Podcasts about minnesota council

For more than 30 years, AmeriCorps has been a powerful driver of national public service.  The federally funded program was launched in 1993 under President Bill Clinton with a simple but powerful idea that people of all ages and backgrounds could serve their communities. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have joined AmeriCorps to tutor students, support seniors, clean up parks and rivers, assist during disasters and strengthen communities across the country, including here in Minnesota.  That work is now at risk. Because of deep federal budget cuts by the Trump administration, 85 percent of AmeriCorps staff members are currently on administrative leave. Many have been told their jobs will come to an end this June.  For the communities that rely on them — especially rural areas, low-income neighborhoods and schools already stretched thin—the loss could be staggering. MPR News host Angela Davis talks about the work AmeriCorps does in Minnesota and why it matters. Guest:Brooke Rivers is a former AmeriCorps member and executive director of Reading Partners Minnesota, a nonprofit organization that recruits and trains people to teach reading to students in under-resourced schools.  Jesse Chang is a former AmeriCorps member and national service program director with Literacy Minnesota. He used to oversee the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits AmeriCorps VISTA program.   Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.     Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.     

How are nonprofits surviving in today's challenging political climate? What happens when government funding freezes threaten essential services? How are state nonprofit associations becoming the backbone of sector defense?In this thought-provoking installment of Fund the People's "Defend Nonprofits Defend Democracy" series, host Rusty Stahl engages in a candid conversation with Nanoko Sato, President and CEO of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN). They discuss the critical challenges facing nonprofits under the Trump Administration.What does it look like when nonprofits and foundations unite to protect vulnerable communities? How can organizations navigate uncertain policies while staying true to their values? And, most importantly, where can we find hope and resilience in a time when the sector itself is under attack?Whether you're a nonprofit leader seeking practical insights, a funder considering how to respond effectively, or another infrastructure group in the field, this episode offers valuable perspective on defending democracy through a strong, united nonprofit sector.You can find all the episodes of this podcast plus our blog, toolkit and other resources at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. And we invite you to learn from all the amazing past guests of Fund the People - A Podcast with Rusty Stahl at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠fundthepeople.org/ftp_podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Nonoko Sato Bio:Nonoko Sato is the president and CEO for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the largest state association for nonprofits in the United States. She oversees MCN's strategic response to organizational and sector challenges through public policy and advocacy, responsive and educational programming, and sector-wide research.Nonoko serves or has served in a variety of advisory, board, and trustee roles, including Governor Walz's Council on Economic Expansion, Equity Diversity Impact Assessment Committee of the Minneapolis Public Schools, Coalition of Asian American Leaders, Theater Mu, Carleton College, among others. She previously served as MCN's associate director, overseeing internal operations, programming, finance, and administration, as well as launching BenefitsMN, an association health plan for nonprofit organizations that strives to increase the vitality of Minnesota nonprofits through access to affordable and sustainable healthcare.Prior to these roles, Nonoko served as the executive director of an organization that champions educational equity by supporting students in overcoming systemic barriers on their journey to a college degree. Under her leadership, the organization tripled the number of students and expanded its services through high school. In all her roles, Nonoko is dedicated to enhancing and improving cultural humility, intentionally creating inclusive and accessible spaces, and working to end disparities in power, money, access, and resources.Resources:Minnesota Council of NonprofitsNational Council of NonprofitsMap of Place-Based Nonprofit Associations in the U.S.

310: Why is Now the Time for Future Thinking? (Trista Harris)SUMMARYSpecial thanks to TowneBank for bringing these conversations to life, and for their commitment to strengthening nonprofit organizations. Learn more about how they can help at TowneBank.com/NonprofitBanking.How can nonprofit leaders break free from the exhausting cycle of putting our fires to create a clear, future-focused strategy that drives long-term impact? In episode 310 of Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership, philanthropic futurist, Trista Harris dives into why many in the sector struggle to think beyond immediate crises and how future-focused strategies can drive transformational change. Learn practical tools for envisioning long-term impact, including how to align organizational activities with a shared vision and develop a rolling three-year strategic plan. With actionable insights on integrating futurism into your culture and engaging stakeholders, this conversation will inspire you to reimagine what's possible for your organization—and equip you to build a brighter, more equitable future.ABOUT TRISTATrista Harris is a renowned philanthropic futurist who advocates for the use of futurism to address critical community challenges worldwide. Her groundbreaking work has been featured in Forbes, CNN, The New York Times, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and many social sector blogs. Trista is the President of FutureGood, a consultancy that helps visionaries create a better future. She has authored two books - "How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar" and "FutureGood.". Prior to her work at FutureGood, she served as President of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, a thriving grant-making community that awards over $1.5 billion annually. She was also the Executive Director of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice and a Program Officer at Minnesota Philanthropy Partners. A strategic foresight expert certified by Oxford University, Trista holds a Master of Public Policy degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Arts from Howard University.EPISODE TOPICS & RESOURCES Rest is Resistance: Free Yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim Your Life by Tricia HerseyParable of the Sower by Octavia ButlerHave you gotten Patton's book Your Path to Nonprofit Leadership: Seven Keys to Advancing Your Career in the Philanthropic Sector – Now available on AudibleDon't miss our weekly Thursday Leadership Lens for the latest on nonprofit leadership

David Fenley is the ADA director at thw Minnesota Council on Disability.

Brett Johnson fills in for Matt today. Max Richtman, President and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare discusses the current push for cuts by this administration; Matt Gertz of Media Matters details the American right’s embrace of Russia; Patrick Coolican joins the show; David Fenley of the Minnesota Council on…

David Fenley is the ADA director at thw Minnesota Council on Disability.

Minnesota social studies teachers will gather in St. Cloud for the Minnesota Civics Summit on Saturday. Put on by the League of Women's Voters of Minnesota, it brings together teachers and civics organizations to support teachers in engaging students during a polarizing time in politics. Amy Anderson, the executive director for the YMCA Center for Youth Voice, and Crystal Johnson, a 12th grade government and economics teacher in Osseo and a Minnesota Council for Social Studies board member, joined Minnesota Now to talk about the summit.

Welcome to the Fund the People Podcast and our new special series, “Defend Nonprofits, Defend Democracy.”Why “Defend Nonprofits, Defend Democracy”? Because powerful nonprofits are part of a strong democracy, and a strong democracy benefits from powerful nonprofits. When nonprofits are under attack, democracy is under attack. And when democracy is at risk, nonprofits are at risk. It's clear that investing in the nonprofit workforce (both paid and unpaid) is crucial to building powerful nonprofits. The Trump Administration's anti-American attacks on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector are already weakening our democracy. And these attacks are also destabilizing nonprofit jobs in the U.S. and around the world, and creating extreme and unnecessary strain on nonprofit people and the communities we serve.Listen to FTP Podcast host Rusty Stahl as he launches the Defend Nonprofits, Defend Democracy Campaign to understand and frame the issues, inform the sector about what's happening; and mobilize the sector and the country to protect and strengthen our treasured nonprofits. As part of that effort, he will be discussing these current affairs here on the podcast every other Wednesday morning on our Defend Nonprofits, Defend Democracy episodes. These episodes will provide valuable updates, commentary, analysis, calls to action, and special surprises, of course. For more info, check our website at www.fundthepeople.org! Resources: https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/native-american-philanthropy https://causeinspiredmedia.com/news-article/brief-history-tax-exempt-sector/#:~:text=The%20Wilson%2DGorman%20Tariff%20Act,exempt%20status%20for%20charitable%20organizations. https://www.franklinva.com/government/departments/fire-and-rescue/fire-and-rescue-history/ https://www.paabolition.org/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Morris_(financier) National Webinar: Executive Actions and their Impact on Charitable Nonprofits (57:38) recording and slides, National Council of Nonprofits, Feb. 7, 2025. The Impacts of the Recent Executive Orders on Nonprofits, National Council of Nonprofits, updated regularly. Webform: Effects of Executive Actions on Nonprofits – Please complete if your organization is continuing to experience issues with federal funding Resources to navigate uncertainty, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, Feb. 7, 2025. Contact your members of Congress

Welcome to EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource. I'm Cynthia Rowland, and EO Radio Show episode 110 is the 18th in a series of quick tip episodes focusing on the details of state registration of nonprofit corporations. With the help of Joe Hilliard today, we will look at basic state filing requirements for nonprofit corporations operating in Wisconsin and Minnesota. In our first state filings episode, we talked about filing in Delaware and California, which are the most frequently used by our clients, most of whom have a connection with California. Other episodes have focused on the state filings in Nevada and Arizona, Washington State and Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii, New York and New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut, Maine and Vermont, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, Florida and Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee, Oklahoma and Texas, New Mexico and Utah, Colorado and Wyoming, Washington, D.C., Michigan and Ohio, and last month Illinois and Indiana. You can find all the prior episodes on our website or the Farella YouTube channel, where there is a playlist just for state filing requirements. We'll work our way through the rest of the states in future episodes. Show Notes:  Farella YouTube podcast channel Resources for Wisconsin: Wisconsin Department of Financial Services Home Page: https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/Home.aspx Wisconsin Current Entity Search: https://apps.dfi.wi.gov/apps/corpSearch/Search.aspx Wisconsin Business Entity FAQ: https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/FAQ.aspx Wisconsin Forms Index: https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Forms.aspx Wisconsin Fees: https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Fees.aspx Wisconsin Nonstock Articles of Incorporation Form and Instructions: hhttps://dfi.wi.gov/Documents/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Forms/CORP102.pdf Wisconsin Nonstick Articles FAQ: https://dfi.wi.gov/Documents/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Forms/CORP102I.pdf Wisconsin Application for Certificate of Authority Foreign Nonstock Corporation Form and Instructions: https://dfi.wi.gov/Documents/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Forms/CORP121.pdf Wisconsin Nonstock Annual Report Form and Instructions: https://dfi.wi.gov/Documents/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Forms/CORP5.pdf Wisconsin Nonstock Annual Report FAQ: https://dfi.wi.gov/Documents/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Forms/CORP5i.pdf Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Charitable Organization FAQ: https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/CharitableProfessionalOrganizations/CharitableOrganizationsFAQ.aspx Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions Charitable & Professional Organization Forms: https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/CharitableProfessionalOrganizations/Forms.aspx Wisconsin Department of Revenue Nonprofit Certificate of Exemption FAQ: https://www.revenue.wi.gov/Pages/FAQS/pcs-n-profit.aspx Marquette University How to Form Wisconsin Nonprofit: https://libguides.marquette.edu/c.php?g=36702&p=233188 Resources for Minnesota: Minnesota Secretary of State Business Home Page: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/business-liens Minnesota Secretary of State current entity database: https://mblsportal.sos.state.mn.us/Business/Search Minnesota Secretary of State Fee Schedule: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/business-liens/start-a-business/business-filing-certification-fee-schedule/ Minnesota Secretary of State Domestic Non-Profit Forms Page: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/business-liens/business-forms-fees/minnesota-non-profit-corporation-forms/ Minnesota Foreign Corporation Forms Page: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/business-liens/business-forms-fees/foreign-corporation-nonprofit-or-cooperative-forms/ Minnesota Nonprofit Articles of Incorporation: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/1829/nonprofitarticlesofincorporation.pdf Minnesota Council of Nonprofits template Articles of Incorporation: https://minnesotanonprofits.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/sample-articles-of-incorporation.pdf Minnesota Nonprofit Annual Report Form: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/1534/nonprofitrenewal.pdf Minnesota Foreign Certificate of Authority Form: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/1559/foreigncorpregistration.pdf Minnesota Foreign Annual Report: https://www.sos.state.mn.us/media/1560/foreigncorprenewal.pdf Minnesota Attorney General Charities Home Page: https://www.ag.state.mn.us/charity/ Minnesota Attorney General Charitable Organization Initial Registration Form: https://www.ag.state.mn.us/charity/Forms/C1_InitialRegistration.pdf Minnesota Department of Revenue Nonprofit Sales Tax Exemption Form: https://www.revenue.state.mn.us/sites/default/files/2023-06/st16.pdf Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Forms Fees & Publications FAQ: https://minnesotanonprofits.org/resources-tools/starting-a-nonprofit/forms-fees-publications   If you have suggestions for topics you would like us to discuss, please email us at eoradioshow@fbm.com. Additional episodes can be found at EORadioShowByFarella.com. DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to be, nor should it be interpreted as, legal advice or opinion.  

Host Chris Davies is joined by Sumukha Terakanambi. Sumukha 25 years old and lives in Lakeville, Minnesota. He is a policy consultant with the Minnesota Council on Disability and the Rare Disease Advisory Council. He is also involved in disability advocacy and serves on the Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Dakota County Disability Advisory Council.

Joining Sphere Education Initiatives for this conversation will be James Redelsheimer, introductory and Advanced Placement (AP) economics educator at Robbinsdale Armstrong High School in Plymouth, Minnestota. In addition to authoring our new economics lessons, he is the author of Barron's AP economics, a BestPrep Minnesota board member, master teacher with the Minnesota Council on Economic Education and a Next Generation Personal Finance Teacher Fellow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Disability advocates from across Minnesota gathered at the Capitol Wednesday for Disability Advocacy Day. People with disabilities as well as caretakers and community members were there. That includes people affected by PTSD, autoimmune disorders and severe mental illnesses, which can all be disabling without being immediately apparent. The extra step of disclosing a disability can prevent people from getting the care and accommodations they need. Trevor Turner, public policy director of the Minnesota Council on Disability, joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to talk about what it's like to live with a disability that isn't obvious to others.

In this thought-provoking episode, we look into philanthropic futurism with the remarkable Trista Harris, a leading advocate for equity in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Trista's illustrious career spans various renowned platforms, including CNN, the New York Times, and Forbes, where her insights on leveraging futurism to address societal challenges have garnered widespread acclaim.   As the President of FutureGood, a consultancy dedicated to fostering visionary leadership and crafting a brighter tomorrow, Trista brings a wealth of experience to the table. With a background as the former president of the Minnesota Council on Foundations and executive director of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice, Trista's expertise in strategic foresight is unparalleled.   Throughout the episode, Trista shares invaluable insights on how futurism tools can be harnessed to shape a more equitable and prosperous future. Drawing from her master's degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota and a certificate in strategic foresight from The University of Oxford, she offers practical strategies for envisioning and realizing transformative change.   Join us as we explore the intersection of philanthropy, futurism, and social impact and discover how organizations and leaders can navigate the complexities of tomorrow with clarity and purpose.    Whether you're a seasoned philanthropist, nonprofit leader, or simply passionate about driving positive change, this episode promises to inspire and empower you to embrace the future with optimism and vision. 00:00:53 - Guest intro 00:02:32 - How did Future Good start? 00:08:19 - How did the diagnosis change the trajectory of the business? 00:18:32 - Developing deep connections through honesty  00:20:39 - Transformation and change 00:24:57 - What would it look like if there was no change? 00:30:35 - Trusting the NO 00:30:53 - The Future Good Book 00:35:04 - Last thoughts     Connect with Trista:   Website: https://www.wearefuturegood.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weare_futuregood/ Sick and Successful ™ Book Waitlist: https://sandscreative.ck.page/sick-and-successful-book    Let's stay connected through these links: Email us your questions: info@sandscreative.ca Our website: http://www.sandscreative.ca Podcast Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/sickandsuccessful_ Our business Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/s.and.s.creative Natalie's personal Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/for.the.success

Amanda Brinkman is a producer, branding expert, and public speaker who shares her “Do Well By Doing Good” philosophy around the country. Amanda joined Chanda for a live conversation at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits' 2022 Annual Conference. Together, they explored the current state of the nonprofit sector and the power of authentic leadership. www.smithbaker.co www.conversationswithchanda.com IG @chandasbaker & @conversationswithchanda Twitter: @chandasbaker @amandabrinkman.com IG: @amandakbrinkman Twitter: @amandakbrinkman

