Friday, November 28, 2014

2014 Un/Conference Content Curation | Mindfulness: The Key to Changing Your World

The Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference: The Future Is How was held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference engaged emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers!

Minnesota Rising is pleased to feature content as well as continued opportunities to learn from our insightful and engaging breakout session speakers. In our Content Curation series, we highlight the ideas of and ways to connect with our 2014 Un/Conference presenters! Kathleen Sprole, of One Moment Center, shares her presentation and a brief session recap below.

   

Attendees learned the basics of mindfulness and how it benefits them as an individual, coworker, leader, and in other roles in their lives. During the session we practiced observing our experience without judgment and seeing ourselves, others, and global issues through the eyes of compassion. The take-away from this session was that by focusing on our inner compassion and peace, we can begin to transform the world.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Live by them

Thank you, Minnesota Rising network, for your continued partnership and commitment to strengthening our communities. We're grateful and honored to work with you. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Copyright: voronin76 / 123RF Stock Photo

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." 
-John F. Kennedy

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

2014 Un/Conference Content Curation | Open Space: Professionalism Today

The Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference: The Future Is How was held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference engaged emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers!

Minnesota Rising is pleased to feature content as well as continued opportunities to learn from our insightful and engaging breakout session speakers. In our Content Curation series, we highlight the ideas of and ways to connect with our 2014 Un/Conference presenters! One of our Open Space callers, Eric Sannerud, recaps his "Professionalism Today" session below. 


What is the prevailing image of a professional in society?
Close your eyes and create a mental image of that professional.


At the Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference on Saturday, November 15th at DLR Group in downtown Minneapolis, this is exactly what an inspired group of attendees did. Our shared energy fueled a meaningful conversation that led to important conclusions and even more important questions.

First, we drew what we imagined:


Professionalism today

Some highlights:
  • Serious
  • White, male
  • College educated
  • “Put together”
  • Touch of gray hair color

The professional mold that we identified painted a monochromatic picture. A professional is someone who is intellectual, is paid for their brain not their brawn, authoritative, wears a suit and tie to work, and/or privileged. There is not a lot of wiggle room in the mold, if you don’t fit, you won’t be considered professional.

The implications of this are far reaching.

Say you are not white or not male or not college educated - how does knowing you do not fit the mold affect your assessment of self? If you can never attain professional status while remaining true to your identity, why would you try?

What if you are in the professional class now? You feel you can’t be yourself, can’t show emotion, can’t admit to being imperfect for fear of being ostracized?
The theme of Un/Conference 2014 was “The Future is How.” Our conversation group took that to mean, “How do we want the professional mold to adapt in our future?”
So then we imagined and drew again:

What is the new word?

Some Highlights:
  • Authentic vs Aesthetic
  • Diverse
  • Empathetic
  • Culturally Adaptable
  • Whole

Bottom line from this imagining: we want the new mold to be flexible. We know that professionals come in all shapes, sizes, colors, outfits, sexual orientations, life purposes, ways of knowing, and work styles. The underlying, defining characteristic? Authenticity.

The professional of now and the future is authentically themself and welcomed for that.
The question we left asking was, "How do we help this new mold get adopted more broadly?"

How do we get there?

Our big question was, "How do we share our broadened understanding of professional?"

Now this is where you come in: Do you have any ideas on how we share this broader vision? How we crack the existing professional mold or how we craft a new, inclusive one?

Join our conversation by commenting here or on Twitter with #MNRising!
Eric R. Sannerud is a farmer, thinker, and entrepreneur in Minnesota. He grows hops at @MightyAxeHops and thinks with @ShapersMPLS. In his free time Eric loves food.

Contact: @EricSannerud ericsannerud@gmail.com

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

2014 Un/Conference Content Curation | Join Ashlee Consulting for VITAL Dialogue!

The Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference: The Future Is How was held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference engaged emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers!

Minnesota Rising is pleased to feature content as well as continued opportunities to learn from our insightful and engaging breakout session speakers. In our Content Curation series, we highlight the ideas of and ways to connect with our 2014 Un/Conference presenters!

Below, Ashlee Consulting invites social justice journeyers to an evening of VITAL Dialogue to make connections, share stories, and develop a learning community that can both support and challenge the deepening of practice!

VITAL Dialogue: Deepening Your Social Justice Practice

Ashlee Consulting LLC

Tuesday, December 2, 2014 

6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (CST)

Social Impact Garage


VITAL Dialogue: Deepening Your Social Justice Practice

Are you passionate about social justice? Do you desire a community of peers that will challenge and support you on your journey? Are you seeking a space to bravely engage in authentic dialogue about issues of power, privilege, and oppression?

