numbers will be the first national programming dedicated to documenting and demystifying the dramatic demographic changes that are occurring in the U.S. and examining the new American mainstream – the growing numbers of Asians, Latinos, African Americans, mixed race, immigrants, women, youth and LGBTs who are increasingly determining the outcomes of elections and influencing arts, culture, and commerce. Futuro Media is also committed to training the next generation of journalists to become reporters, filmmakers, and multimedia producers, and using its media products to expand public space, staging civic engagement events to further democracy and enlarge the national conversation about policy and priorities.
Hinojosa has worked as an anchor and reporter for PBS’ Need To Know series and the talk show Maria Hinojosa: One-on-One from WGBH/La Plaza, as senior correspondent at Now on PBS and for NPR, and for eight years as CNN's urban affairs correspondent. In October 2011, she was the first Latina to anchor a Frontline report, “Lost in Detention,” exploring abuse at immigrant detention facilities. Hinojosa has documented hundreds of important stories - from immigrant work camps in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, to teen girl victims of on-the-job sexual harassment, to the poor in Alabama, and youth violence in urban communities.
She is currently the anchor and executive producer of NPR’s long-running weekly program, Latino USA, celebrating its 20 year anniversary and considered the program of record for Latino news, culture and issues of critical importance to the Latino community and that impact the US population.
Hinojosa has been a weekly syndicated columnist for King Features/Hearst and is the author of two books. She was born in Mexico City, raised in Chicago, and received her BA from Barnard College. She is currently the Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Chair of Latin American and Latino Studies at DePaul University in Chicago, and lives with her husband, artist German Perez, and their son and daughter in New York.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Accepting Applications: Lead a workshop, reading group, or class with EXCO!

It's the time of year where sharing is caring, and EXCO invites you to share what you know! Submit your application today to lead a workshop, reading group, or class in 2014. EXCO supports people to teach or facilitate free classes and workshops in their communities, and is building a community around education for social change!

Lead a workshop, reading group, or class with EXCO!



At EXCO, everyone can teach or take classes and all classes are free! 
EXCOtc is Experimental Community Education of the Twin Cities. We promote visions of a better world, offer free and open classes, and are building a community around education for social change.
See our website - www.excotc.org - for more info and to register for classes, or contact us at 651-998-9268 or excotc@gmail.com
Keep up with us on facebook. Like our page!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Given with affection

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"Every gift which is given, even though is be small, is in reality great, if it is given with affection."
-Pindar

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

December Update from Leaders of Today & Tomorrow

On the eve of a day when we all typically get gifts, the Leaders of Today and Tomorrow (LOTT) program provides an update on their exciting news-to-date and invites you to make a gift to support their programming before year's-end. Read on for details about the LOTT mentorship program and for a glimpse of the excitement on the faces of this year's Fellows and Mentors!



News from the Leaders of Today & Tomorrow

                                  

Since our last update, we selected an amazing group of 10 fellows and 10 mentors to participate in the 2014 Leaders of Today and Tomorrow fellowship program. We met with mentors and fellows for orientation sessions last month and are excited to get to know this amazing, diverse, and brilliant group of women over the next several months.
During the orientation sessions, past mentors and fellows shared their LOTT experiences with the group.  This program has changed lives, stated simply.  Leadership voices have been found, connections made, networks expanded, new jobs started, and much personal reflection done - resulting in great action.
We also sense great chemistry among the groups already!  Mentors were networking up a storm, planning lunches together and speaking with great excitement about the upcoming program year as they gathered on Nov. 13.  The fellows' excitement could barely be contained as they introduced themselves at their orientation on Nov. 20.  Before they even left, there were already plans in the works to create a Facebook group for their cohort.
Our program year officially begins on February 1, 2014, when mentors and fellows will meet for the first time, explore their leadership strengths, commonalities and differences, and jump right into the program curriculum.
This program has such a positive impact on the lives of the fellows, the mentors, and even the advisory board.  Today we ask that you join the group of leaders, volunteers, and others invested in the good work of LOTT.
Please consider making a year-end gift to LOTT to support the fellowship program in 2014. Your gift, in any amount, goes a long way toward helping us achieve our goal of shaping future women leaders.  All donations are tax-deductible, thanks to our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor,  Minnesota Women's Consortium.  We are also happy to report that 100% of advisory board members have made not only an investment of time, but also a fiscal investment in our work.
$150 can support one fellow for one year
$75 can support two workshops for one fellow
$35 can support one workshop for one fellow
$15 can support one fellow's fee to take the StrengthsFinder assessment
To give a gift online, visit: http://wearelott.org/donate/(Carefully enter your gift amount on the "Leaders of Today & Tomorrow LOTT" line under the Special Funds heading.)
To donate by mail, send a check payable to "The Women's Consortium of Minnesota" with "LOTT" in the memo line to the following address:
Leaders of Today and Tomorrow
550 Rice Street
St. Paul, MN 55103
Thank you in advance for your generous support of our mission.  
Sincerely,
Sarah Bauer & Sally McGraw
LOTT Advisory Board Co-chairs
Visit our Website                                          
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Copyright © 2013 Leaders of Today & Tomorrow, All rights reserved.