Remember, you can watch the Superpowers for Good show on e360tv. To watch the episode, download the #e360tv channel app to your streaming device–Roku, AppleTV or AmazonFireTV–or your mobile device. You can even watch it on the web.When you purchase an item after clicking a link here, we may earn a commission. It's an easy way to support our work.Devin: What is your superpower?Trista: My superpower is helping other people predict and shape the future.Trista Harris is the author of FutureGood and founder and president of a consulting firm by the same name that helps “visionary leaders build a more beautiful and equitable future” using strategic planning and visioning tools.The future is scary to anyone who has seen one of the Terminator movies or who has read about a self-driving car killing someone. There is some valid foundation for that fear, Trista notes.She shared a recent experience of a large robot hugging her; factory managers can train it to replace humans performing various repetitive tasks. The owners who replace humans with more cost-efficient (profitable) robots will naturally benefit. How do workers benefit?Trista suggests taxing robots and distributing the funds as a universal basic income (UBI), celebrating the fact that humans could be relieved of work that we don't enjoy. She sees a future where we work fewer hours and still earn as much.“We're doing a lot of work at FutureGood to think about what a more beautiful and equitable future looks like where we can use these tools but not get the sort of dystopian science fiction version of the future that I think many of your viewers are probably a little worried about,” Trista says.There are good uses for AI as well. It can also enhance the work of nonprofits, helping them become more efficient at delivering impact and raising more money. Over the years, Trista has polished her superpower, helping others predict and shape the future. It enables her to help organizations do more good.AI Episode Summary* In this episode, Devin Thorpe interviews Trista Harris, the President of FutureGood, about the future of good and philanthropy.* Trista shares her experience of attending a futurist conference where she saw a robot designed to replace humans on a production line.* She believes that robotics and artificial intelligence can free humans from repetitive work and allow them to focus on more meaningful tasks.* Trista mentions the challenges of ensuring a more equitable future and emphasizes the need to tax these tools appropriately and redistribute the wealth generated.* Devin discusses the impact of technology on his own life and how it is changing at an unprecedented rate.* Trista highlights the potential of artificial intelligence in the social sector, particularly in fundraising and customization of donor communications.* She cautions against organizations using these tools to replace human workers entirely and advocates for a reduction in work hours with fair compensation through universal basic income.* Trista shares her experience of interviewing Richard Branson, who she admires for his philanthropic work, and how it inspired her to write her book, "FutureGood."* Trista Harris talks about her consultancy, FutureGood, which helps visionary leaders build a more equitable future through strategic planning, visioning work, and teaching futurism skills.* Trista's superpower is helping people predict and shape the future. She shares a success story of a politician who was able to transform her community through her leadership, facilitated by FutureGood retreats and training programs.How to Develop Helping Others Predict and Shape the Future As a SuperpowerTrista hosts mastermind retreats for her clients in the social sector who want to increase their impact. At her first event, one of the participants expressed interest in running for office. Another had recently run; she shared the challenges and difficulties in an hours-long conversation. In the wee hours of the morning, as the group adjourned, she admitted, however, that many opportunities had come from her campaign. She recommended running.“Soon after the retreat, this woman decided to run. We fundraised for her, and we had a group chat of encouragement. One of the mastermind members became our finance chair for her campaign,” Trista says. “She was elected, the youngest and the only Filipino American woman that had ever been on the county board for Hennepin County, the largest county in Minnesota.”Trista has some tips for developing the ability to predict and shape the future:* Set aside 5 percent of your time for working on the future* Set and follow Google alerts using the keyword “future” along with your domain's keywords* Connect with others over Slack or similar communities to discuss the ideasBy following Trista's advice, you can develop skills that will help you predict and shape the future–and help others do the same. With practice, you could make it a superpower that enables you to do more good in the world.Remember, however, that research into success suggests that building on your own superpowers is more important than creating new ones or overcoming weaknesses. You do you!Guest ProfileTrista Harris (she/her):Philanthropic Futurist and President, FutureGoodAbout FutureGood: FutureGood is a consultancy that helps visionary leaders build a better future through strategic visioning, retreats, cohorts, and online learning programs.Website: www.WeAreFutureGood.comTwitter Handle: @WeAreFutureGoodCompany Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WeAreFutureGoodBiographical Information: Trista Harris is a philanthropic futurist and is nationally known as a passionate advocate for leaders in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. Trista's work has been covered by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Forbes, CNN, the New York Times, and numerous social sector blogs. She is also the co-author of the book “How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar” and the author of “FutureGood.” She is the President of FutureGood, a consultancy focused on helping visionaries build a better future. She has spent her whole career dedicated to the social sector, starting with a job as a summer parks assistant at the age of 15. Before starting FutureGood, Trista was President of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, a vibrant community of grantmakers who award more than $1.5 billion annually. Prior to joining MCF in 2013, she was executive director of the Headwaters Foundation for Justice in Minneapolis, and she previously served as a program officer at the St. Paul Foundation.Trista has been certified in strategic foresight by Oxford University, earned her Master of Public Policy degree from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, and her Bachelor of Arts from Howard University. She is a board member for Tides, one of the largest social justice funders in the world that provides fiscal sponsorship, donor-advised funds, impact investing, and a variety of grantmaking solutions to advance social justice and equity. Trista served on the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee and the Governor's Council on Law Enforcement and Community Relations, which was convened after the shooting of Philando Castile. She is a passionate national advocate for the social sector, using the tools of futurism to solve our communities' most pressing challenges.Twitter Handle: @TristaHarrisPersonal Facebook Profile: facebook.com/TristaharrisLinkedin: linkedin.com/company/futuregoodstudioInstagram Handle: @weare_futuregoodSuperpowers for Good is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at www.superpowers4good.com/subscribe

Abelardo Almazan Vazquez is passionate about gender neutral language, gender inclusivity and asking questions around gender roles, consent, respect and how cultures can perpetuate stereotypes or be changed to make everyone feel seen, heard and valued. It's a beautiful and uplifting conversation about the impact that our words and actions have on others and creating more empathetic humans. Bio Over the years, I've enjoyed teaching intermediate and advanced Spanish classes, coaching an all-gender soccer team, and sharing my expertise in Latin dance as an evening activity. I hold a Licenciatura in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language from Universidad Internacional UNINTER in Morelos México and a Master's in Latin American Studies from Cleveland State University. As an immigrant with 20 years of experience, I proudly represent the lively city of Cuernavaca, México. My unique contributions, learnings, and unlearnings at the Putney School have invited me to present at renowned World Languages conferences, including the distinguished Massachusetts Foreign Language Association 2018's "Best Workshop of State Conference." I am a co-founder of the influential Minnesota Council on Teaching Languages and Cultures 2020 "BIPOC/Immigrant World Language Educators strand" and a sought-after featured speaker at The Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages 2021 in NYC. My classroom insights have had a lasting impact, and my testimonies and experiences led me to serve as the keynote speaker at the Greater Washington DC Association of Teachers of Foreign Language 2021 Spring Conference, the 2023 Vermont Foreign Language Association Spring Conference, and the Keynote Speaker for the Western Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy Awards 2023 Ceremony at UMass Amherst. Producer's Notes Visit the Language Lounge on Twitter - https://twitter.com/langloungepod Connect with Michelle - https://twitter.com/michelleolah Have a comment or question? Leave a voicemail at (207) 888-9819 or email podcast@waysidepublishing.com Produced by Wayside Publishing - https://waysidepublishing.com Social Media Twitter @AbelardoAlmazan Insta @abelardoalmazanv LinkedIn: Abelardo Almazán-Vázquez Mentions Paulo Freire, Freire Institute, https://freire.org/paulo-freire bell hooks -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks John Dewey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey MAFL https://mafla.org/ NECTFL https://www.nectfl.org/ ACTFL https://www.actfl.org/ SCOLT https://www.scolt.org/ Meredith White @techMEWithyou Claudia Elliot @claudiamelliott Berta Delgadillo https://profesoradelgadillo.com/ MAFLA https://mafla.org/

On Friday, Wayne Ducheneaux II will be stepping down from his leadership position at Native Governance Center. He was the Native-led organization's first executive director and helped to grow its work from a single program to many - all of which serve tribes and their needs. Just recently, Native Governance Center received the Anti-Racism Initiative Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. The award recognizes nonprofits that do active anti-racism work.  MPR Native News Senior Editor Leah Lemm chatted with Wayne Ducheneaux II and learned about Native Governance Center's journey. She joined Minnesota Now to talk about his legacy.

This year marks the 56th anniversary of the Minnesota Human Rights Act, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Minnesota Council of Disability and 50 years of the National Rehabilitation Act. It was the first federal law aimed at providing equal access for people with disabilities. That included removing employment barriers. While things have certainly improved in the last 50 years there are still major inequities. In Minnesota the unemployment rate is 9.8 percent for people with one or more disabilities and 3.7 percent for those without. October is Disability Employment Awareness month. And one woman is playing a big role in trying to highlight the contributions of our states workers with disabilities. Sheletta Brundidge is hosting a job fair tomorrow in St. Paul for adults on the autism spectrum. She is the founder and CEO of the podcasting platform and production company Sheletta Makes Me Laugh and joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.  We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here. Correction (Oct. 26, 2023): This segment has been updated to reflect the correct anniversary of the Minnesota Human Rights Act.

For this week's episode, we had the pleasure of recording live at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Annual Conference, which was held in Duluth on September 21, 2023.  We start the episode discussing the role of nonprofits in supporting trans rights and then interview Jess Braverman, Legal Director for Gender Justice. We journey through the complex intersection of culture, legality, and individual identity. We also delve into the law, discussing the impact of Supreme Court decisions on state-level anti-discrimination laws and gender in the court room.Resources from This Episode:Minnesota Council of NonprofitsGender JusticeOther Resources:https://www.thetrevorproject.org/https://www.thetrevorproject.org/resources/guide/a-guide-to-being-an-ally-to-transgender-and-nonbinary-youth/https://www.glaad.org/resourcelistSend your questions, feedback, and stories to questions@transgendapod.com, click the Chat With Us button at www.transgendapod.com, and follow us on social media (Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube)If you or a trans loved one are contemplating suicide, please call the Trans Lifeline at (877) 565-8860.Buzzsprout Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Get started for free today and get a $20 credit when you upgrade to any paid account at www.transgendapod.com/buzzsproutMusic by Slip.stream - "Blaqueen Phoenix" - https://slip.stream/tracks/f7176f3b-89dc-475b-9b79-a5b659c5ed47Support the show

Most people who work at a nonprofit will tell you they're there because they support the mission, that there's a purpose to what they do that makes some kind of tangible change in the world.But just as the pandemic and social justice uprising three years ago shook up the private sector, causing a so-called “great resignation” and pushing workers to unionize, there's been a sea change within the nonprofit sphere too. In the Twin Cities, a growing number of nonprofits have recently organized unions, including MN350, The Minnesota Historical Society, Planned Parenthood and Jewish Community Action, just to name a few. We should mention workers at Minnesota Public Radio News unionized back in 2016.The reasons are complex. Workers have clashed with leadership over working conditions and culture issues.Nonoko Sato is the executive director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the largest state association for nonprofits in the country. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.Subscribe to the Minnesota Now podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.   We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.

In this compelling pod-swap episode with the Transgenda Podcast, hosts Ana and her cisgender dad, Cam Kruger, discuss the nuances of gender, trans rights, and societal expectations. Recorded live at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits conference, Ana and Cam emphasize nonprofits' pivotal role in trans rights advocacy. Guest star Jess Braverman, the legal director of Gender Justice, joins Ana and Cam for an in-depth look at the legal component of transgender rights. Jess reflects on her intriguing journey transitioning from a monorail driver, and conservative religious upbringing, to becoming a legal LGBTQ rights advocate.  From a legal perspective, Jess warns against alarming legislative trends bundling sports bans with abortion bans, infringing on bodily autonomy rights. The episode stresses the media's pivotal role in shaping perceptions and the unwavering dedication of nonprofit professionals, wrapping up with a playful nod to the unsung heroes…accountants. ### Visit the "Gender Justice" Website here and "Unrestrict Minnesota" here. The GJB is produced by Gunther Michael Jahnl of IQONEQ Communications Solutions & Audra Grigus. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/genderjustice/message

Kari Aanestad is the Associate Director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, which "works to inform, promote, connect, and strengthen individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector." Kari is also the Co-Director of Grant Advisor, "safe way to anonymously give and receive feedback on grantmaking." Kari joins host Steve Boland to talk about the emerging tools in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and what their use may mean in the nonprofit sector. One of the most prevalent forms being adopted today is ChatGPT, a Large Language Model (LLM) which users can ask to write anything from song lyrics to grant applications. Kari and Steve are not experts in the science (very few people are!) but discuss the pros and cons of using such tools in nonprofit work. They talk about cultural bias in AI, the ethics of contributing to such systems, using AI as a writing prompt rather than replacing writers, and just what may be the "existential risks" some AI developers are warning against.