Join us for an evening of VITAL Dialogue, as we seek to make connections, learn from and with one another, and deepen our social justice practice. Facilitated by Ashlee Consulting, this evening will feature VITAL Practice principles (Vulnerability, Identity, Trust, Authorship, and Liberation) as tools for social justice journeying.

Ashlee Consulting LLC fosters brave spaces for bold conversations. Aeriel and Kyle Ashlee are life and business partners. With more than 14-years of combined experience as social justice educators, the Ashlees have embarked upon their own social justice journey and welcome others to join them in deepening their social justice practice. Learn more about Ashlee Consulting online.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014

Accepting Applications: Fredrikson & Byron Benefit Corporation Cultivator Program

Hot on the heels of the launch of the Minnesota Social Impact Center comes another opportunity to do business on purpose. Thanks to Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference presenter, Jeff Ochs, for sharing about the opportunity to participate in Fredrikson & Byron's Benefit Corporation Cultivator Program. See below for details to apply by the December 1 deadline!

Impact Angels logo
IMNPACT Angels invites you to apply for the Fredrikson & Byron Benefit Corporation Cultivator Program

IMNPACT Angels, an affinity group of Gopher Angels, is the first angel network in Minnesota devoted to impact investing
If you've thought about launching a social business or plan to seek impact investment, the Public Benefit Corporation form is designed for you! 

Through its Benefit Corporation Cultivator Program Fredrikson & Byron is providing free legal services for over a year to 10 new Public Benefit Corporations and your business could be one of them.  Other companies offering services to companies accepted into the Benefit Corporation Cultivator Program are:
  • The Improve Group is providing free social impact evaluation consulting services and,
  • The Restore Collaborative is offering free use of their co-working space.  
  • Additional prizes are being explored. 
Application deadline is December 1, 2014. Information and application instructions can be found here: Benefit Corporation Cultivator Program

What is a Public Benefit Corporation?

A public benefit corporation is a new legal corporate form that will be available in Minnesota starting on January 1, 2015. It is designed to help entrepreneurs start and grow social businesses.

 Public benefit corporations (PBC) are like traditional for-profit business corporations in most ways except that they make some special commitments. First, a PBC declares a legally binding social purpose, in addition to its general business purpose, which its directors and officers must consider when making strategic decisions for the business. Second, a PBC must publicly report its progress toward its social purpose each year to the Minnesota Secretary of State.  

Thursday, November 20, 2014

[Recommended Reading] Southwest Journal: Targeting Talent

We're excited to have Minnesota Rising featured alongside Break the Bubble and Pollen Midwest in the recent Southwest Journal story, "Targeting talent." Read on to learn more about Greater MSP's efforts to attract and retain talent to our region, and some of the key challenges that emerging leaders have identified related to social inclusion and equity issues. Join the conversation online at #MSPGLOBAL.