Monday, December 23, 2013

Where I've never been


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"My favorite thing is to go where I've never been."
-Diane Arbus

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Accepting Applications: Call for "Toward a More Perfect Union" Host Communities

The Minnesota Humanities Center wonders whether our communities feel a common connection to the Constitution. Not quite sure where you land on the topic? Join a groundbreaking "community of Minnesota communities" who are talking about the United States Constitution and host your own conversations with your local community. More details below and online!



[Blog Buddies] Built to adapt

The Minnesota Rising 2013 Un/Conference: Cultivating Capacity for Collective Leadership was a great success, by the numbers and beyond the benchmarks. Read below from my recent YNPN Twin Cities blog post, "Built to adapt," about how emerging leaders in Minnesota are beginning to envision and live into a new future for our state!


Built to adapt

by Diane Tran
follow me on Twitter: @MinnesotaRising
Hosted on November 16, 2013, the Minnesota Rising 2013 Un/Conference: Cultivating Capacity for Collective Leadership was a great success by the numbers, featuring 125 attendees, 14 breakout sessions (including 4 Open Space sessions generated that morning), 9 sponsors, and 27 Network Partners. Workshop topics spanned the art of facilitating conversations that matter, low-cost or no-cost spatial analysis and mapping tools, building networks and careers through peer mentoring, and philanthropy trends for the rising generation. The agenda was jam-packed and fast-paced, and per the evaluation comments, sparked innumerable connections, newly highlighted incredible organizations and opportunities, and prompted lots of fun and merriment!
While these individual connections and takeaways are of critical importance, more valuable yet was the shared emphasis throughout the day on a future focus and concern for the whole of Minnesota. The morning kicked off with a rousing keynote by Sondra Samuels, President and CEO of the Northside Achievement Zone, a collaboration of organizations and schools partnering to prepare children to graduate from high school ready for college. Sondra spoke to the myriad skills she employs to bring partners together to end multigenerational poverty within North Minneapolis using education as a lever, acknowledging that the leadership of an organization determines the culture. In quoting an old maxim, she made one point that particularly resonated with attendees: “People don’t fear change. They fear loss.”
This admission led to the proposal of an open space session entitled, “What are we willing to lose?” which sought to discover what we are truly willing to give up in order to bring about the change that we seek in the world. In the spirit of appreciative inquiry, this question continues to be at the heart of Minnesota Rising’s exploration, rearticulated to acknowledge that when we are willing to give up the comfortable and familiar, we can open up space for a new world that perhaps looks more like the one we are seeking to emerge. To this end, we can instead ask:
  • What do we stand to gain by losing what we have, especially when what we have now smacks of partisanship, disparities and achievement gaps, and broken systems?
  • How can letting go of the idea of building permanent things (buildings, institutions, organizations) allow the values and principles we admire to sustain over the long-term?
  • How can shedding the belief that we know what leadership looks like (and if you don’t bear a resemblance, you’re not a leader) allow ever more people and more expansive ways of contributing and giving to flourish?
This line of questioning also took root in a rapid-prototyping activity following the lunchtime Show and Tell session at the Un/Conference. After the release of the initial findings of the “Our Minnesota” Cascading Conversations Tour, small groups gathered and used human-centered design methodologies to develop prototypes illustrating the future of education, government and public policy, the arts, healthcare, nonprofits, and more in Minnesota. Teams created mixed-media posters and fashioned pipe cleaners into symbols depicting more connected, values-based, and innovative solutions to the sectors and issues they care most about, taking the first step toward collectively imagining a different future for our state and communities.
As we continue examining how we might cultivate capacity for collective leadership, we must remember that change will come whether we welcome it or not. As the old proverb advises, “This, too, shall pass.” Holding too tightly to a past that isn’t serving every last person in our communities well, will not serve us well. By recognizing that we collectively stand to gain even in the midst of loss, by letting go of facades of perpetuity in favor of enduring values, and by expanding our definitions of what leadership looks like and welcoming a broader diversity of contributions into the fold, our generation can move beyond “built to last,” and help Minnesota become a place that is “built to adapt.”

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

You're Invited: 2013 Homeless Memorial March and Service

In the midst of a season of holiday spirit and giving, it is important to give pause and thanks for the gifts that we are given and the people who cross our paths. The annual Homeless Memorial March is a 2.5 mile silent march and vigil to honor those who have died in 2013 while homeless, formerly homeless, or advocating for the homeless community. See below for additional details to participate and consider submitting a name for inclusion in this year's service.



HOMELESS MEMORIAL MARCH AND SERVICE

to honor those who have died while homeless in Minnesota

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29th Annual Homeless Memorial March and Service

Thursday, December 19th

Please join us in remembering those who have died while homeless, formerly homeless, or advocating for the homeless community in 2013.  

5:00 pm | March & Silent Vigil
Hennepin County Government Center
3rd Avenue S & 5th St S
Minneapolis, MN
The march will follow 5th St S westward to Nicollet Avenue and proceed south to 28th St

6:30 pm | Service of Remembrance
Simpson United Methodist Church
2740 1st Ave S
Minneapolis, MN

7:30 pm | Community Meal
Simpson Shelter
Lower level of Simpson United Methodist Church

All are welcome.

For more information, please visit:  www.simpsonhousing.org/memorial.html

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December 19th, 2013
5:00 - 8:30 pm
Minneapolis, MN

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If you know a homeless or formerly homeless individual or an advocate for the homeless community who has passed away in 2013, please use the link above to submit their name for inclusion in this year's Homeless Memorial March and Service.

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Stay Connected

    

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