Imagine being an adult and not being able to have a say in your education. This was the experience of Gage Robinson, a young man who has an intellectual disability.Gage Robinson is a 19-year-old college student at Dakota County Techincal College in Rosemont, Minnesota. But the road to college was bumpy. A little bit about Gage. He loves public speaking and has co-presented at several regional, national & international conferences. He runs a nonprofit called Gage Gives Back where he educates others about traumatic brain injury, shaken baby syndrome, and gives back to those places that have helped him get to where he is today.Here is what we cover in today's episode.1) How Gage took on his school district to get the services that he wanted.2) What he said in front of the Minnesota Council on Disability Legislative Forum on Inclusive Higher Education.3) And what support looks like for him in college. Thanks for listening, and if you haven't already, please give us a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.Email List: https://bit.ly/MCIE-Email-ListOtter.ai Transcript: https://otter.ai/u/KVAmci6KWGQc0R6CEpdqMZHVHncPDF Transcript: (coming soon)Show Notes: (coming soon)Cover Art Image Description: black background; think inclusive logo in the top left; rainbow-colored waves overlayed with a headshot of Gage Robinson; text reads: Gage Robinson; A Self-Advocacy Story; MCIE logo in the bottom rightCreditsThink Inclusive is written, edited, and sound designed by Tim Villegas and is produced by MCIE.Original music by Miles Kredich.Additional music by Tim Villegas.Support Think Inclusive by becoming a patron!Thank you to our sponsor, TogetherLetters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do we do when we can't make predictable or ordered decisions? What do we do when things are unordered? How do we approach those decisions in ways we haven't in the past? These questions are just some of what you get to hear about on this episode with our guest, Sherry Johnson.   Sherry, like so many others we have had the opportunity to interview, grew up not knowing she was a person with autism. She often wondered why she felt she was an outsider in the world. It wasn't until her 40s that she was finally diagnosed. By then, she had gone to college and became a teacher of English and the theater.   Now, she is a coach, a course creator and the founder of the company Cultivating Strategy. Our discussion ranges far beyond autism and neurodivergence. We even get into a story from Sherry about her facilitating a church discussion about gun control. Wait until you hear what happens. (Hint: no, the gun control issue is not solved, but diametrically opposed people do learn to listen to and talk with opponents.)     About the Guest: With a background in arts education, community organizing, and volunteer coordination, Sherry likes inspiring folks to experiment with new ways of being together. Sherry enjoys bridging divides between people. She likes helping leaders and experts make complicated information more accessible, while elevating homegrown leadership and expertise.  Sherry leverages her autistic mind to help people see their own assumptions and biases, so that everyone is freer to be seen and heard more faithfully. Sherry blends Technology of Participation, emergent strategy, Asset-Based Community Development, and current brain research—particularly the neuroscience of emotion and mindfulness—into her approach. Her North Star is interrupting linear and conventional thinking, which so often hampers care and innovation in human systems. Most of her clients are in the civic and nonprofit sectors. Sherry's feet touch the ground in St. Paul, Minnesota, her heart's home. She loves her family, most cats, playful dogs, corvids, and a good windstorm.   How to connect with Sherry: My website My Facebook Page My LinkedIn Profile My December training on Adaptive Leadership     About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app.   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.     Transcription Notes Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, a pleasant afternoon to you wherever you happen to be. I am Michael Hingson, your host and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Now we get to interview lots of different people who do lots of different things, which really makes it fun, we get to inspire. And I frankly will tell you I love being inspired. We get to talk with Sherry Johnson today who has a company called cultivate strategy, and we'll get to that but a little known fact, except for a close circle around sherry. She had a birthday yesterday. So Sherry, welcome to unstoppable mindset and happy birthday.   Sherry Johnson  01:57 Thank you so much.   Michael Hingson  02:00 We won't we won't give away your age. That's entirely up to you. But I want to tell you, we're really glad you're here. I enjoyed chatting with you and preparing for this. So split start by telling you or asking you to tell us a little bit about your roots, you know where you came from growing up what it was like, and all that kind of stuff.   Sherry Johnson  02:22 Yeah, thanks. I'm happy to be here. And so lucky to get to do this. And so I came from southern Wisconsin and a rust belt town called Janesville, Wisconsin. And my tone really was embodied a lot of what shapes me, deep divisions, we produce Janesville, both Russ Feingold and Paul Ryan to two completely opposite politician, if you don't say, Yes, that's right. And even my own household was a fractal image of that my mother was a union steward and a factory. My dad retired for agent first sergeant first class in the army. And they used to joke how they canceled out one another's boats all the time. So really grew up in a lot of tension. And also a lot of people have lost their jobs during the mid 80s, as so many did, and that rust belt town got a lot rest year, and that kind of sense of loss and some of the family traumas that compounded around that and my family's background, shaped a lot of how I approach my work and who I become and how I relate to those routes all the time. And I think to you know, this will come up later, but I think to Mike family was also impacted, not just from, you know, caste and job loss, but also generational trauma that may have actually come from being neuro divergent in a world in which that is not really created for us to be successful. Right.   Michael Hingson  04:01 So, yeah. Where did the neuro divergence come in?   Sherry Johnson  04:06 Well, you know, it's genetic. A lot of that I actually came had a midlife autism diagnosis. And when I looked back and kind of, you know, the crash that I had, at that time, I look back at a lot of the family trauma that I experienced and, and sort of see started seeing these signs of OCD, ADHD, autism in my family of origin, and how a lot of that sort of set up some, some difficulties and how we were able to approach live view live, get along with others, collaborate or not, and it really isolated us in our town.   Michael Hingson  04:50 So do you think or do you know, were there other people in your family who had neurodivergent kinds of things or are you the one on choosing one   Sherry Johnson  05:02 I dealt my dad was very likely OCD, autistic, possibly ADHD as well. I, my mother was most definitely autistic and really struggled with some depressive issues and that life because of that, I believe my grandfather was I think there were lots of folks on my father's side as well. And so just kind of growing up along around that, and not really being able to trace back some roots about why is my family so different? What is it about us not being able to fit in and really find our places in society? Why are we so sort of isolated? Why do we continue to isolate ourselves? And I feel like I have a lot more answers about that example.   Michael Hingson  05:49 So how old were you when you were diagnosed?   Sherry Johnson  05:52 I was, um, sexually. So I live here in St. Paul, Minnesota now. But for a while my spouse's job moved, and we had to move out to Seattle for a handful years. And having been sort of taken out of my context, and my community that I had built up. In my mid 30s, I had a breakdown. There were days where I was laying on the couch with a, you know, blanket over my head, and I literally could not get up. And I know that my story is not unique. You know, I had to start over that I didn't know how, and it felt very much like a lot of you sort of go through this year or so of reinterpreting your entire life, nothing, why? Why you made certain decisions or not, and what it felt like it again, your family of origin, and all of that. And I took all of that and sort of had to rebuild who I was and how I saw myself as a disabled person in a world that was not necessarily designed for me to be successful. Right.   Michael Hingson  07:04 So when did you get diagnosed?   Sherry Johnson  07:07 That was 3030. I've missed a 38.   Michael Hingson  07:11 Sir. You know, I've talked to a number of people on this podcast, who got diagnosed with autism, or other disabilities, in their 30s ran into into their 40s. I know, several people who were diagnosed with autism and ADH D in their 30s. For her I know one person who we talked with who knew that they didn't see well, but never really got a diagnosis until a little bit later. Wow, how how was it for you when you got a diagnosis and really understood what was going on?   Sherry Johnson  07:55 Um, well, I went again, I went through that year of just kind of reinterpreting my entire life, there was a lot of anger. I remember feeling for a long time that the whole world was hiding something from me, like, there were all these inch implicit rules, that I wasn't in on all these shortcuts to emotions, and it   Michael Hingson  08:16 didn't send you the memo. Right?   Sherry Johnson  08:18 Right. Like and it was entire light bulb feeling like I missed the memo. And by the way, this is part of my executive dysfunction is numbers was actually my early 40s, that I was diagnosed. And, and I remember just feeling that profound sense of grief, of loss time, of not understanding myself of not understanding that there are people like me, that there have been always fuchal, like me, you know, you go through this, you read a lot of books, if you start seeing yourself represented, we talked about representation in mass media all the time. And I'm so excited to be able to see myself and that's what helped me kind of redefine myself from an I'm an outsider, feeling like an outsider all my life to an outlier, someone who has something different to give. And so I started creating a field with the ways that I was approaching training and consulting and facilitation and coaching and allowing my neurology to kind of shape something new.   Michael Hingson  09:24 And really, I'm not even sure I would go so far as to say outlier, because what it allowed you to do was to realize who you were, which allowed you to then move forward and become a real part of and feeling like a real part of society.   Sherry Johnson  09:43 Yeah, yeah. I mean, I always feel like I'm the sauciest one who Pena sees things a little bit differently and kind of is a lot really intense for a lot of people. I'm proud of that difference, and at the same time, it's helped We appreciate even more other's differences, and to try to help people collaborate in ways where we can honor those differences, lift them up, celebrate how those differences are really where innovation comes from there. Those differences are how we move forward in new ways and in healthier ways. Right?   Michael Hingson  10:21 Well, let's go back. So when you were growing up, you went to regular public schools and all that kind of thing, I assume.   Sherry Johnson  10:27 Yeah. Yep. We were, I should say there was these gifted programs that they were experiment, experimenting with back in the 80s. And almost every two a one of us were nerve divergent at sunset. And so we, we had our own different social milieu, some of which was damaging, some of which was healthy. But we were kept together, separated and kept together from about fourth grade. So that eighth grade, and then just sort of thrown thrown out of that program in ninth grade. And so that that even added, I think, to this sense of isolation and difference and outlier ship or outsider ship at the time. Yeah. You're just like, whoa, what just happened? And then suddenly, you're in all these classes where you're breaking the curve, and upsetting upper class people, because you're the, you're the freshman and chemistry getting a plus. Right? And nobody and you just feel you feel ostracized? ostracize, you don't make a lot of friends? Let me tell you.   Michael Hingson  11:36 Yeah, it is tough on when I was in high school, I actually was taken out of our freshman General Science course for the last quarter of the year. Because my general science teacher said, you know, you seem pretty bored. And I said, Yeah, this is all pretty straightforward stuff. And they put me in the senior physics class. Oh, I had this experience, I had that experience, too. As a, as a blind person. I know, I wasn't in most of the social groups, the social cliques and so on. And I was, no one was mean, it just was that I didn't end up associating with, with people a lot directly. I've talked to some of my high school colleagues a whole lot more after graduation, and over the past several years, then, then in high school. But yeah, I know exactly what you're saying. Yeah, I believe it. And at some point, you really have to decide, you can only do what you can do, and you don't have control over how people feel.   Sherry Johnson  12:37 Yes. And, and I think, you know, speaking of how people feel, I think one of the things that's really shaped me, post diagnosis is I got deep, deep, deep into understanding how we construct emotions. I'm a huge fan of this neuro neuroscientist cut aspect of neuroscientists and Risa Feldman Barrett, who talks about the theory of construction, emotion, and the predictive brain model and how that impacts us and impacts our relationships. And thinking about that through an autistic lens. And I've really brought a lot of that Affective Neuroscience work into my work. And it's helped me also kind of reinterpret my past and see why human differences so hard for a lot of us to address in a constructive way. But once you understand it, you can kind of start piecing together some experiments to help us connect better across different.   Michael Hingson  13:36 Well, this whole concept of diversity, which everyone seems to embrace, unfortunately, when you deal with it in terms of their traditional ways today. For many of us, it never seems to affect us. For example, diversity doesn't seem to include disabilities today. Oh, we're a diverse society. We are diverse all the way around. We deal with race and gender and sexual orientation and culture and so on. But you never hear mentions about disabilities. And what's really, what's really unfortunate   Sherry Johnson  14:14 about it.   Michael Hingson  14:17 Yeah, they're, they're trying to get us. What's really unfortunate is that when we when we talk about these differences, and diversity in reality, we are leaving so many people out, which is why I like the term inclusion a lot more than diversity. Because if you're really going to take inclusion literally, you can't say well, we were partially inclusive. No, it doesn't work that way. You either are or you're not. You can't leave people out.   Sherry Johnson  14:50 Absolutely. I had the pleasure of working with the Minnesota Council of disability on disability lately, and they taught me so much about you know, I thought I was doing it pretty good job of making making my documentation accessible? No, that's all their work with them Did I see all these different ways that what I thought was inclusive, wasn't there it you know, it wasn't to their standard, and they really taught me a lot. And so adding that lends to, you know, being neuro divergent as well, and having an idea about lots of different neuro types and how to be inclusive of that. And of course, I've also done other diversity, equity inclusion work around anti racism, and gender inclusion. And I think all of that work, you know, has a lot more commonality than then indifference. I think a lot of what makes something universally accessible, is also what makes something a place fully inclusive of all those things.   Michael Hingson  15:52 Yeah. We, we need to, we need to recognize that there's nothing wrong with being different than everyone else around us. It doesn't make us less or doesn't make us more, which is the unfortunate part about the term disabilities because people just interpret that as well. You're not able? Well. That's why what we really need to do because I haven't come up with a better word. We need to change the definition of disability.   Sherry Johnson  16:24 Read it. Yeah. I Yeah. And whenever I talk about my own, myself being disabled, I tried to talk about disabled in a context disabled because something was not designed for me. And there are barriers to it being designed for me to access it, you know, just the rhythms of everyday life. Honestly, a lot of the organizations I work with right now, for example, we know that there's been this great resignation, and this passive quitting, because we're all sort of overtaxed and traumatized by the last few years. Well, that's how I felt most of my life. So I can kind of bring some of that feeling and some of those adaptations that I've made for myself, and listening to my body and self liberating my values and and being more mindful, I can bring that to groups and help them you know, even folks who've never experienced any kind of, quote, unquote, disability feel like there are steps that they can take to succeed more to be plugged in more, to collaborate better, in healthier ways that is honoring to themselves, their bodies, their communities, one another.   Michael Hingson  17:39 There's an interesting book written by Henry Mayer, entitled all on fire. And it's the story of the abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison from the 1840s. And one of the things that Mayor talks about in the book is a time when garrison was looking for more people to join the movement. And he suggested to his people that they contact two ladies, their sisters, they grim case sisters, and the sisters were very active suffragettes. And of what what happened was that the his his people said, well, we shouldn't contact them. They're not relevant to what we're doing. They're dealing with something totally different than what we're dealing with. And that would just detract. And Garrison said something, which I think is extremely profound. He said, It's all the same thing. And how true it is. The reality is we're all fighting to become part of the same society. And doesn't matter whether it's suffrage doesn't matter whether it's abolition of slavery, doesn't matter whether it's dealing with any kind of disability or whatever, it really is all the same thing. And we need to recognize that and include everyone to deal with the issue.   Sherry Johnson  19:04 Absolutely. And, and also celebrate and lift up and represent those differences, and nonfiction and fiction media, right. Like I said, seeing myself starting to see myself represented was really important to me. And I know that that's been really important to many other colleagues from from different backgrounds. For sure,   Michael Hingson  19:26 well, so what did you do after high school?   Sherry Johnson  19:29 I became a high school English and theater teacher, because that was the role model that I had from the cast. I was from right. As a first generation college student I the whole concept of going to grad school even though I really wanted to be a medical doctor or something like that. I just couldn't understand the concept. And that you went to college. I did go to college. I was I was very lucky to get a full ride scholarship at UW Madison. And I studied education in theater, taught theater and English to high schoolers for about 10 years, and then transitioned into above, I had my kid, and my teenager, they're now 15 was also autistic. Because, again, we're genetic. And that was really tough as an autistic person who didn't know it yet, you know, having had this autistic person with other high needs, and not really having a lot of space or help around that. And so I made some choices, right, I got into community organizing a taught yoga for a while I got into my body, I started working on my own emotional landscape. And mindfulness, started doing community organizing, which brought me into consensus processes and collaboration. And that's why I became a technology participation certified facilitator, I still train that on a regular basis. And then it just started, it kind of led me from there. Now I do strategic planning for nonprofits, I work with local governments to improve their systems. And it's all just sort of taken off where those last, you know, 1015 years, it's kind of put me in a completely different spot. But then I've always been a bit of a polymath, I think that might come from some add tendencies as well in my brain. But I think that all of that kind of like, what you were just saying, from the quote from the book is, like, all is everything. And if you can have your hands and a lot of different things, you can bring a sense of wildlife and plant ecology, and to changing human systems, right. And it can make that process more meaningful and adaptable. So it's stuff like that, that I live for that kind of synthesis.   Michael Hingson  21:55 You said something several times, and I'm not we're not going to get political or anything. But we I hear a number of people say, Oh, my child is autistic, because they had vaccinations and so on, and they don't even look at the whole genetic thing. What do you think about all that?   Sherry Johnson  22:13 It is 100% genetic? And I think that we're gonna find that we've always had autistic people with us, we've always had add people with us. And, and, and I think, and I know that, you know, all the studies are the vaccines have nothing to do with creating, or enabling or turning on any genes when it comes to autism, you know, vaccines. And I think, for the for us in the community, the Autistic community. It's kind of maddening to, to hear that come up again. Because it was essentially a fake study that even started that whole thing. And now that gentleman makes a lot of money selling that story to different organizations and traveling the world and writing books. And it's really unfortunate how much damage he's done.   Michael Hingson  23:05 Well, so you how long ago did you form creative strategy? Cultivate strategy? Yeah. polyphase strategy? Yeah, um, it's another C word. I call it a base. All right.   Sherry Johnson  23:17 And of course, cultivation comes from ecology. But But I, you know, I started my own business when I before even left for Seattle about 1012 years ago. But it wasn't until I came back from Seattle about 533234 years ago that I that I built, called the Bates strategy out of kind of an amalgamation of all these things that I learned. And, you know, it's my third business and was happy to build it in a state of Minnesota. And I just felt like there was this niche I needed to fill. And I've grown to think of myself more and more as a complexity coach, both for individuals and organizations to help us think about just to sort out the different complexities and when we can't make predictable decisions. When things are unordered. What do we do? How do we approach those decisions in ways that we haven't in the past? And that's changed the way that I approach strategic planning and students the way that I've approached leadership orientation, and things like that.   Michael Hingson  24:30 Will Tell me a little bit more about your approach and what you do if you would, please. Sure. So   Sherry Johnson  24:35 I come from this place where you know, it's kind of taken me a long time to kind of define this because I was always about helping people collaborate across Denver. Well, what is that about? It can be about almost anything, but I think where I'm finding my niche is helping people understand when a linear plan a time based linear plan with goals is not always the right frame, it's not always the right way to go. Increasingly, we know that the less predictable our world is, the less predictable the context of an organization, the more experimental we have to be, the more we have to allow things to emerge between humans and within human networks that can be sustainable. It's through changing a system through relatively simple interactions is what one of my favorite thinkers Adrian Marie brown talks about in this changing complex adaptive systems, and thinking about ourselves more as part of nature than something that's imposing order upon nature. And that's, that's what excites me and gets me out of bed every day. So I have a leadership course coming up, for example, it's based on leadership orientations and figuring out what situations you're most gifted to lead in. And when you should really be stepping back and recognizing the leadership orientation of others who are more able to move in that particular context, which is again, about celebrating difference, and was something that always has always bugged me is about just moving and operating in a tip in a neurotypical world is that oftentimes those things that I've been teased about throughout my life was overthinking, you're overthinking. You're anxious, you're trying too hard. Those things have been a gift to me. That's how my brain works. And it's how I do what I do. And yes, I burn hot, I'm intense. But a lot of that is what allows me to lead in a different way. And more effectively in some contexts. And that's what I'm trying to bring into the organizations I work with to   Michael Hingson  26:54 one of the things that I have found about leadership and being part of a team is the best team leaders are the ones who also know how to use your words, how to step back and let someone else take the lead to do a particular thing.   Sherry Johnson  27:10 Absolutely. Yeah. And who knows? Yeah, go ahead.   Michael Hingson  27:14 Because they don't necessarily themselves have all the gifts or they know, who might be better gifted to do a particular thing?   