A statement

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"I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion - and where it isn't, that's where my work lies." 

-Ram Dass

You're Invited: Ashoka Summer Series with InCommons

While winter snowstorms can bring out the best in Minnesotans (helping each other out of snowbanks, shoveling each others' driveways, and sharing information about snow emergencies to prevent a neighbor's car being towed), it's summer that truly brings Minnesotans out into the community. Join Ashoka Twin Cities and InCommons as they host a summer series focused on changemaking within the self, family and friends, neighborhoods, and institutions. There's food, drinks, and great storytelling to lure you out, and of course, the reminder to enjoy the warm summer sunshine while it lasts in Minne-snow-ta!

Ashoka Summer Series Twin Cities

You're Invited! Ashoka Summer Series with InCommons Join Ashoka and InCommons for food, drinks and conversation with some of the Twin Cities most energetic and innovative thinkers. For four summer nights we'll be looking at the way artists, social innovators and local leaders find changemaking within the self, family and friends, neighborhoods, and institutions. Heavy appetizers, drinks and socializing space are included in the entry fee! The series kicks off on Tuesday July 10th, 2012 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm Individual Sessions: $15.00 Bundle Price for all 4 sessions: $ 40.00 Location: Ashoka @ Engine for Social Innovation 91 S. 10th Street Minneapolis MN, 55403 To register please visit: http://summerseries12.eventbrite.com

The Ashoka Summer Series with InCommons will bring changemakers together for four evenings of storytelling, interactive activities and practical approaches for understanding social innovation in four critical spheres: Self, Family and Friends, Neighborhoods and Institutions. We invite you to take part in one or all sessions, and leave inspired to catalyze changemaking within your circles of influence! Self: Finding the Changemaker Within Tuesday July 10th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm Featured storytellers for the first session include: Hussein Samatar, Founder of the African Development Center  Sona Mehring, Founder of CaringBridge Danny Schwartzman, Founder of Common Roots Cafe Rose McGee, Professional Storyteller and Educator with the Minnesota Humanities Center Family & Friends Cultivating Changemaker Circles  Tuesday July 17th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm    Neighborhoods: Unleashing Changemaker Communities Tuesday July 24th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm  Institutions: Changemaking from the Inside Out Tuesday July 31st from 5:30 to 7:30 pm Click here to learn more about our other featured storytellers and to register now! We hope you can join us! Cheers, Ashoka & InCommons In-kind support provided by Finnegans

You're Invited | MINN Educational Event "Elections and Civil Society: What Does this Mean for International Development?"

If television commercials, political pundits, and candidate stickers on summer parade routes hadn't yet alerted you, the 2012 election cycle is in full swing! But we're not the only ones who will visiting the polling booths this year. The Minnesota International NGO Network will be hosting "Elections and Civil Society: What Does this Mean for International Development?" next week to highlight the myriad national elections taking place worldwide in 2012. Join them for a bit of global context and to get your start on considering how you'll mark your ballot this Fall!

MINN Event: "Elections and Civil Society: What Does this Mean for International Development?"

It is hard to forget that 2012 is a presidential election year in the United States, but the US is not alone. Roughly one third of the world's countries will hold national elections in 2012. From China to Iceland, from Vanuatu to Togo, these elections have consequences for development practitioners.

Join us in the Roseville Library on July 12th as MINN explores the impact of these national elections on development practice. The event will run from 4:30-6:00pm, with free parking available on site.

When: July 12, from 4:30-6:00pm

Where: Roseville Library at 2180 Hamline Avenue, Roseville, MN 55113.

Register Now

[Minnesota Rising Dispatch] June 2012‏

Published monthly, the [Minnesota Rising Dispatch] curates noteworthy events and opportunities for emerging leaders across Minnesota! Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. [#mnrising Dispatch] June 2012 We're halfway through 2012 and delighted to reflect on all that Minnesota Rising has been able to accomplish and be a part of this year through its amazing network of rising Minnesotans and emerging leader organizations. Thanks to all those who have had a hand in our exciting list of events and activities thus far in 2012! January 25 | "Setting the Mark for Me and Minnesota" February 11 | Minneapolis Communities Connections Conference March 1 | Torch Community "Step Up to Diversity! What Can I Do NOW: Being the Diversity Competent Leader" March 31 | Minnesota Campus Compact Student Civic Leadership Institute April 17 | Building A Network For What's Next - Linking Leaders! April 18 | YNPN-TC "Corralling Conversations: A crash course in facilitation techniques" May 22 | Minnesota Rising's 3rd Birthday Party" "A Celebration of Collaboration" June 26 | Millennial Leadership: "Different by Design" World Cafe We're looking forward to all that's yet to come in the months ahead! Join up with Minnesota Rising! Consider these opportunities for engaging with Minnesota Rising this summer and fall! #mnrising 2012 Un/Conference Planning Minnesota Rising's third annual Un/Conference is slated for Fall 2012 and we're hard at work on crafting an amazing event hosted for and by emerging leaders. Feel free to join us in person at any of this summer's planning meetings and work with our Logistics, Content, and/or Outreach committees to plan and host an incredible event. Our next meetings are July 5 and July 13 at Grassroots Solutions offices, and we'd love to see you there!  Cascading Conversations Tour Advance Team The "Our Minnesota" Cascading Conversations Tour is well underway and we're excited to see feedback coming in from across the state. Members of the Advance Team have already hosted 70+ conversations with young Minnesotans about their values and visions for the future of Minnesota! To continue building momentum, we're inviting more folks to join the group of conversationalists connecting with other emerging leaders and building the Minnesota Rising network. Let us know at minnesotarising[at]gmail.com if you want to become part of the Advance Team or if you'd like to request an invitation to a single hourlong conversation with a member of the Advance Team. We welcome you to join the cascade! Minnesotans on the Rise: Sarah Burt! Heidi Smith, Minnesota Rising Blogger Sarah Burt is the saucy owner of Saucy Burt's, a fun and fabulous food cart on the corner of 8th and Nicollet in downtown Minneapolis! Even though Sarah is a relative newcomer to the Minneapolis food scene, she is clearly here to stay. Though Minneapolis has lately seen a growing trend of all things food, Sarah located a hole and had just the product to fill it - her meatball sandwich. Like most professionals, Sarah did not have a direct path leading her into entrepreneurship and even with the amount of joy cooking brings to her, she has not had it easy. Aside from the incredible amount of pre-workthere is to owning a business, Sarah had to cook for 12-14 hours a day in the early days of running Saucy Burt's. Sarah's takeaways from this experience include insights that other young professionals can incorporate into their lives. She has a few tips to share with other young professionals [Read more]. Friend on Facebook Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend News from the Network Updates and events with our esteemed network partners and collaborators! Accepting Applications: America's Leaders of Change 2012-2012 Cohort National Urban Fellows Deadline: Thursday, July 12, 2012 Accepting Applications: 2012 Fall Social Justice Leadership Institute Headwaters Foundation  Deadline: Sunday, July 15, 2012  To legislate or delegate? An improvised comedy conversation with the Star Tribune's Lori Sturdevant League of Women Voters Minneapolis Tuesday, July 17, 2012 7:30pm - 9:00pm HUGE Theater   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 © 2012 Minnesota Rising, All rights reserved.

A marvelous victory

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"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. 

 What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. 

 And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory." 

-Howard Zinn