Targeting talent

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November 18, 2014 // UPDATED 10:44 am - November 19, 2014
BY: SARAH MCKENZIE
Photo courtesy Meet Minneapolis
Business leaders launch effort to recruit, retain talented workers
The economic development group Greater MSP has launched a new campaign to recruit and retain top talent as a skilled workforce shortage looms on the horizon for the Twin Cities region.
The region has about 55,000 job openings and about 100,000 people looking for work in the state, said Greater MSP CEO Michael Langley. The challenge, however, is that the people looking for work don’t have the skills needed for those spots.
“We have great talent, but we know through our research that we’ll have challenges in the future,” he said. “We have to attract more talented workers to this region. We have to get into the hearts and minds of talented workers all over the world.”
Even if every child born here stays in the Twin Cities and has the skills needed for a job opening, the region will still need to recruit additional talented workers to remain competitive, he said.
Greater MSP discussed its strategy for attracting top talent Monday night at its annual meeting at the University of Minnesota. EcoLab CEO Doug Baker and Bert Colianni, CEO of Marquette Companies, are the co-chairs of the economic development group’s talent task force.
The focus will be centered on millennials/young professionals — the 20- to 40-year-old workers that will be in most demand over the next decade, Langley said.
Langley said other regions across the country are ahead of Minneapolis and St. Paul in launching aggressive worker retention programs. Some of the cities that have been successful in keeping and luring talented workers include Pittsburg, Cleveland and Austin, Texas.
Jamie Millard, co-executive director of Pollen, a North Loop-based organization that bills itself as a “digital platform that builds better-connecting communities,” also serves on Greater MSP’s talent retention and recruitment task force.
She said she’s excited about working on one of the task force’s key strategies — making the region more socially inclusive.
“I think of it as making the invisible network that is so prominent here in Minnesota — I don’t know if it’s the Scandinavian culture that makes our environment naturally cliquish — but there is something about MSP that makes it hard to break into,” she said.
She cited data indicating that while MSP ranks number one for retaining young professionals in the country, the region ranks number 14 for retaining non-white professionals.
Many jobs in the region are filled without companies posting openings.
“We’re filling our jobs through this invisible network pipeline,” she said.
Millard said there is a group of emerging community leaders working on addressing the problem. One of the goals is to identify 50 of the region’s top “super connectors” and make sure it’s a diverse group of people in a wide variety of disciplines.
Another idea is to create a buddy system for transplants to the region to make sure they are immediately connected to opportunities to make new friends and get acclimated to life in Minnesota, she said.
“We want to do hands-on welcoming,” she said.
Millard pointed to the organization Break the Bubble as work Greater MSP wants to build upon.
Matt Decuir started the group in the spring of 2013 after moving to Minneapolis from Seattle to join his girlfriend who relocated to the city for school.
Minnesotans are friendly, but aren’t often willing to embrace newcomers into their social circle, he said.
“Minnesotans will give you directions anywhere except to their lake cabin,” he joked.
Break the Bubble has hosted several events at restaurants and taprooms around the Twin Cities to help break the ice for people looking to broaden their social networks.
“Our goal is very simple. We’re trying to help Minnesotans make new friends,” Decuir said.
Diane Tran, project manager of Grassroots Solutions, has also been very engaged in efforts to make the region more inclusive and welcoming for everyone. She founded Minnesota Rising in 2009 — a network of emerging community leaders across the state focused on helping prepare the state’s next generation of leaders as the Baby Boomers are leaving the workforce in greater numbers.
She said she’s heartened that people are taking the social inclusion issue seriously.
“There is a very real other experience that people have of this area,” she said, adding it’s important for people to think about “who is not in the room” and who should be when having conversations about making the region a place where everyone can thrive.
In addition to spearheading a campaign focused on recruiting and retaining talent, Greater MSP will continue an aggressive worldwide marketing blitz promoting the Twin Cities’ many assets to help foster additional job growth and development.
Langley said there are many economic indicators for the region to be proud of.
“There is a lot of positivity about our region,” he said. “We have the lowest unemployment rate of any major metropolitan area in the country. Our job creation activities have increased dramatically.”
The MSP regional economy is the 13th largest in the country and rivals that of entire countries, he said.
Langley, who lives in the Carlyle condo tower, also likes to reference how many construction cranes he sees outside his window as a barometer of the economy.
When he first moved into the condo with his wife a few years ago, there were two cranes. Now there are 40.
“We know that’s a leading indicator for jobs, an increased tax base and more money going into the economy,” he said. 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

You're Invited: Break the Bubble #16

Snow covers the ground around town and Break the Bubble is helping you do the same. Join them for their 16th gathering this Friday, focused around the theme of "Your favorite winter activity." Register today to get the conversation started!

Break the Bubble #16: Friday, November 21: 7-9pm: Sisyphus Brewing
                          


Registration for Break The Bubble: Winter Wonderland Edition is now live

When? Friday, November 21 from 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Where? Sisyphus Brewing
Details? Check the registration page to find out.
Social Media? You know it. Find us on Facebook and Twitter

Cheers,
Your Break the Bubble organizers - Nora, Mario, Christina and Matt J.

Copyright © 2014 Break the Bubble, All rights reserved.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

2014 Un/Conference Sponsor Spotlight: Minnesota Private College Council

The Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference: The Future Is How was held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference engaged emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers!

Minnesota Rising is thankful for our amazing sponsors, without whose support we could not offer sliding-scale admission fees and stellar Un/Conference programming. Below, find an invitation to attend upcoming Minnesota Private College Council member holiday music shows!


Holiday concert banner

There's no better way to celebrate this time of year than by gathering together with one an­other and listening to the music of the holidays. Join us for one (or more) of our holiday events, including many musical concerts, an art sale and more. Visit our website for a complete list of events.

We wish you the best of holidays.


See calendar

Monday, November 17, 2014

The treasure you seek

Copyright: pedrosala / 123RF Stock Photo 

"The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."
-Joseph Campbell

Friday, November 14, 2014

2014 Un/Conference Sponsor Spotlight: New Sector Alliance

The Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference: The Future Is How will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference will engage emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers!

Minnesota Rising is thankful for our amazing sponsors, without whose support we could not offer sliding-scale admission fees and stellar Un/Conference programming. Below, find an invitation to engage with New Sector Alliance and its Fellowship programs!


We are pleased to announce that applications for New Sector's 2015-2016 programs are now open! We are excited about our ongoing impact in Boston and San Francisco and the success of program launches in Chicago and the Twin Cities, where we'll be expanding program size to meet increased local interest.