Sherry Johnson  27:22 Absolutely. And we all know that, you know, information doesn't flow through human systems unless we trust and care about one another. You don't, you know, that's where information hoarding happens in systems where care and trust are missing, or deficient. And we know too, that as our systems as our organizations become more and more complex information is everything. Sharing information is everything. So how do we meet this moment and figure out how to care for ourselves and one another, even as we're working on these harder and harder problems?   Michael Hingson  27:59 Yeah. And it isn't just information, it is absolutely sharing information. We we grow up in a world today where trust is so much under attack, which is what's so unfortunate to me. Because in reality, we trust in so many ways, and we should be more open to trust than we tend to be.   Sherry Johnson  28:22 Yeah, in fact, I had the most one of the most beautiful situations I've been in in the last few years is the day after Donald Trump was elected in 2016. You know, I remembered it was one of the most divisive. It was the Sunday after rather, one of the most divisive times I can think of even even more so than now just this sort of everybody holding their breath. And I was hosting a conversation at my suburban Seattle church on gun control, can you imagine, are you and we had a very heated, we had all kinds of people in that room. There were there were 2530 people in that room. And we had a very heated, very intense high conflict, but but carrying, because we were all part of this same community carrying conversation that I was able to facilitate within some good boundaries. And that was one of the most effective situations I've been in because we realized, I think in that moment, that we needed to find a way to care about each other, we needed to leverage our care to have a conversation together about something that is just so high, high conflict, right. And that can be a lot of hope for even where we are now and how we can move forward with the right good boundaries around conversation and collaboration. And I want more of that.   Michael Hingson  29:56 So what was the main bone of contention or the main conflict since you all came from a church environment. You were you were all there. And as you point out, people really cared what was the main issue that was hard to address or deal with?   Sherry Johnson  30:15 It just there were, you know, again, suburban, mainline, you know, Methodist Church, about half of the folks in the room were very pro Second Amendment, NRA members, and about half of the room were very sort of liberal Moms Demand Action types of folks who were very, very frustrated with the state of gun legislation in the country. And, you know, even even in that context, those tensions exist. And in fact, I think churches, mainline churches, particularly, are one of the last places where you can find that level of difference, even in a caring community. And those differences, by the way, often are under the rug, and we'll talk about when pretend everything is okay. Until we can.   Michael Hingson  31:11 Well, was there any room to discuss things like does the the idea of gun control? Since we're talking about it? Is there any, was there any room to discuss? Does gun control really mean you're gonna lose your guns? I mean, that that's, of course, the the whole argument the NRA makes, and that people say when they talk about the Second Amendment, we ought to have the right just to have our guns. And that's all there is to it. But there is there was there any room to say? Well, wait a minute. Is it really that black and white?   Sherry Johnson  31:47 Absolutely. I think one of the best. One of the best things about being a facilitator, and the longer you do it, is that you start to be able to ask the right question. And you notice that you're working with the group, and they stop talking to you, the facilitator and they start talking to each other. And that doesn't always happen. But when it does, it leads to situations in which that did happen in this group. I remember the look on there were two really passionate people, and it was toward the end of the conversation. And they just stood and faced each other they stood up. And there was people were a little bit afraid, I was feeling pretty good about it. But she just said, Look, I don't want to take your guns, you know, and he said, You want to take my guns, I don't want to take your guns. And it was, and I was just about to interrupt. And then there was a pause. I'm Scott Peck, one of my favorite thinkers talks about this where we're in this sense of chaos. We live in pseudo community most of the time, and then we get this sense of chaos when we realize our differences. And it's only after a period of emptiness that we become a community. And what I watched was this emptiness, this period where no one said anything. And then I think one of them asked the other the question, I don't remember it. I wish I did. But she got a real answer. And then he asked her a question. And she gave him a real answer. This is the trust piece. And they never, they did not agree with one another walking out of that room. And meanwhile, everybody else is sort of watching this happen. But I think we all learn something about emptying ourselves of that need to control the situation and be right. And really just get curious and see what's behind this. This person's thinking.   Michael Hingson  33:34 Yeah, we, we spend so much time hearing the shallow sound bites and so on. And then we just buy that rather than thinking more about it. You know, of course, we could talk about Donald Trump. So many people say I'd vote for him again, because I trust him. And what I always wonder, and I would wonder it about any politician really is, what do you really trust? You hear words, but do you dig down to look at the actions behind the words? Do you look at all the things that they do or not? And unfortunately, we don't tend to allow ourselves and I think we also don't teach our children nearly enough to be curious,   Sherry Johnson  34:30 right? Yes. Yes, Curiosity is so key. And that that negative capability of being able I love this concept of negative capability, have you heard this, the neuroscientific concept where basically, you're allowing about it? Well, sorry, you're allowing yourself to realize that you don't have the answer in the moment. Our society is so obsessed with having the right answer, usually a simple answer, right? And the moment that something's needed And unless you're in a true crisis, potentially really bad to make a decision really? Yeah, it's really good to step back and employ this concept of negative capability. You see how long you can wait in that space of unknowing to have an answer. And you'll find that people with a higher negative capability, make better decision? Because it allows them to consult others be curious, fill that space in their brains of even what they done that unknown unknowns like, what do I not know? Let's find out what I don't even know that I don't know. And that that, that can really bring us way beyond where we're at with our relationships. And I think too, that's one of the strengths of being an autistic person is that I have? I think, a lot of negative capability, because I've spent my entire life sort of going, why did they just do it? What was the assumption behind that? I don't have those simple rules that I think neurotypical culture has. And it's always led me to always take a step back and ask, why did that happen and get curious. And I love sharing that, that negative capability, the father's   Michael Hingson  36:15 interesting concept, I wasn't really familiar with it. But the other part about it is you also said, The only really good time or the necessary time to make a fast decision is when there's a crisis, right. But I would also add to that, that making a fast decision in a crisis also comes down to as much preparation ahead of time. So of course, for me, the example is the World Trade Center, and all the things that I did to prepare for an emergency, not necessarily ever expecting one, but at the same time, needing to know information. I had a discussion just yesterday with someone who asked me the question about, well, was it? Or could it be an advantage in a situation like the World Trade Center, not to see as opposed to being able to see? And what I pointed out was, that you're still basing that question on having eyesight, and comparing more or less eyesight? And that's not really the question to ask or the issue to discuss. The issue really is what do you do to prepare for different situations in your life. So for me, going out and, and exploring, learning what to do in the case of an emergency, was something that I felt really necessary and required for me to do as the leader of an office. It also prepared me for an emergency. And it gave me information that sighted people would not normally get because they just rely on the science to tell them what to do and where to go, which only works if you can see the signs. And if you have time to read the signs. So it's it's really not site versus not site. It's preparation versus not preparing.   Sherry Johnson  38:21 Yes, absolutely. And in the autism community, we talk about the concept of social story that is very similar. A lot of times autistic people aren't said like, Wow, you really know what to do in a crisis. And we can turn off all our feelings and be these heroes and crises. And we may bring that with us and a lot of PTSD, we now are much more kin kin we are much more susceptible to PST, PTSD. But with our neuro types, but we're really good in a crisis. I think it's exactly what you were just talking about when the world I don't know about you, Michael, but I think when the world is sort of designed for not you, yeah. You, you have to take that extra step to get curious about your own planning, your own approach to things that the rest of the world takes for granted. And I think that that's a richness that those of us who bring that bring these various lenses can bring into the greater world like, Hey, have you ever thought about it this way? And they were really, you know, I'm really glad that that served you well and that situation?   Michael Hingson  39:30 Well, the other part of that is the world The world may not be designed with me in mind in some way for help preparing and doing what I do. Can I help the world become a little bit more designed for more of us than less of us? And the more of us may not be the majority, but can the world be made to be more designed for more of us than less of   Sherry Johnson  40:01 us. Absolutely.   Michael Hingson  40:02 That's great. And I think that that is an important part of it. It isn't just learning. It's then utilizing that information. And in reality, it is my belief that everyone should learn what to do in an emergency. And very frankly, I would say, for most people learn what to do as a blind person, because you rely way too much on your eyesight much too often. And you don't learn nearly as much as you can learn by utilizing some other skills, which isn't to say, don't use your eyes. But don't limit yourself to your eyesight.   Sherry Johnson  40:45 Yeah, I think that's brilliant. And it forces you to just sit just regard your surroundings differently, I would imagine to this reminds me to of another of my favorite thinkers, Duncan green, has this wonderful book, how change happen. And he talks about that preparation piece. And he said, you know, working for an NGO, the idea was that if you really wanted to change systems, you would figure out your entire plan for changing something. And you would present the entire plan when the crisis happens. The moment the crisis happens, if you're the first one to plop down the plan for moving out of that crisis, you've just changed the system forever. I love that concept.   Michael Hingson  41:33 And it makes perfect sense. The reality is that we should be doing more of that we shouldn't just be moving around as robots which we do way too often.   Sherry Johnson  41:43 Absolutely. Yeah. mechanization and expertise. Have no person that points for sure. So   Michael Hingson  41:50 I, you know, I have a wife, who we've now been married almost 40 years, it will be 40 years next month. And I've had to learn what eyesight is all about. And I've learned to explore that and learn what she sees how she sees how other people see. And that helps me be more part of that world. But at the same time, then I can use that to say, okay, but here are the limitations of that. Now, take that another step. And really look at what if you don't just use your eyes? And what are the advantages of expanding your horizons as it were?   Sherry Johnson  42:36 Yeah. Yeah, I like that.   Michael Hingson  42:39 So it's a challenge. So you started your company? And what do you do? What What exactly does the company do today?   Sherry Johnson  42:50 Well, we like I said, we moved from sort of doing strategic planning into more organizational change, work, leadership work. And I spell into doing this work around looking at large systems, to now taking that into the city of St. Paul, we did a constituent services study, and we looked at equity implications around who is who can access constituent service and who can't? And what is the quality of that service? And what's the experience? What's the user journey, like? And how can you improve it? And how can you improve the system, looking at all those different more and less predictable ways of working, and looking at all those different ways that people can lead from anywhere in the system and the types of things that they can do. And then I'm hoping to get some new work, knocked out of wood, where I get to do more of that, but also employ narrative ethnography. I'm very excited about this. Do you remember Cambridge Analytica in 2016? Yeah, basically, worked through Facebook to try to find the narratives that were shaping the culture and shift them so that they would get what they wanted out of the election, I kind of want to be the good guy and use that technology for good it is be able to trace the narratives that a culture is telling itself and look for narratives that are positive that would help emerging narratives that will help lead that organization in the right direction and in the direction of its values, and try to move a system by studying those things. So that's the next horizon for me. And it's a project I've been hoping and planning for for the last five years. So I'm hoping that I'm really the one that's putting my book down full of steps and that I'm the first one. I'm not the first by far but I'm excited to do this new work at a larger scale.   Michael Hingson  44:46 You'll be the first to do it the way you do it. I   Sherry Johnson  44:48 spa and slow state.   Michael Hingson  44:52 Tell us more about this concept of narratives.   Sherry Johnson  44:55 Yeah, um, so narratives are the stories we tell ourselves of that shape our behavior, they shape our behavior, they shape our emotions, they shape our relationships, our culture on a grander scale, right. And a culture can believe a set of narratives individuals do. And these can be good or bad working with human narratives, the stories we tell ourselves can be good or bad. Like I said, Cambridge analytic, a bad example of something where you can harness what people believe the predictions that their brains have made about the world way the world works, and make them more afraid, make them do things that are more reactive. But you can also find those hopeful narratives and a culture those narratives that will lead you toward more connection more care, and amp those up, repeat those tell those stories, and lead a culture in a different way. And this works for individuals too. There's a lot of different facilitative frameworks where you can work with an individual or a small group to help them kind of shift their image of themselves and move them in a new direction. So it's that level of change work that is really harnessed in this concept of narratives, because our brains literally predict every moment. And if you can help people predict differently, you can help people change.   Michael Hingson  46:19 How do you incorporate mindfulness into the things that you do? And what is mindfulness? How would you define it? That's a broad subject, isn't it? Yeah. No,   Sherry Johnson  46:29 I mean, that that's about awareness and curiosity, right? That's about, um, you know, being as much as you can be in your body, knowing what's happening within your body, knowing what that says, for you in, in your context about how you're feeling about things. What is your what is good for you? What is bad for you? What feels good or bad? I think a lot of us are so caught up in this sort of perfectionist gogogo culture of, you know, and even in my family of origin, how will you work your way till your next paycheck? You're working more out of competition, fear. Sometimes perfectionism. I know, that was me before my autism diagnosis, I still struggle with it. But what mindfulness does that helps you just kind of check in with yourself and be able to read what is what do I actually need in this moment? What am I actually desiring in this moment? And it's only then when you can help folks feel bad about their own selves that you can help a group be more mindful of one another culture, be more mindful of it. So   Michael Hingson  47:44 how do you teach people to do that?   Sherry Johnson  47:46 playfully. I used to be a theater teachers. So there's a lot of improv involved, sometimes in a more playful sense. With more serious groups, it's just about inviting people to close their eyes and check in with our bodies before virtual I'll say, you know, feel free to turn off your camera, we're just gonna take a few breaths, taking pauses when a group would normally speed ahead, you remember what I said about emptiness? Right? Yeah, we need to be able to take those moments of silence emptiness, to check in with ourselves to see where we're really at. And that, you know, brainstorming works much better when you can take some time of pause, take a break, go on a walk, come back. That's that net negative capability thing again, pausing before deciding, pausing before gathering, pausing to consider, those are all things that I would consider to be mindfulness. And you can do their exercises to do that. Certainly, I taught yoga for a while. And I could do that with certain groups. For the most part, it's much simpler than that. It's about just pausing.   Michael Hingson  48:56 It's also about giving yourself permission, and hopefully encouraging yourself and changing your habits and mindset to doing it. So often, we we just hear excuses. I don't have time to do that. Yeah,   Sherry Johnson  49:12 yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't have to be meditation. Meditation doesn't actually work for everyone. And it works for me, I love it. But I've know a lot of folks who really struggle with it, particularly in the ADB community, but I think it's just about taking time. And for some people that might be taking a walk, for some people, it might be spinning something in their hand. For some people, it's sitting and breathing and feeling the weight of gravity, right. But whatever it is, I try to help people find that. Yeah.   Michael Hingson  49:46 So when you say meditation, what do you mean by that?   Sherry Johnson  49:49 Um, I, you know, that's a tool. That's a highly cultural concept, right? It's different across cultures. For me, I I think of the sort of the Desert Fathers in Christianity and just sort of being silent and sitting in the presence of God, you know, others would say, it's about being silent and just sitting in the presence of nature, or whatever it is, or checking in with our chakras, or whatever it is. Different cultures have different definitions for what it means that it's about taking time. And, you know, we know that some some folks believe that meditation is only just sort of freeing your mind and not thinking about anything. But I think what I've noticed is a pattern, at least in my own small way, is that so much of it is about self compassion. It's like, No one starts out being able to meditate perfectly. But a lot of us can benefit from it, if we have self compassion, and just, you know, keep trying.   Michael Hingson  50:58 And, of course, the whole idea of meditation sure, is being silent, and possibly emptying your mind. But the whole idea behind mindfulness, in a sense, is meditation, it's taking time to not just go forward and confront the day. And it doesn't really matter how you do it. But you do need to take time mentally for yourself, or to slow down. It's something I think that's as much a concept of meditation as is anything else. Absolutely. There's always transcendental meditation where you say a mantra. And that can be very helpful to people who do it. And it may help more people, then think that they could do it. But still, it's all about taking time to slow down and disconnecting from just what goes on in the world.   Sherry Johnson  51:52 Yeah, yeah. But really just noticing more, right? Taking it more with more of your senses, what is actually happening? Yeah, because that predictive brain of ours, we actually don't see, we don't hear, we don't taste we don't smell we don't touch most things. In the moment. We've already predicted those things. If we only really sense what we predicted, we would sense, we actually have to slow ourselves down to truly sense of what's happening around.   Michael Hingson  52:25 So what's next for you?   Sherry Johnson  52:29 Well, I'm like I had this project that hopefully, I'll get to do some narrative ethnography and what we call sensemaking. I've got a course coming up on adaptive leadership on December 3, sign up for that at my website, cultivate strategy that calm slash events, be teaching today, my Two Day technology participation facilitation course, if you want to learn about how to facilitate and collaborate better, I teach that about once a quarter either in Seattle are online, hopefully will start to teach teach that in Minnesota too. And, you know, someday, you would ask me about this earlier, Michael, before the show. I am hoping to complete my musical about growing up as an autistic kid and trying to fit in. So working on that, too.   Michael Hingson  53:21 There you go. Are you going to write the lyrics? Are you going to write the songs? Or are you going to write the words around them? And let let somebody else come in and do it?   Sherry Johnson  53:30 You know, it's going to be I think it's going to be a jukebox musical. So it'll be just hits from the 80s and 90s. Ah, you know, moving moving through my own experiences middle in early high school with the dialog that I'm right. Yeah. Have you   Michael Hingson  53:49 thought about taking a lot of the content of your courses, and putting them into a book? And using that as another mechanism to teach?   Sherry Johnson  54:00 Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of existing books, particularly on the technology of participation. I do write blogs pretty regularly. And I've started to do some video logs as well, on tic tac, and Facebook, but someday, I might start to gather some of that stuff together and make a compendium or something that makes sense, but I'm a little too random, maybe to make that full nonfiction book for resale. I'm always fine. It's nothing new to talk about and work on instead.   Michael Hingson  54:35 And, and that's valuable. And as you said, so your courses will be online as well. And they are online.   Sherry Johnson  54:42 Yeah, yeah. The deciding how to decide is online. And there's both an in person and online version of that top facilitation methods which is actually through top trading dotnet you can sign up for courses in that all over even the world   Michael Hingson  54:59 top training dotnet A   Sherry Johnson  55:00 trained dotnet as the US arm of the Institute for Cultural Affairs, is the purveyor of that that particular band of training. Cool? Yeah.   Michael Hingson  55:14 Well, so you've sort of said it, but if people want to reach out to you and maybe learn more about you talk with you, and do you do individual coaching?   Sherry Johnson  55:23 I do. Yeah. So yeah. So   Michael Hingson  55:26 how do they reach out to you and learn, but all of that   Sherry Johnson  55:29 they there is a website, there's a form on my website, cultivatestrategy.com. And you can also just email me at Sherry at cultivatestrategy.com S H E R R Y. I'm happy to respond.   Michael Hingson  55:41 And strategy singular, just to make sure everybody understands. Yes. Well, Sherry, this has been fun. I've enjoyed it. I really appreciate you coming on. And my dog has stayed awake over here, so you must be happy with it. There you go. That's awesome. Alamo pays attention to everything I do. I can't get away with anything. We do have the door closed. So the cat doesn't get to come in. And I understand why cats.   Sherry Johnson  56:10 I adore cats. I have two of them, including the best get in the world and then kissick,   Michael Hingson  56:16 we have a cat we rescued seven and a half years ago. We thought we were just going to find her a home. And I learned that the cat's name was stitch. And my wife is a quilter Do you think that cat was going to go anywhere?   Sherry Johnson  56:32 Oh, it adopted you.   Michael Hingson  56:37 Oh, it took over us? Yeah. He's a great and and she and Alamo get along very well. So we're happy with that. That's great. Well, thanks again for being here. And I want to thank you for listening. And wherever you are. Please give us a five star rating. We appreciate it. That's another thing share. You could do a podcast.   Sherry Johnson  56:57 Oh goodness, I've done I've done it. I've done something like it. We'll see someday.   Michael Hingson  57:05 But wherever you are, please give us a five star rating. I'd love to hear from you. Please reach out to me at Michaelhi at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. And Sherry will have to talk about your website and see how accessible it is.   Sherry Johnson  57:21 Oh, I'm working on it. It's not it's not there yet.   Michael Hingson  57:26 Checkout accessiBe it can help and it's not expensive. It's a way to really help. And I'll be glad to help you with that. But we hope that wherever you are, you'll give us a rating and you'll reach out I'd love to hear your thoughts. And we'll be back of course again very soon with another episode of unstoppable mindset. We're inclusion, diversity. And my favorite part the unexpected meet and again, Sherry, thank you for being a part of this.   Sherry Johnson  57:51 Thank you for having me, Michael, this was fun.   Michael Hingson  57:58 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

Kelly Noah volunteers with Minnesota Council for Gifted and Talented in their CHOICES program.

Kelly Noah volunteers with Minnesota Council for Gifted and Talented in their CHOICES program. We discuss common markers to identify gifted kids, what to do if you feel your child is gifted, how to integrate your gifted child into homeschooling and so much more! Links to topic's referenced: MCGT message board and calendar https://groups.io/g/mcgtchoices.net Choices website https://mcgt.net/choices MCGT identifying gifted https://mcgt.net/identifying-gifted Columbus Group https://educational advancement.org/what-is-gifted MCGT preschool Behaviors in Gifted Children https://mcgt.net/preschool-behaviors-in-gifted-children MCGT Gifted Professionals Directory https://mcgt.net/mn-gifted-professionals SENG https://www.sengifted.org MCGT CHOICES Homeschool Panel Talks, behind paywall https://mcgt.net/choices/videos The Ultimate Guide To Homeschooling Gifted Children https://raisinglifelonglearners.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-homeschooling-gifted-children/ TJEd Homeschooling the Gifted Child https://tjed.org/2016/12/homeschooling-gifted-child/

Rinal Ray is the Interim Executive Director at People Serving People. She leads a dynamic team in responding to the crisis of family homelessness and works to change systems to prevent the experience of family homelessness in Hennepin County. Rinal is a former deputy public policy director for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits where she advanced the organization's policy agenda at a state and local level, trained leaders on nonprofit advocacy, and lead special legal projects for the statewide association. Rinal currently serves as a co-chair for the Voices & Choices Coalition for Children and is on the Board of College Possible Minnesota. She teaches Nonprofit Advocacy in the Masters in Advocacy and Political Leadership (MAPL) program at Metropolitan State University.

Lulete Mola's passion for activism and social justice stems from her love of her family and community. Before co-founding the Black Collective Foundation MN as a result of the pandemic and social uprising in Minnesota, Lulete started her own youth-led organization, worked for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota and participated on many boards including Minnesota Council of Foundations and the VoteRunLead National Advisory. In episode 4 of I So Appreciate You!, co-hosts Nadege Souvenir and Melanie Hoffert chat with this special guest and Facing Race Award recipient about her roles as an activist, organizer and philanthropic leader in the community. With the Black Collective Foundation MN, Lulete and fellow founders Chanda Smith Baker and Repa Meka are shifting the landscape of philanthropy by creating a space for Black-led change. “The reality is that when Black people lead, all people benefit,” said Lulete. “There is nothing that reassures me more than the work Black folks have done across this globe, time and time and time again. And if someone asks me what is my theory of change, my theory of change is the brilliance of Black people.”   Links Black Collective Foundation MN Facing Race Awards

It's a Friday night at the Pillsbury United Communities' Waite House in Minneapolis. Artist Monica Vega is standing over a small table showing other Latinos how to make traditional cempasuchil flowers out of paper. While she walks through the steps, all eyes are on her hands as she molds the bright orange paper into a beautiful flower.  This year, for Día de los Muertos, there will be an “Altar de Muertos,” or ofrenda, at the Minnesota State Capitol for the first time. It will include the cempasuchil flowers Vega and community members are making, mixed in with real, locally grown flowers. Día de los Muertos is when loved ones who have passed away come back to visit and celebrate with the living. Many Latinos create ofrendas in their homes or community centers that include food and drinks, photos of loved ones, papel picado — a decorative paper with intricate cutout designs — and incense. It also includes the cempasuchil flowers — which are traditionally known as the flower of the dead — whose musky scent helps guide the souls back home.  Artists Monica Vega and Flor Soto are designing the ofrenda, which will represent the cultural traditions of Mexican and Latinx communities in Minnesota. Tim Evans for MPR News Lead artist Monica Vega gives instructions to volunteers while working Sunday on the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol. Organizers hope it will create a space to remember those who lost their lives in recent years from COVID-19, police brutality and gun violence. They'll also be remembering immigrants who lost their lives at the U.S.-Mexico border.  For Vega, creating ofrendas is a tradition close to her heart. When she was a young teenager, her father passed away and she created her first altar to keep his memory alive. “The Day of the Dead celebration has been in my family since I can remember. My mom lost a baby and Dad, in a way to keep remembering that baby decided to do an altar at home every single year to remember that baby. When he passed away I really needed a way for myself to heal. It was really hard at that age, losing your dad,” Vega said. “We created the altars at home, but once I got married and had my kids I said, ‘You know what? I should continue my tradition so in that way I let my kids know about Grandpa.'” Now, creating ofrendas has become Vega's craft. The altar at the State Capitol is just one of many she's designed at homes, community centers and cultural organizations across Minnesota. For Vega, it's important to her to research and learn more about the history so she can pass it onto the next generation of Latinos in Minnesota. She said she recognizes that creating the first Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol is a big responsibility for her community. Tim Evans for MPR News Lead artists Flor Soto (left) and Monica Vega pose for a portrait Sunday at the Minnesota State Capitol. Soto and Vega are tasked with creating the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the Capitol. Tim Evans for MPR News Offerings, including children's shoes and toys, representing those who have perished while attempting to cross the southern U.S. border wait to be arranged on the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the Minnesota Capitol on Sunday. Tim Evans for MPR News Artist Monica Vega holds up a decoration reading “MN State Capitol 2022” while arranging the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol. Tim Evans for MPR News Portraits of community members wait to be arranged on the Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol building. Tim Evans for MPR News Candles and Christian icons adorn the Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol building. Tim Evans for MPR News A photo of a deceased woman rests on the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol building. Tim Evans for MPR News Artist Flor Soto sets up a photo of a deceased community member on the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the Minnesota State Capitol. First of its kind at any Minnesota government building The idea for the ofrenda came from Carmen Maya Johnson-Ortiz. She runs (Neo) Muralismos de Mexico, a Minnesota-based Mexican and Latinx community arts organization, with her brother Aaron Johnson-Ortiz. Johnson-Ortiz remembers asking her brother if there had ever been an altar at the Capitol before. When they realized there had never been one at any Minnesota government organization, they knew it was time to organize one for their community.  “I'm Mexican-American, so I can go back and forth. But I know a lot of people that move here and they, you know, are not able to go back to their country, and they miss all the things that, you know, remind them of their family, of their town, of their tradition,” Johnson-Ortiz reflected. “I think it's important that we do them here, so that we can feel like we are part of this community and not just in a different land where our traditions don't matter.” Carmen Maya and Aaron Johnson-Ortiz pitched the idea to the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs. Katya Zepeda is the council's Legislative and Policy Director of Education and coordinated the work from the artists and organizers with the Capitol. Tim Evans for MPR News Frida Solano Vega, daughter of lead artist Monica Vega, helps her mother set up the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol building. Zepeda says she hopes having an ofrenda at the Capitol shows the value in tradition, brings healing to the pain members of the community have been experiencing, and creates a visible space for them to come together.  “We've had loss of jobs, we've had loss of lives, we've dealt with police brutality in our community as well, many lives lost at the border.” Zepeda said. “ All of that just starts to bottle up and to have a spot where you could just remember and feel like, okay, you're not alone.” While the Altar de Muertos is not related to the upcoming election season, Zepeda says she  hopes it serves as an important reminder for elected officials to recognize Minnesota's Latino community.  "Our issues are still going to be there. So it's a reminder, I think, for our politicians, our legislation and our community to remember that we are here, a big part of Minnesota, of the history and that our issues need to be taken into consideration as we build Minnesota up,” Zepeda said. ‘You made it from your heart' Back at the workshop, the pile of cempasuchil flowers grows as artist Monica Vega sits around a table with other Latinos. As the night goes on, community members trade stories on family history, cultural traditions and community happenings. Seeing other Latinos make the cempasuchil flowers brings Vega joy. She hopes visitors will come out to see the Altar de Muertos, and she encourages other Latinos to explore the tradition in their own way. “Sometimes we don't have enough money to buy everything. If you have one picture, if you have one glass of water, if you have any kind of bread — it doesn't really need to be Day of the Dead special bread — if you have only fruit. Whatever you have, that's the way you start it,” Vega said. “Just please don't think if you don't follow those rules, your family members won't come to visit you because that's a lie. They will definitely come to visit you because you made it from your heart.” The Altar de Muertos at the Minnesota State Capitol will be unveiled Tuesday, Nov. 1, available for public viewing until Nov. 12. Visitors are encouraged to bring photos of loved ones to honor. Tim Evans for MPR News Skeleton figurines line the top of the first-ever Altar de Muertos at the State Capitol building.

Amanda Brinkman is a producer, branding expert, and public speaker who shares her "Do Well By Doing Good" philosophy around the country. Amanda joined Chanda for a live conversation at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits' 2022 Annual Conference. Together, they explored the current state of the nonprofit sector and the power of authentic leadership.

In this episode we'll talk about how Minnesota's nonprofit sector continues to navigate a world still grappling with the impacts of COVID-19, reckoning with systemic racism, economic challenges and changes in charitable giving, threats to democracy, and more. In this podcast, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN)'s associate director Kari Aanestad shares insights, highlights, and lowlights with regard to how the nonprofit sector is faring and what could be ahead for nonprofits and the communities they serve in the coming years. Before stepping into the associate director role in August 2021, Kari served as MCN's director of advancement where she provided leadership to MCN's fundraising efforts, responsive research, and philanthropic reform initiatives.

This week we meet with the Minnesota National Guard’s 55th Civil Support Team, check in with the Navy League of the United States, Minnesota Council and get an update from Minnesota Association of County Veterans Service Officers. Guests include: LTC … Continue reading → The post 55th Civil Support Team and Navy League Update appeared first on Minnesota Military Radio.

Host Chris Davies is joined by Brittanie Wilson. Wilson is a self-advocate and Disability justice leader living in St. Paul. In addition to working as a communications officer for the Minnesota Council on Disability, Brittanie serves on the Arc MN Board of Directors, the Governor's Council for Developmental Disabilities, the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, and is actively engaged in the community. She talks with Davies about her background, her journey to employment, advocacy efforts that she has spearheaded and what she thinks needs to happen for a more inclusive future for all.

In the basement of a Columbia Heights home, Baheerullah Shinwari offers an assortment of nuts and hot tea. There are enough almonds, pistachios and cashews to feed a dozen people, but there are only a few people seated on traditional Afghan floor cushions and rugs. Hospitality is an important part of his culture, the father of five explained. “Can I make you some lunch?” Shinwari offered in Pashto. Kerem Yücel for MPR News It is a tradition in Afghan culture to serve candy and nuts to the guests who come to the house. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Baheerullah Shinwari offers tea to Ahmad Shah during an interview. Since the United States pulled out of Afghanistan after a 20-year war last August, Minnesota has seen an influx of more than 1,500 newly arrived Afghans to the state. Among the Afghan evacuees was the Shinwari family which includes Baheerullah, his wife and five children, ranging in age from 2 to 13. All of them are learning English together. “Once they learn English, life will be easy for them,” Shinwari said. He adds that he hopes they will all become doctors.  The Shinwari family is not unlike other groups of new Minnesota residents, like Hmong and Somali refugees who arrived here in the 1970s and 1990s, who've come here to escape natural or man made-disasters. Five agencies in Minnesota have been at the forefront of efforts to resettle refugees: the International Institute of Minnesota, Minnesota Council of Churches, Arrive Ministries, Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota and Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota. Shinwari is still working on his English, so helping translate is Ahmad Shah, who worked as an interpreter in Afghanistan before coming to Minnesota himself in 2016. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Ahmad Shah (left) and Baheerullah Shinwari (right) pose for a photo in Shinwari's home. Shah founded the Afghan Community of Minnesota and also works with one of the five resettlement agencies in Minnesota, the Minnesota Council of Churches. When Shah first came to Minnesota there were about 300 Afghans in the state, he recalled. In the last several months since the end of the war, that number has grown to around 1,800 and counting. And they are relying heavily on the people like him who have already settled in for help with basic needs like transportation, filling out paperwork, finding work and enrolling children in schools.  “We make their connections with communities and different organizations,” Shah explained. “Then they will understand in the future and they can solve their own problems.” Shah said Shinwari was lucky he already had a cousin living in Minnesota who found him this home. The resettlement agencies help with six months of rent and other resources. For the Shinwari family, that time period has passed and this is the first month the Shinwaris are expected to pay all their bills on their own. Shah said that is when it is most important for the growing community to help one another. Shinwari, who has a background in military service working alongside Americans, found work as a security guard and then another job at Boston Scientific on his own, Shah said. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Baheerullah Shinwari and his son Yasser play in their home. Help is only temporary State Refugee Coordinator Rachele King explains the hard work is just beginning for many newly arrived Afghan individuals and families that came with nothing and have experienced a great deal of trauma. Assistance from the state resettlement agencies is not expected to be a long-term resource. “It is really buying people time to fully integrate and draw on the resiliency they have, skills they came with and the experience and hope and desire for a future here,” King said.   King explains individual presidential administrations set a cap for how many refugees the country will accept every year. Those numbers fell to historic lows under the Trump administration and continued below average under the Biden administration and during the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government then consults with the Minnesota Department of Human Services and resettlement agencies to see how many refugees they can reasonably accommodate when factoring in housing and other challenges. Kerem Yücel for MPR News Yasser, son of Baheerullah Shinwari, steps out from their home. In the case of Afghan evacuees, who worked along U.S. troops, King said the federal government created a parallel system for newly arrived Afghans that gives them humanitarian protection status for two years, but does not give them refugee status or a clear path to permanent residency, which is the goal since most fear for their lives if they returned to Afghanistan. “So that is a really huge question, challenge and concern for so many of the people who are here right now because it's an open question of what permanency looks like and what exact path that will take.” Congress recently declined to pass a measure, the Afghan Adjustment Act, that would have created a path to permanent residency for newly arrived Afghans. Sarah Brenes, the Refugee & Immigrant Program Director for The Advocates for Human Rights, said in the absence of an adjustment act, organizations like hers are working hard to mobilize volunteer attorneys to represent individuals and families in asylum claims, one of the two main paths to permanent status.  “We are partnering with other legal service providers, resettlement agencies and community organizations to also support those who may be eligible for Special Immigrant Visas based on their work with the U.S. Government while in Afghanistan,” Brenes said.   Besides questions about how they will be able to stay in the United States, Shah said many newly arrived Afghans are extremely worried about their family members or colleagues among the thousands of Afghan allies the U.S. left behind in its chaotic withdrawal. “Twenty-four hours per day, people searching for them to find them and kill them,” Shah said. “Their life is pretty dangerous.” A familiar story The stories of Afghan arrivals and those left behind remind historian Chia Youyee Vang of her own family story. Vang's family members were among some of the first Hmong arrivals in Minnesota in the 1970s. The Vietnam War had spread to Laos and the United States recruited the Hmong to fight against communism.  “We paid for this migration with the blood of our men and women who died on behalf of the American nation, although knowing nothing about it,” Vang said. Vang is now a historian, author and Vice Chancellor of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Vang described how war and natural disasters often lead to new groups arriving in Minnesota. While there are what she calls push factors, like war, there are also pull factors, like the hope for a better quality of life in the United States that lead to new arrivals and various forms of immigration. The first large group of immigrants arrived from Europe, mostly Norway, Sweden, Ireland and Germany. Hmong refugees began arriving in the mid 1970s, and Somali refugees began arriving in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Somali government led to extreme violence. People born in Mexico, India and Ethiopia also make up the largest groups of foreign-born Minnesotans, according to state researchers. Christopher Juhn for MPR News 2017 Aidarus Aden, a refugee from Somalia, holds a sign at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on Jan. 29, 2017, in protest of the refugee ban that then-President Trump used an executive order to enact. Minnesota is also home to other, smaller refugee communities from around the world. According to a 2017 State Department report, in 2016 people from more than two dozen countries, including Myanmar, Belarus, Syria and Sri Lanka sought refuge in Minnesota.   As communities began to thrive over time, mostly in and around the Twin Cities, Vang explained they invited others to come through a process called chain migration.  “There are pockets all over the state, too, but they are mostly in the Twin Cities where there is a critical mass and you can have social support,” Vang said “So nothing different, in my opinion, than what the Norwegians and Swedes, nothing different than what they did.” New arrivals in workforce  Doualy Xaykaothao | MPR News 2016 Kaw Hai is the lead auto mechanic at SKD Auto Tek in St. Paul, here in October 2016. He's a refugee from the Karen State in Burma. According to 2017 data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, resettling refugees benefits the country's economy. While the exact yearly costs of refugee resettlement for Minnesota are difficult to determine, DHS receives approximately $5 million in yearly federal funds to support the statewide resettlement of refugees. State resettlement agencies reported that in fiscal year 2017, Minnesota ranked 13th in resettling refugees but was the highest per capita in the country. Thanks to a reputation as a welcoming state, Minnesota ranked first in the nation for secondary migration, which occurs when refugees move to Minnesota after an initial resettlement somewhere else. As consumers, immigrants, not just refugees, have an estimated more $650 billion in lifetime earnings and annual purchasing power of $5 billion, according to Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota. Immigrants pay an estimated $793 million in state and local taxes, annually. Immigrants are also a vital part of Minnesota's economy, according to state Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove. The state estimates 10 percent of Minnesota's labor force are born outside of the U.S. About 105,000 new foreign-born residents joined the state over the last decade. “In fact, the only reason we are growing at all is because of international immigration,” Grove said about Minnesota. Minnesota also has an historic more than 200,000 open jobs, which is part of the reason the state created an Office of New Americans — which started services during the pandemic to help get resources to struggling immigrant-owned businesses.  “I think a lot of businesses would like to access immigrant talent and they don't really know how,” Grove said. “Unless you're big enough to have the resources a larger company might have, finding that talent is harder.”  Grove hopes the office will provide more efficient and individualized resources to pair people with jobs that match any previous experiences.  “I think it's just an awakening from an economic perspective, let alone a moral one, that this is imperative,” Grove said. “We have got to make the welcome mat for immigrants in this state as good as it's ever been.” But the office is grant-funded, leaving its future funding uncertain.  Vang said as a more diverse and international population continues to grow in Minnesota, and as conflict across the world continues to drive more movement across the globe, the state has a unique opportunity to embrace change and flourish as a result. “As a historian I keep reminding others, the things happening now, they have happened before,” Vang said. “It is about how we respond to them.” Pay it forward Kerem Yücel for MPR News Baheerullah Shinwari and his son Yasser sit front of the their house in Columbia Heights on May 11. Baheerullah Shinwari has hope. Hope that he, his wife and their five children — with help from the community — will thrive. Shinwari also looks forward to the day his family can pay it forward and help other new arrivals to Minnesota.  “I am happy, life is going well.” Full series North Star Journey What should we cover next? Pass the Mic Immigrants and refugees in Minnesota Connecting past and present