We are now accepting applications for our AmeriCorps RISESummer Fellowship and Senior Summer Fellowship programs through our website. Do you know someone with a commitment to the social sector? Someone who is excited about building positive impact in their community? Someone who you think would make a great addition to one of our cohorts? Tell them to apply!
Want to help us the spread the word about our application?

We're hoping you can help us out, and we want to make it easy for you. Feel free to forward this email or share the news through social media. Here is a link to our social media guide with sample Tweets, Facebook and LinkedIn posts you can use to let your friends and colleagues know about the New Sector application. If you have questions about our programs or the recruiting process, please contact us at recruiting@newsector.org.

Thanks!
The New Sector Team



Thursday, November 13, 2014

2014 Network Partner Notes | Young Professionals in Energy Minneapolis

The Minnesota Rising 2014 Un/Conference: The Future Is How will be held on Saturday, November 15, 2014 from 10:00AM – 4:30PM at DLR Group offices in Minneapolis, MN. Hosted by and for emerging leaders, the Un/Conference will engage emerging leaders across Minnesota in an energizing day of innovative learning and dialogue, skill-building, and network-building with their peers!

Minnesota Rising is pleased to collaborate with Network Partners, emerging leader groups, in order to cross-promote our parallel efforts to provide leadership development and community-building. In our Network Partner Notes, we highlight our 2014 Un/Conference Network Partners and their events in their own words!

YPEbanner

YPE Minneapolis Leadership

 Connect at:

November 20, 2014 Happy Hour - Bar 508
LinkedIn - YPE Minneapolis
Twitter - YPE Minneapolis
Facebook - YPE Minneapolis
  
Kevin MarquardtFounder & President
Kevin Marquardt is a Regulatory Analyst at CenterPoint Energy. CenterPoint Energy is a Fortune 500 company that serves over 5 million metered customers across six states. Kevin is responsible for calculating and setting rates for customers in Minnesota, providing regulatory assistance and expertise, filing monthly and annual reports to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, reviewing capital budget expenditures, supporting rate case documentation, reviewing bill and website development, and addressing data sharing and privacy risks. 
Kevin received a Masters of Science from the University of Minnesota in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy. Before his masters degree, he received two degrees from Iowa State University in Environmental Studies and Psychology. 
 
Connect with me via Email or LinkedIn 
 
 
 
Raihan IraniBoard Member
Raihan Irani is a Substation Engineer at Xcel Energy.  Xcel Energy is a major US electric and natural gas company based in Minneapolis. Prior to joining Xcel, Raihan worked as an Energy Management System Engineer for the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in Vancouver, WA. He was responsible for analyzing and implementing changes to the bulk electricity grid in the western US. Following this he worked at a residential solar startup in Los Angeles providing technical and operational support to the Vice President. 
Raihan received a Masters in Engineering Management from University of Southern California and Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Economics from the University of Washington.
 
Connect with me via Email or LinkedIn
 
 
 
JP SinghBoard Member
JP Singh is Global Marketing Manager at Cummins Power Generation. Cummins is fortune 200 company based in Columbus, Indiana and JP leads product marketing for telecommunication vertical from Cummins Minneapolis Office. In his 12+ year in career in energy industry, JP has held various business and technical leadership roles at companies in India, Korea and US. He received his MBA from University of Texas at Austin and Bachelors of Technology from Indian Institute of Technology.
 
Connect with me via LinkedIn      

 
 
George HoffmannBoard Member
George Hoffmann is a Project Manager at Flint Hills Resources.  Flint Hills Resources is a Koch company engaged in refining, chemicals and biofuels.  Prior to joining Flint Hills, George worked at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the Project Development and Finance Group evaluating projects involving every form of renewable energy.
 
George received an MBA and Masters in Finance from Indiana University and a Bachelors in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University.
 
Connect with me via Email or LinkedIn

 
 Julia EaglesBoard Member
Julia Eagles is a Regulatory Policy Specialist at Xcel Energy, a natural gas and electricity utility company in Minneapolis. In that role Julia works on resource planning, compiling information for regulatory documents, and preparing comments on state energy policy. Before joining Xcel Energy in August of 2014, she spent 8 years working for several local energy and environmental organizations- including Youth Farm and Market Project, the Phillips Community Energy Cooperative, and the Clean Energy Resource Teams. While in graduate school, she was involved in a research project looking at smart grid policy in various regions in the United States, focusing on the role of Regional Transmission Organizations. She also worked in the City of Minneapolis Sustainability Office, assisting with the implementation and documentation of their Climate Action Plan.

Julia received a Masters in Public Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, with a focus on energy and environmental policy, and a Bachelors degree in Environmental Studies and Geography from Macalester College in St. Paul. In her free time she enjoys biking, cross country skiing, taking trips to the Boundary Waters and other beautiful locations, playing broomball, and growing, cooking and eating good food.

Connect with me via LinkedIn

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