Updated: 11:20 a.m. Dozens of students in rain coats and parkas gathered by a parking lot outside the Billy Graham Community Life Commons on the University of Northwestern campus in November 2020. Some took shelter from the rain under the school's columned porticoes. Most of the student body went about their day, climbing steps emblazoned with the names of books of the Bible, or returning to dormitories named for Christian heroes of the school's past.  A blue pickup truck loaded with speakers backed into a parking space near Riley Hall, named for the university's founder. Senior Payton Bowdry, 22, grabbed a microphone connected to the speakers and started talking.  After asking God to “unravel the ugly truth, so that we can really be healed as a Christian community,” he began to talk about life as a Black student on campus and how belief in God's compelling love, spelled out in the university's vision statement, seemed too often to disappear when he brought up issues of racism and the needs of students of color. “BIPOC students have been asking for help for years, but it hasn't yet been received,” he told the crowd. “BIPOC students are in need. Are we a part of that vision?” They were asking their peers, teachers and church leaders to recognize and disrupt more than a century of history and theology, to change a way of thinking that had birthed a religious and political movement and a brand of conservatism that continues to define the theology and worldviews of many white Minnesota evangelicals today.  The school, which counts the Rev. Billy Graham among its past presidents, is working on change, said current president Alan Cureton. But he conceded not everyone agrees the university needs to change.  “We're slowly doing it and I think we're making progress … but we're never going to reach utopia, and I keep reminding students we're a microcosm of a big culture,” Cureton said. “We still have issues … but not everybody in my community believes we have an issue.”  Cureton noted the school, among other steps, had hired a “director of intercultural engagement and belonging” last year. “We're doing that work, we're just not using the terms that cause people to get angry about,” he said. “Especially when I've got multiple constituencies.”  ‘Two worlds' In interviews, Bowdry and other students of color detailed recurring experiences of casual, exhausting bigotry on the Roseville campus — from tone-deaf comments on race by students and professors to disbelief over claims of discrimination to a kind of passive-aggressive behavior that made them feel unwelcome. Bowdry and others seeking change that day came with a list of actions they wanted the university to take to improve the campus climate, but they were pressing for more than a diversity office and language changes to university documents.  Among the marchers was Ruti Doto, a 2016 University of Northwestern graduate. In her years at the school, Doto said she frequently ran into conflict with students and faculty members.  She recalled hearing a professor denounce a Black student-led gospel music group as “not Christ-like” and “not real worship.” Another teacher, she said, called her requests for racial justice on campus “diabolical.” A few times, she said, she heard fellow students say they believed Michael Brown — a Black man killed in 2014 by a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. — deserved to die.  “I think there were two worlds at Northwestern,” Doto said. “There were white students who saw Christ as the end-all-be-all, as we should. But it was a blanket over all the injustices that we see people facing. It was, ‘Let's just pray about it. Thoughts and prayers.' But then (there's) the other world where Black students and students of color were continually being traumatized by the racism they experience.” Courtesy of Ruti Doto A group of students painted the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on a rock, traditionally used for student expression on the University of Northwestern campus in Roseville. Following the Twin Cities police killing of Philando Castile in 2016 during a traffic stop fewer than four miles from campus, Doto said she and other students painted the phrase “Black Lives Matter” on a rock traditionally used for student expression.  That night, she said, members of the university security team covered the rock and its message with white paint because, as a university official explained later, “it was misinterpreted by the university as a political statement.”  Doto said she and others returned the next day to repaint “Black Lives Matter” on the rock but discovered a group of students had blotted out the word “Black” and wrote “All” there instead, turning the phrase into “All Lives Matter.”  In June of 2020, when she saw a picture of the rock on Instagram, newly painted with the phrase “Black Lives Matter,” it felt to her like the university had forgotten its actions four years earlier. Courtesy of Ruti Doto A group of students blotted out the word “Black” and wrote “All” on a campus rock used for student expression, turning the phrase into “All Lives Matter.” “Of course, this triggered me and multiple students of color,” Doto said. “When we did this, you all painted over it and we were dismissed. You didn't care for what we had to say. Now that it's the trending topic is when you decide to speak up. But what really angered us is … there wasn't any meaningful actions. It was just painting the rock.”   Doto and some of her fellow alumni drafted a petition in response, suggesting a list of “measurable actions to support students and address institutional racism” at the university. “I have a ton of Black high school students who ask me if it's a place they should consider. And my truthful answer now is no,” Doto said. “And I want to get it to a place where I can say it's a great place that you can be part of.”    Thousands of supporters added their names to Doto's online petition, some with their own stories of racism they'd experienced at Northwestern. One person wrote about resident assistants hanging a Confederate flag in a dorm hallway as decoration. Another wrote of people on campus referring to Obama as the anti-Christ after his reelection.  “This place was supposed to be my community,” one signer wrote. “Instead I was reminded of how much I didn't fit in or belong … most of the passive aggressive racism that I've experienced came from this school.”  When Bowdry, the student who led the protest on campus, returned to campus in the fall of 2020, he and his fellow students used Doto's petition as a framework to guide their list of demands.  They asked university leadership to establish a diversity, equity and inclusion office, mandatory anti-racism training for faculty, staff and students, core courses on Black, Native, Latino and Asian theologies and histories, a zero-tolerance policy on racism, a George Floyd memorial scholarship for aspiring Black American leaders and language in the university's Declaration of Christian Community requiring students and staff to condemn racism.  “We are no longer willing to endure our campus's compliance with racism,” they wrote. “For too long, the interests and desires of our white counterparts have been held at a higher consideration. The Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have placed our faith in is incomplete without the commitment to restore justice in our world.”  ‘Even if they're trying to understand you, they don't' Kenneth Young is one of the first full-time African American faculty members hired at the University of Northwestern. He's been at the institution for close to 30 years and teaches systematic theology and Christian ministries. It's a job he dearly loves at an institution he considers a good fit.  “They pay me to teach the Bible!” he said, laughing.  Young, though, said he's had unpleasant run-ins with students and colleagues during his tenure, and he knows students of color there have also had bad experiences.  “I don't think it's those overt experiences of marginalization or even racism that is discouraging them. I think that there's a gap, a hole in the European American evangelical Christian worldview that students of color sense … there's a lack of empathy,” he said. “Not because the European American students are bad or racist but because there's a gap in their worldview … even if they're trying to understand you, they don't, and so you feel marginalized.”  It's a problem grounded in teaching from Sunday School classes to Bible colleges, he said, noting that Blacks were largely excluded from the Bible college movement.  “The people who were teaching had no clue. This space, this worldview space, is just rampant within the context of the greater Christian community and it leaves us with a gap, with an inability to communicate with each other.”  Young said he prefers not to use the terms “racist,” “Black” or “white.” Instead, he speaks of geographic origins, cultures and worldviews. For him, the problems he and students of color have experienced at Northwestern are based in theology and ideology with a long history in the evangelical church “that make us vulnerable to complicity in social injustice.”  He said he tells students two things: “We need to learn how to have real dialogue and we need to enter that dialogue with a high degree of humility. Critical thinking, having dialogue, you gotta be able to consider what somebody else is saying … let it really sink in.”  Many Christian colleges and universities now brand themselves as conservative “and that's really part of their identity,” said Jemar Tisby, a historian who has written extensively on the history of racism in American Christianity. So it's a lot harder for these institutions to change because their institutional vitality depends on them not being progressive in any way.” These institutions were not founded with racial or ethnic diversity in mind, and that works against social progress, Tisby said. “It's much more about a social, political identity than it is about a religious identity.”  For David Fenrick, who worked at the University of Northwestern from 2008 to 2019, the experiences of students of color on campus like Bowdry and Doto are directly linked to the school's history.  “It's a historically white institution, a very conservative evangelical school. And the experience of students of color there was not very positive. They felt that their voices weren't heard, their culture wasn't recognized, their perspectives weren't validated. Sometimes there was open hostility,” said Fenrick, who served as director of the school's Center for Global Reconciliation and Cultural Education. He could remember many times students would come to him with stories of bad experiences. That includes an Ethiopian Orthodox student who spoke up in a theology class to offer his perspective. The student said the instructor was dismissive, Fenrick recalled — “‘Well, that's great, but we're not here to study Black theology,' … or ‘We're not here to study Ethiopian Orthodox theology. We're here to study Christian theology.'”  Elizabeth Shockman | MPR News 2020 Students at the University of Northwestern in Roseville march in a protest in November. For Fenrick, those kinds of stories illustrate the problem at the University of Northwestern.  “There's a kind of welcome (at Northwestern) that says, ‘We're glad you're here, now be like us.' That's what they (students of color) were experiencing. What they wanted is a place to say, ‘Welcome, we're glad you're here, let's all be who we are, the way God made us in our cultures and our gifts, our abilities and our experiences.'” The school was founded in 1902 as a Bible and missionary training school by Baptist pastor and evangelist the Rev. William Bell Riley. Riley was also politically active and focused much of his attention on trying to get the teaching of evolution banned from public schools. He has also been accused of antisemitism for his writing and speeches that blamed a “Jewish Bolshevik conspiracy” for a variety of social and economic ills.  Randy Moore, a biology professor at the University of Minnesota who's studied Riley's influence, points to Northwestern's founder as a father and organizer of the Christian fundamentalist movement.   “What came to be known then as ‘fundamentalism' — contrary to most people's knowledge of it now — originated in the north in towns like New York City and Minneapolis and Chicago,” Moore said. “He tapped into this discomfort that what we now call fundamentalists had with the direction of the country … and he organized it,” Moore said. “And it was militant. That was very unusual. Now it's very common — Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. There've been others, but you can trace them back to William Bell Riley.”  Riley was succeeded in his leadership by Graham, who was president of the institution for four years.  For the Rev. Curtiss DeYoung, CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches, the histories of Graham and Riley offer clues to the difficulty modern-day white evangelicals have when it comes to dealing with racism.  On a personal level, DeYoung points out, Billy Graham abhorred racism and refused to hold segregated rallies. But, although he invited Martin Luther King to pray at his crusades, Graham was not involved in the civil rights movement.  “If your priority is just to convert people to Jesus so they can go to heaven, you have less of a focus on the systems that exist right now because you're thinking about eternity. Therefore these systems continue to exist and reproduce themselves,” DeYoung said.    For historian Tisby, this individualistic theology is at the crux of white evangelicals' inability to deal or make progress on many social issues, including race. The problem is compounded at institutions like Northwestern. “White evangelical colleges and universities are more individualistic than the larger society. They're focused on maintaining the status quo and racial justice is not within the scope of what they're looking at,” Tisby said.  ‘Our beloved University is at a turning point' The changes pushed for by students of color at University of Northwestern in the last several years have also brought protest from students, staff and the wider evangelical community. Last year, a group of conservative students on campus released a petition, condemning anti-bias training, curriculum changes and the new DEI position, among other initiatives. “Our beloved University is at a turning point,” the petition authors wrote, “Perhaps more significant than any other in its history.”  The petitioners objected to the university including cultural competency in curriculum, mandating racial bias training for staff, funding a diversity and inclusion office and sponsoring campus-wide events promoting “reconciliation” among other things and suggesting that the school was implicitly endorsing critical race theory or social justice, leading down a road to Marxism or other “anti-biblical ideologies.” The petition authors took their concerns to Fox News, saying “as Christians we believe our primary call is to preach the gospel. And we firmly believe Critical Race Theory is unbiblical and that it preaches a different gospel.”  The petition was reviewed by local pastors then published online. It has since been signed by thousands, many of them raising concerns about critical race theory in schools. One threatened to withhold financial donations to the school “unless things turn around.”  ‘Still really harming people' Conditions have improved during Kenneth Young's time at Northwestern. While the percentage of students of color remains less than 20 percent, it's grown from about five percent the past two decades. Close to a decade ago president Cureton oversaw the preparation of a “strategic diversity and inclusion framework,” which included directives such as examining “systems that may be preventing full diversity, equity and inclusion” and intentionally increasing “the diversity of students, faculty, staff, administrators and board of trustees.” The framework was affirmed by more than 90 percent of the school's faculty and unanimously adopted by the university's board in 2018.  And there were changes that the university made in response to the protests and demands of students of color like Bowdry and Doto in 2020.  Student body president at the time, Qashr Middleton, helped shepherd those demands into action.  Middleton, a 24-year-old from Colorado pursuing a degree in ministry leadership, was the first student body president of color in Northwestern's history. He stepped into his role in the summer of 2020, after spending weeks protesting the murder of George Floyd, getting chased by white supremacists, tear-gassed by police officers and almost getting run down by a semitrailer on the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis.  When he tried to talk about his experiences on campus, he felt like it made some white students and staff on campus uncomfortable.  “It's hard to tell that story at Northwestern. Because you really get to see people's conflict of interest within themselves. Because now you're telling a personal story. And they know your character. You peacefully were protesting and almost got hurt. And yet they still were able to find a way to say, ‘Well, what about this?'” Middleton said.  After the 2020 student protest, Middleton organized a student government committee to begin working on those and the other demands. Eventually, the school inserted phrases into its Declaration of Christian Community, requiring students and staff for the first time in its history to commit to “refrain from racism, prejudice, and social injustices” and “condemn oppression which can manifest itself in individuals and systems.”  Leaders did not create a “George Floyd memorial scholarship” as requested by students, but they did endow a scholarship geared toward students planning to work with “urban youth leadership” or “biblical reconciliation.”  There is anti-bias training for faculty and staff at Northwestern, although attendance is not required because, as Cureton said, “You can't force people. It may appease people (saying) you're required to go, but it doesn't work.”  The university president, who's set to leave his position this year, has said he believes it's the school's job to help students and staff learn how to “live amidst multiple cultures” — something he believes is integral to the university's mission of “reflect(ing) the essence of the Kingdom of God.”  He does not believe the university has a “culture of racial intolerance.” But he concedes his community falls short.  “Are there acts of insensitivity exhibited by some towards people of color? Yes. Is learning to live amidst multiple cultures a learning process? Yes.” Cureton said. “We still have a ways to go. But acknowledging that we have a ways to go, acknowledging that we still have issues — that's a huge step. But not everybody in my community believes we have an issue.” Katy St. John, 21, who graduated from Northwestern in May, said she has a hard time understanding why Northwestern students and faculty are not more wholehearted in embracing change. St. John, who is white, is a pastor's daughter. She grew up leading youth group programs and going on mission trips. As an incoming freshman, she'd been excited about Northwestern's beautiful campus, and the opportunity to grow her faith there as she studied communications and sang in the chapel on the worship team.  Her first year on campus was filled with good memories, but she soon became worried by what she saw and heard. A white professor, she said, insisted it was OK to say the n-word. White students questioned her relationship with students of color asking, as she put it, “Why are you friends with those people?”  When St. John expressed her frustration to other white students about professors who said “ignorant things” about race, she was surprised at those students' reactions.  “It ended up blowing up in my face a lot where they misunderstood what I was saying, took it very personal, and they got very, very angry at me and told me that I was racist towards white people,” St. John said.   In 2020 St. John helped organize the protest and the list of demands with students of color. She's pleased that some of the demands they made were met. And she has glowing reports of individual people she thinks are fighting hard to change things at the school. But overall, she doesn't think enough change has been made.  “There's ways I've seen Northwestern grow. Very tiny little pieces that feel like they're doing a good job … (but) they're also working under people who are not prioritizing it the same way and still are prioritizing whiteness and white feelings,” St. John said. “The institution is systemically still really harming people. There are people I know who've left here who act like (they have) actual diagnosed PTSD from being here as a student of color.”  Even more difficult to understand for St. John is the way in which her fellow white students are pushing back on racial justice. “The liberation of Black people is liberation of all of us,” St. John said. “There's this concept that when whiteness has its privilege and its power and its position stripped from it, then we've lost, we've fallen … but the reality is, is what we get is so much better. What we get is the opportunity to be human, to see other people as human.” St. John said her experiences on campus have challenged her faith. St. John's roommate, Kiera Sconce, feels similarly. A 21-year-old Black woman, she also graduated in May. The school's racial and ethnic affinity groups are where she grew, learned and made friends. But outside of those groups, she said she didn't feel safe to be herself or say what she thought. She said she and some of the other students of color she knows at Northwestern spent their last semester in 2022 isolating themselves, keeping their heads down in class and escaping back to their rooms or other places they could be alone afterward.  “There is very little time when I feel or felt seen on this campus. Whether it's by professors or it's by other students. They don't know you,” Sconce said. “A lot of students of color tend to hide at Northwestern.”  More from this series North Star Journey What should we cover next? Pass the Mic Editor's Note: University of Northwestern is a financial supporter of MPR News. Correction (May 26, 2022): An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated where Qashr Middleton is from and the degree he is pursuing. The story has been updated. Correction (June 5, 2022): An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the location of the campus rock used for student expression. The story has been updated.

This week we are recorded live from the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul where we meet with the Navy League of the United States, Minnesota Council, The USS MSP Commander, Command Senior Chief and a sailor to learn about (LCS 21), a … Continue reading → The post USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul Commissioning appeared first on Minnesota Military Radio.

Who taught you about money and when? Some of us learned about personal finance from our parents or other adults in our lives. Others learned from teachers in school. And some had to figure it out on their own.  Minnesota doesn't require that students take a stand-alone course on personal finance before graduating. But more states are beginning to mandate these classes. And advocates say that financial literacy can be a tool to reduce wealth gaps. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two guests who work in economic education and financial literacy. Guests:  Julie Bunn is the executive director of the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, an economist and a former state legislator. Jennifer Garbow is an educator and associate extension professor for the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development. 

Who taught you about money and when? Some of us learned about personal finance from our parents or other adults in our lives. Others learned from teachers in school. And some had to figure it out on their own.  Minnesota doesn't require that students take a stand-alone course on personal finance before graduating. But more states are beginning to mandate these classes. And advocates say that financial literacy can be a tool to reduce wealth gaps. MPR News host Angela Davis talks with two guests who work in economic education and financial literacy. Guests:  Julie Bunn is the executive director of the Minnesota Council on Economic Education, an economist and a former state legislator. Jennifer Garbow is an educator and associate extension professor for the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development. North Star Journey was made possible in part with funds from the Legacy Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Alfonso drives Team Dynamics' client engagement; working side-by-side with C-Suite executives and internal champions of cultural change efforts.Alfonso Wenker is a seasoned executive leader and facilitator of transformational organizational culture and strategy campaigns. Serving in major leadership roles within the field of philanthropy, Alfonso has been responsible for driving sector and systems wide change to diversify both perspective and personnel in order to better steward resources responsible for underwriting major movements. A Latinx, gay, cis-gender man, Alfonso was born and raised on the west side of Saint Paul, MN, to a Mexican mother and white father. Consequently, Alfonso has often been the ‘first' or ‘only' person on a team who is a Person of Color, gay person, or both throughout his career. He has experienced, first hand, how the attempted diversification in the U.S. workplace has both made strides and done accidental harm. Prior to co-founding Team Dynamics, Alfonso served as the Vice President for the Minnesota Council on Foundations, which collectively supported member organizations overseeing more than $20 billion in resources. Alfonso also co-chaired the National Creating Change Conference, the largest annual gathering of LGBTQ+ organizers in the country. In 2012, Alfonso took a leave of absence from philanthropy in order to play the role of Deputy Finance Director for the historic Minnesotans United for All Families Campaign. Trina Olson is a two-time executive director with a track record of building and retaining teams across race, gender, and sexual orientation to achieve shared goals. Trina has built an impressive portfolio of national and regional policy and advocacy experience, centering a multitude of progressive issues, including: healthcare, hunger, living wage, immigration reform, transgender inclusive non-discrimination, and more. Trina is an expert adult-educator who has supported teams around the country to both improve their workplace culture and performance.Trina is a Minnesotan who has also made her home in eighteen U.S. cities, including: Seattle, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles. A queer, white, cis-gender woman, Trina is motivated by the ways job creators could be addressing the intersection of identity and workplace more creatively and consistently to address the pervasive inequities still at play across race and gender, in particular.Trina is the author of Fairness in Philanthropy, Leveling the Playing Field for Our LGBTQ Neighbors, as well as, Seeking Safe Haven: LGBTQ People and the American Immigration Experience. Together, Trina and Alfonso have co-written a soon to be released book entitled: Hiring Revolution: A Step-by-Step Guide to Disrupt Racism and Sexism in the Workplace.alfonso@teamdynamicsmn.comtrina@teamdynamicsmn.com Podcast: https://www.teamdynamicsmn.com/season-3Rebel HR is a podcast for HR professionals and leaders of people who are ready to make some disruption in the world of work.We'll be discussing topics that are disruptive to the world of work and talk about new and different ways to approach solving those problems.Follow Rebel HR Podcast at:www.rebelhumanresources.comhttps://twitter.com/rebelhrguyhttps://www.facebook.com/rebelhrpodcastwww.kyleroed.comBuzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched! Start for FREEDisclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rebelhrpodcast)

Director of Election, State of Minnesota. The host for this show is Jay Fidell. The guests are Chang Wang and David Maeda. The second guest on "A Nation of Immigrants" is Mr. David Maeda, Director of Elections of Minnesota and former Chair of Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. Mr. Maeda is a second-generation Japanese American. David Maeda graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1987. In addition to serving as the Minnetonka City Clerk, Mr. Maeda served as the Chair of the Minnesota Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans, a Charter Commissioner of the City of Saint Paul, and is a former chair of the League of Minnesota Cities' Election Taskforce. Mr. Maeda previously also worked as a Hennepin County Election Supervisor. In this episode of "A Nation of Immigrants," David Maeda shares his life story, professional career, and reflections on representative democracy. The ThinkTech YouTube Playlist for this show is https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpkwcNJny6m0sDYgbpbsi65EHVp8ynG8 Please visit our ThinkTech website at https://thinktechhawaii.com and see our Think Tech Advisories at https://thinktechadvisories.blogspot.com.

Are you one of those people that freeze up when you need to calculate a 15 percent tip on the restaurant tab? Do you hope a friend will volunteer to figure it out?  You might have a bit of math anxiety.  A lot of adults and kids think they're bad at math and say they don't like it. But learning to be comfortable with numbers and patterns is vital to holding many jobs, being a smart consumer and being a good citizen.   Math educators are thinking these days about how to help students get excited, not anxious, about math. The state of Minnesota is revising its math standards for the first time since 2007 — right in the middle of a math slump caused by the pandemic's disruption to classroom instruction.  MPR News host Angela Davis talked with two math educators about how parents and teachers can kindle success in math.   Guests:  Sara VanDerWerf is a mathematics specialist with the Minnesota Department of Education. She is a former middle and high school math teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools and past president of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  Christopher Danielson created the Math On-A-Stick play space at the Minnesota State Fair. He's a former middle school math teacher and college instructor. He currently develops online math lessons for Desmos and blogs about math at talkingmathwithkids.com.   Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Are you one of those people that freeze up when you need to calculate a 15 percent tip on the restaurant tab? Do you hope a friend will volunteer to figure it out?  You might have a bit of math anxiety.  A lot of adults and kids think they're bad at math and say they don't like it. But learning to be comfortable with numbers and patterns is vital to holding many jobs, being a smart consumer and being a good citizen.   Math educators are thinking these days about how to help students get excited, not anxious, about math. The state of Minnesota is revising its math standards for the first time since 2007 — right in the middle of a math slump caused by the pandemic's disruption to classroom instruction.  MPR News host Angela Davis talked with two math educators about how parents and teachers can kindle success in math.   Guests:  Sara VanDerWerf is a mathematics specialist with the Minnesota Department of Education. She is a former middle and high school math teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools and past president of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics.  Christopher Danielson created the Math On-A-Stick play space at the Minnesota State Fair. He's a former middle school math teacher and college instructor. He currently develops online math lessons for Desmos and blogs about math at talkingmathwithkids.com.   Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

Host Jon Olson talks with Bill James, President of the Minnesota Council of the Navy League of the United States. They discuss the role of the Navy League in supporting America's four sea services—the US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Coast Guard, and the US-flagged Merchant Marine. This episode originally aired on Feb. 17th 2021

The “Truth and Reparations” initiative focuses on the complicity of Christian faith communities in harm done to African-American and American Indian people.--Feven Gerezgiher reports:  Last weekend the Minnesota Council of Churches hosted the first event of an initiative to bring racial equity to churches across the state.Reverend Jim Bear Jacobs is Co-Director of Racial Justice for the council. He says the “Truth and Reparations” initiative started last year to focus on the complicity of Christian faith communities in harm done to African-American and American Indian people.“Some of our historic congregations at the Minnesota Council of Churches were active congregations as the systems of white supremacy and institutionalized racism were built into the structure of Minnesota,” he said. “And this is really a call to hold churches accountable, and to be about what churches claim that they are about, which is the work of healing and repair. And so begins with telling the truth.”The MN Council of Churches plans on a ten year process of truth telling, education, and reparations for its 27 member churches.Last weekend's event featured keynote speaker Christine Diindiisi McCleave, CEO of the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition. She spoke about persevering generational trauma resulting from Native American boarding schools and the erasure of indigenous culture.Reverend Pamela Ngunjiri of St. Mark AME Church in Duluth says it is essential to acknowledge the past for healing to take place.“We have to start at the beginning,” she said. “We have to start telling the truth, the true stories of history and how things have begun before we can even say anything about what we're doing today.”

​​#FixTheForm is a grassroots international movement to identify and fix the worst elements of funding application forms that waste time and money. By surveying more than 500 grant seekers across 9 countries, #FixTheForm has gathered comprehensive data on the grant seeker experience.The sixth episode of Impact Audio features Kari Aanestad, co-founder of #FixTheForm and associate director at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. She shares insights that can help grantmakers across the philanthropic sector improve processes and make a real impact. Listen to learn about:• The top three pain points for grant applicants, by a landslide• Grantadvisor.org and the origins of #FixTheForm•Takeaways from the survey of more than 500 grant seekers (65% with at least 8 years experience)• The potential limits of demographic data collection • Criticisms of (and future goals for) the movementDrawn from a longer conversation about #FixTheForm, these excerpts include great suggestions for reducing grantee burden in the service of equity. We hope you enjoy listening.For additional resources, visit our episode notes: https://www.submittable.com/impact-audio/kari-aanestad/

Since the pandemic began and coincided with a racial reckoning, there's a quote from Mr. Rogers that has been making the rounds on social media: “Look for the helpers, there will always be helpers. … Because if you look for the helpers, you'll know there is hope.” Helpers come in many shapes and sizes, as does hope. One kind of helper that has gotten a lot of attention recently is the philanthropic helper. What is philanthropy? How is it different than charity, and what can it do for us during these difficult times? Courtesy of Tonya Allen Tonya Allen, the new president of The McKnight Foundation.  Tonya Allen took over as president of the McKnight Foundation in March. She's still new to Minnesota, but she's not new to the role of philanthropic leader. She joined host Angela Davis to talk about the role of philanthropy in turbulent times. For those looking for grant-making resources, here are a few places to start: The Minnesota Initiative Foundations work with partners in Greater Minnesota. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits has a fundraising and grant-making resource page. Foundation Directory Online helps nonprofits find the foundations most likely to fund their projects. There's also a free version, Quick Start. Guest: Tonya Allen is the new president of the McKnight Foundation which is based in Minnesota. Editor's note (Sept. 15, 2021): MPR News is among the Minnesota organizations that has received McKnight Foundation grant money. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS.

Jon Pratt recently retired as Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. Jon was the founding director, working in that role since 1987. The world of collective action by and for nonprofits has evolved in many ways since that time. It has also kept some very solid foundational elements through those decades. Host Steve Boland talks to Jon about this history of building one of the largest state nonprofit associations, and what we can learn about the future from that work. Some things have stayed the same - though the current web-based job-board started out as a literal bulletin board at first. Other issues of interest to the nonprofit economy continue to change and may point to new challenges in the coming years.   More information at NextInNonprofits.com/podcast.

Refugees don't always come to mind when we think of Sept. 11, 2001. But they are one of the ongoing consequences of the “war on terror” that followed al-Qaida's attacks on U.S. soil. The two decades of conflict since 9/11 forced tens of millions of people to flee their homes — most recently from Afghanistan.  By the end of September, an estimated 50,000 Afghan refugees are expected to arrive in the United States. Some are being resettled in Minnesota, where they will join earlier waves of refugees who made new lives in the state, including Hmong, Karen and Somali people. MPR host Angela Davis talks about what it's like to arrive in a new country after fleeing violence, how refugees add to the cultural and economic fabric of the state and how Minnesotans can welcome them. A number of grassroots efforts and organizations in Minnesota are collecting money to support Afghan refugees. The public can also find ways to help by contacting the nonprofit organizations that run the official refugee resettlement programs in the state: Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, International Institute of Minnesota, Arrive Ministries, Minnesota Council of Churches and Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota. Guests: Sia Her is executive director of the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. She came to the U.S. as a refugee from Laos.   Muna Mohamed is a licensed professional clinical counselor with a practice in St. Louis Park focusing on immigrant and refugee clients. She came to the U.S. as a refugee from Somalia.  Jane Graupman is the executive director of the International Institute of Minnesota, one of several agencies that help refugees resettle in the state. Subscribe to the MPR News with Angela Davis podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or RSS. Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.

The Minnesota Council on Disability is a mainstay at the Minnesota State Fair, which kicks off today. It's a time for education, connection, and of course, good food. But this year, the Council made the difficult decision to forego the Fair, prioritizing health, safety and leading by example. David Dively, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council on Disability joins us to share the story of this decision and a slight tangent on the new movie CODA (Child of Deaf Adults). And, please take a moment to read the Minnesota Council on Disability's open letter, available here.

On this episode, members of the Minnesota Council for History Education introduce themselves and lay out their hopes and goals for the new podcast.

A Deeper Way Certified Facilitators Milpha Blamo (The Minneapolis Foundation) and Sheryl Chacko & Peter Breen (Emotional Communication) join Casey and Tim to discuss A Deeper Way Foundational Tenet #2: Be Patient.Tenet #2: Be PatientOur psyches and bodies are hardwired to not change.  With a deeper way, we understand that much of our behavior is deeply rooted in our unconscious, and most reactions to exploration and change (e.g. laughing, making fun of ourselves and others, complaining, etc.) are defenses against the fear.    Milpha Blamo is the Vice President of Talent and Culture at The Minneapolis Foundation. She leads and executes strategies for talent management, learning and development, and HR systems with the goal of fully engaging the Foundation's diverse workforce and enhancing its organizational culture. She has more than a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, serves on the board of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the Business Advisory committee at Normandale Community College is a member of the Forbes Human Resources Council. Milpha holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Minnesota and a Master's degree in Nonprofit Management from Hamline University. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in leadership (Ed.D) at Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. Connect with Milpha on LinkedInEmail: mblamo@mplsfoundation.org Sheryl Chacko is the Vice President of Emotional Communication.  She is an accomplished technology and change leadership expert.  She has a proven ability to develop and implement successful transformational programs that support business and financial objectives.  Sheryl comes to Emotional Communication most recently from Southwest Airlines where she served as Technology Senior Manager, and Chief of Staff to the Vice President of Technology Product Solutions.  Sheryl spent more than 15 years as a management consultant serving several Fortune 500 companies in diverse industries such as travel, healthcare, energy and financial services - where her passion for leadership coaching began.Connect with Sheryl on LinkedInPeter Breen is the Founder and President of Emotional Communication, LLC. Having built a unique skill set in mentoring, instruction, and leadership, Peter then pinpointed emotional intelligence as the key component in helping leaders realize their potential, build more effective teams, and increase their revenue and industry impact. Peter's passion for aviation led him to a career as a pilot and he earned degrees in aviation flight and management at Southern Illinois University. As a pilot, instructor, and mentor at Southwest Airlines, Peter gained a passion for leadership coaching and discovered how emotional intelligence can be used in every situation to enhance communication and develop confidence. At Southwest Airlines, Peter served as a highly trained member for Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) and Project LIFT - key programs that mentor pilots through hardships and help pilots access emotional intelligence to communicate effectively.Connect with Pete on LinkedInEmotional Communication on FacebookEmotional Communication on Instagram

Every election cycle I'll run into a few people who will at some point during the conversation lean in, tilt their head to indicate how serious they are, and declare with absolutely certainty: “Civics is no longer taught in schools!” I know from a small sampling of folks I've spoken to, we each can recall learning Civics in our youth, and my children who are currently attending Minnesota public schools are learning civics. So what's this all about? Why is there a perception that Civics isn't being taught in school?  And what is the Minnesota school curriculum for education around social studies, government, and civics? Guests:   Ron Hustvedt,  Middle School Social Studies Teacher & Board Member of the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies Steve Cwodzinski, State Senator, District 48 Show Notes: Citizenship Practice Test State of MN Social Studies Standards State Capitol Guided Tours    Episode Manager: Bruce Anderson Become a Patron of our show! This episode's patron sponsor: Zan Perry Produced by Riverside Productions LLC Music by Epidemic Sound Twitter @MinnCentral Facebook YouTube (for closed captioning)

Felipe is the Former Senior Legislative and Policy Director for the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs, and is currently a Tax Policy Advisor. Felipe also obtained an MS in Business Management from the School for International Training. 

Today's episode includes an interview with interview Rep. Rena Moran, who represents Frogtown and parts of Rondo in the Minnesota State Legislature. We also hear from members of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofit unionization campaign, Ileana Mejia and Amber Davis.

Today we are honored to be joined by Amber and Ileana from the newly formed Minnesota Council of Non-Profits (MCN) Workers Union. Amber and Ileana discuss the issues that drove the decision to unionize, the hopes, dreams and goals of the workers and we debunk some of the union busting myths that management uses to discourage worker organizing.  Unfortunately, in the time since we recorded this interview the Executive Director of MCN has affirmed his anti-union stance and refused to voluntarily recognize the union. Make sure you follow the MCN Union on social media and support them as they move toward their union election.  IG & Twitter: @mcnunion Join the wave of worker power and organize your workplace!  help us get to 400 Patrons so we can produce more pro-worker media   

Jim Bear Jacobs is dedicated to bringing to light the Indigenous stories of Minnesota. This includes his “Healing Minnesota Stories” work at the Minnesota Council of Churches. In this episode, Chanda and Jim discuss how storytelling can spark consciousness, the ways philanthropy has shifted strategies over the past decade, and how trauma can resurface in unexpected ways.

Minnesota Latinos are integral to economies in both the Twin Cities metro and greater Minnesota. As one of the fastest-growing minority groups, Latinos comprise an increasingly important segment of Minnesota’s workforce and have one of the highest labor force participation rates in the state. Join Gerardo Guerrero, Consul of Mexico in Saint Paul, and Mark Ritchie, Global Minnesota President, as they host an online “armchair discussion” webinar featuring prominent Minnesotans who will speak about the different contributions the Latino community has made to Minnesota and what the future holds. The program will also feature a special opening message by Martha Barcena Coqui, Ambassador of Mexico to the U.S. Panelists Uri Camarena, Director of Business Consulting, Meda Dr. Bruce Corrie, Assistant Vice President for Government and Community Relations, Concordia University St. Paul Maria Reagan Gonzalez, Mayor of the City of Richfield David Tieman, Executive Vice President of Innovation, Faribault Foods Rosa Tock, Executive Director, Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs (MCLA)

Minnesota has some of the largest racial disparities in education in the U.S., and efforts to solve the decades-long problem have so far been unsuccessful. “In terms of the white-Black gap, we are the 50th in the nation, or the 49th, depending on which year you look at,” said Anusha Nath, research economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and co-author of a 2019 report on the gaps. Nath and several other experts spoke Wednesday at a virtual MPR News event, In Focus: Equity in Education. “Many states struggle with achievement gaps as well, but Minnesota has been struggling for a very long time, and we're at the bottom persistently,” Nath said. Gaps in graduation rates and test scores have long been used to measure these disparities. But, in recent years, there’s been more focus on inequalities in access to resources that can influence how well kids do in school. And then, there’s racism — biased teachers and staff, and systems within schools that put up barriers for Black and Indigenous students and students of color. “We don't talk or celebrate Black and brown and Indigenous people, even in our very basic curriculum,” said Ramona Kitto Stately, project director for We Are Still Here Minnesota. “We choose a month and those histories are told during that month, but that is really our failure” to explain the importance of diversity to children. During the virtual event, MPR News host Angela Davis led a discussion built around community participation, and talked with people who have been working to level the playing field for all students. They discussed what’s getting in the way of progress on equity in education in Minnesota and which solutions are showing promise. Watch the community event discussion https://www.facebook.com/MPRnews/videos/374347433607970 Guests: Jess Davis is a racial equity coach for St. Louis Park Public Schools and worked as a math teacher in the Twin Cities metro area from 2006 to 2020. She was the 2019 Minnesota Teacher of the Year. Samantha N. Diaz is the legislative and policy director for education issues at the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs, a state agency that advises and informs the governor and legislators on matters of importance to Latinos in Minnesota. She previously served as the associate charter liaison at the Pillsbury United Communities Office of Public Charter Schools. Anusha Nath is a research economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. She co-authored the 2019 report "A Statewide Crisis: Minnesota’s Education Achievement Gaps," and continues to research the reasons behind the state's educational disparities. She has previously taught at Boston University, Delhi University and the University of Minnesota. Ramona Kitto Stately is an enrolled member of the Santee Sioux Dakota Nation and project director for We Are Still Here Minnesota, which aims to change the narrative around Native people in the state. She also chairs the Minnesota Indian Education Association and has worked in Indian education in Minnesota for more than 15 years. Michael Walker is the director of Black Student Achievement for the Minneapolis Public Schools. Before that, he worked in several capacities at Roosevelt High School, including as assistant principal. He was a 2017 Bush Fellow and previously served as community outreach, program and youth development director at the YMCA in the Twin Cities. In Focus is a series of convenings MPR is committed to leading over the next year to bring awareness, dialogue and potential solutions to Minnesota’s persistent racial disparities — in education, health, economic opportunities and many other areas. Through conversations with community leaders that are shaped by our curious, engaged audience, MPR hopes to encourage new connections and relationships that will help Minnesota communities make progress toward equity and inclusion. If you have thoughts or questions about the event or the topic of education equity, check out the MPR News Ground Level project page for different ways to share your experience. Come back to this page for updates on the event’s lineup and other details. Previous events Discussion Spotlight on the future of policing Call To Mind Spotlight on black trauma and policing Call To Mind Spotlight on parenting during a pandemic

"You’re never going to stop making mistakes. You’re always going to learn something new which means you’re always going to do something better." Trina + Alfonso record a live episode of BEHAVE at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofit's 2020 Advancement, Communication, and Technology conference. They welcome special guest Rocky Jones, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion Director at MN Opera. Alfonso, Rocky, & Trina talk about a communications approach to equity and diversity work. They also talk about the past three years MN Opera has spent working with Team Dynamics!

5.29.20 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Cop arrested in #GeorgeFloyd case; What's next in the Floyd case; Sen. Kamala Harris speaks on what's happening in Black America; Minnesota Council of Churches is demanding national reform in wake of George Floyd's murder; Sunday marks the 99th Anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre and riots. Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered Partner: Ceek Be the first to own the world's first 4D, 360 Audio Headphones and mobile VR Headset. Check it out on www.ceek.com and use the promo code RMVIP2020 - The Roland S. Martin YouTube channel is a news reporting site covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Rebecca Slaby leads AMAZEworks in working with schools, communities, and organizations to create equity and belonging for all. She gives workshops on Anti-Bias Education with a focus on cultural responsiveness, bias, identity, and stereotype threat and has co-authored two AMAZEworks curriculums. With an MEd from DePaul University, she has 15 years of experience teaching middle school humanities/social studies and has worked with schools on issues of equity, inclusion, and justice on institutional, state, and regional levels. She has presented at Overcoming Racism, MEA, NAEYC, MnAEYC, Impact, and Minnesota Council of Nonprofits conferences and teaches courses on equity-based pedagogy at the University of Minnesota.   Music generously donated by bensound.com

Some people talk about the problems in a community, some people are very aware of them. And some people choose to do something about them. Jerad Morey is one of those people.A pastor in Northfield, Minnesota, Jerad saw a need in the community in the winter months. Children had no place to play and the church opened up its gym to meet a need. What happened was truly amazing!The needs of the children were met, but it also opened up an opportunity to build community and reach out to people.This intentionality is something that most of us are missing when it comes to defeating loneliness and meeting the needs of others. Maybe the lesson we can learn from Jerad is opening up our eyes to see the needs of those around us.Pastor Jerad Morey is a bivocational associate pastor at Northfield United Methodist Church in Northfield, Minnesota. He also works in nonprofit management at the Minnesota Council of Churches. Jared has lived in high desert, mountain forest, and vast cityscapes. He attended graduate school in a religion and peace program at Wesley Theological Seminary and American University. He is also very tall.You can discover more about Jared Morey on Northfield UMC's website at https://www.northfieldumc.org/staff/jerad-morey-pastor-websiteJared is active on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Jerad) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/JeradM)

Rev. Curtiss DeYoung’s career is grounded in racial and social justice work. Today, he’s the CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches and an author of books about activism, racism, and cultural diversity. During this conversation, Chanda and Curtiss discuss philanthropy’s role in conquering hate, the integrity problem in our organizations, and how getting to the roots of injustice is essential for reconciliation.

In this episode of the BarryLaw Podcast, Barry Rosenzweig talks with Eric Anderson the Director of Stewardship at the Minneapolis Foundation. The two discuss Donor Advised Funds which allow participants to give to the charities of their choice through a simple and effective system. It’s hard not to fall in love with Donor Advised Funds, with their convenience and flexibility – not to mention the opportunity they provide to send more money to the causes you care about, while paying fewer taxes. Eric Anderson, Director of Stewardship, has been working with the Minneapolis Foundation’s donor advisors since 2000. He oversees collaborative efforts Foundation-wide, ensuring that donor advisors experience the best in comprehensive programs and services to help advance their charitable goals. He currently holds volunteer positions with The Minnesota Council on Foundations and the National Council on Foundations (Washington, D.C.) – the Community Foundations National Standards Board. He is a graduate of Augsburg College.Barry Rosenzweig has been an attorney for over 25 years and is nationally known as a visionary in his profession. Barry Rosenzweig can be reached at (952) 920-1001 in Minnesota and (480) 227-2203 in Arizona. He can also be reach by email at barry@barrylaw.com or online at www.barrylaw.com.

When you love or loathe a product or experience, you go online and write a review. It's the American way! GrantAdvisor applied the online review process to foundations, providing anonymous feedback and relevant information to grant seekers and grant funders alike. Hear our interview with Kari Aanestad, Co-Director of GrantAdvisor and Director of Advancement at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and hear how the site (www.GrantAdvisor.org) is growing and foundations are using it for the greater good.

This week we chat with Sara VanDerWerf, former K-12 Math Lead with Minneapolis Public Schools who taught grades 7 through 12, the President of the Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and independent mathematics consultant. Lean in as we chat with Sara about her journey from being a fast “calculator” in her own K through 12 learning experience to focusing on making student thinking visible in the classroom. We can’t wait to dive into Sara’s backstory as well as some great tips and resources for your own teaching practice.     You’ll Learn:  How to help students see it before you show them and say it before you tell them;  Why asking kids to notice and wonder is so important as well as how to lead this protocol successfully in your own classroom;  Why Vertical Non-Permanent Surfaces (VNPS) are so helpful in math class; How to use Stand and Talks as an easy way to get kids moving and promote mathematical discourse in your classroom; and,  What the difference is between focusing questions and funnelling questions.    Resources:  Sara VanDerWerf.com [Website]  John Hattie on Inquiry Based Learning.  Add annie fetter’s ignite  Curiosity Path Stand and Talks Episode 21: Peter Liljedahl Why I believe cell phones should be in the math classroom [ BLog post] Chris Luzniak [Debate Math]  Backwards bike

Jon Pratt builds community, influence and power every day. He leads the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, a trade association for organizations that provide services in the arts, education, affordable housing, health and the environment. Just as chambers of commerce represent the interests of the business community, MCN amplifies the voices of the nonprofit community. It is where members learn about legislation affecting their mission and tax status, new research from the field, and resources for building advocacy capacities. And their considerable collective power is making an impact. MCN members meet regularly with elected officials, identify unmet needs and recommend policy solutions to solve them. Now they are upping their game with Grant Adviser. This new initiative will resonate with anyone who has ever applied for a grant or reported to a funder on grant outcomes. Think of Grant Adviser as Yelp for philanthropy. Nonprofits provide anonymous feedback about foundations, from the application process to their communications with applicants. And foundations are (mostly) taking the feedback seriously. There’s more to come from MCN and Grant Advisor. That is always the case when change makers are the helm.      

When you look up Muslim women online, the search results you’ll mostly see are negative. It’s constantly about how oppressed we are or how we’ve been attacked.  How do we change this negative narrative that is surrounding our community? How can we create a more positive impact and encourage more Muslim women to step up and own their stories? In this episode of the Professional Muslim Women, Founder and Executive Director of Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE), Nausheena Hussain, joins us to talk about how their platform is elevating how Muslim women are perceived. They’re on a mission to make sure that Muslim women are at the table.  Reviving Sisterhood is a platform created to showcase Muslim women’s work and empower them to grow and develop in every aspect of life. Get empowered as you listen to Nausheena’s words of wisdom and motivation so that you can claim your voice and create impactful change in your community. In this Episode, We Talk About: What made Nausheena pursue the amazing arena of social justice, activism, and civics What is RISE Gender Islamophobia Taking back the negative narrative about Muslim women and turning it into something positive by telling the story ourselves Muslim Sheroes of Minnesota Why you can’t be what you can’t see Ways to connect and empower Muslim women RISE's 1st conference Nausheena’s vision for RISE Focusing on our similarities and honoring our differences Building your personal BOD Where to reach Nausheena Hussain: Nausheena Hussain's Website Instagram Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Youtube Nausheena’s Bio: Nausheena Hussain is the co-founder and Executive Director of a new platform to empower women in her community known as Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment. She is dedicated in building a movement to address leadership development, increase community engagement, and create a philanthropic legacy for change. One of Nausheena’s top strengths is that she is a learner. So naturally, she’s always on the path to increase her knowledge and better her skills. Nausheena graduated from the University of Minnesota cum laude in 2003 with her MBA in Marketing and Healthcare Administration. She holds certificates in Executive Leadership from Stanford and Harvard Universities. She is a fellow graduate from the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, Studio/E entrepreneurial program, Rockwood Institute Fellow and is a 2016 Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow. Because of her hard work and dedication, Nausheena has been recognized for her achievements. She was named the 2012 Catalytic Leader by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. In 2016, the Minnesota Women’s Press named her “Changemaker of the Year.” Click here to learn more about Nausheena and her work.  Mentioned in this episode: Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE)   -- Want to hear more stories from amazing Muslim Women? Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Stitcher or on your favorite podcast platform. Get notified so you never miss out! Let us know what you think and what part of the podcast conversation you enjoyed the most by leaving us a review and rating here! And don’t forget to join us on our Facebook group Professional Muslim Women  to continue the conversation and connect with a community of Muslim women like you!

Kari Aanestad is the Director of Advancement for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) and Co-Director of Grant Advisor. Jon Pratt is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. Kari recently published a blog post, Why Donor Advised Funds Aren’t Really for Grantwriters (But Can Be…) at GrantAdvisor.org. An increasing amount of philanthropic giving is moving through Donor Advised Funds (DAFs), and this raises more questions about the nature of DAFs, transparency in giving, and supporting charitable work in communities. Kari and Jon join host Steve Boland to talk about a special working group around DAFs convened at MCN, how nonprofits can use tools like NOZAsearch and DAFdirect links to improve their success with DAF donors, and efforts around legislation on how DAFs may change in the future. More information at https://NextInNonprofits.com/podcastGrant Advisor blog post on DAFs :: Grant Advisor :: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits :: Jon Pratt :: Kari Aanestad :: NOZAsearch :: DAFdirect ::

Kari Aanestad is the Director of Advancement at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, whose mission is to “ inform, promote, connect and strengthen individual nonprofits and the nonprofit sector.” Part of Kari’s work is to understand trends in giving and how organizations communicate to supporters of their work. Changes in tax law last year means fewer people will itemize deductions, so while gifts to charities are still deductible, more people will not see a financial benefit from giving. Learn morea about those changes and tactics for nonprofits in our episode with Russell James. Kari joins host Steve Boland to discuss a recent report in the Star Tribune about early results from year-end giving campaigns in 2018, how these numbers don’t show a dramatic or pervasive decline in giving, what motivates donors to give beyond a tax deduction, and how to stay informed of trends in this area. M+R Labs has shared some thoughts, and some combined historic data is available from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. More information at NextInNonprofits.com/podcast.M+R Labs year-end review :: Star Tribune article on year-end impacts :: Russell James episode about tax law changes :: Minnesota Council of Nonprofits :: Kari Aanestad :: Fundraising Effectiveness Project ::

Our guest reader today is Rev. Peg Chemberlin, member of Waconia Moravian Church in Waconia, MN and recently retired from the Minnesota Council of Churches. Want to be a guest reader on the Podcast? Sign up today! Visit dailytextpodcast.org. Visit MCWW's website at moraviancww.org. The 2018 Moravian Daily Texts are ©2017 by IBOC Moravian Church in America, used with permission. You can learn more about the Moravian Daily Texts, purchase a printed copy or subscribe to the Daily Texts e-mail by visiting www.moravian.org. Purchase a printed copy of the 2019 Moravian Daily Text at store.moravian.org.

Our guest reader today is Rev. Peg Chemberlin, member of Waconia Moravian Church in Waconia, MN and recently retired from the Minnesota Council of Churches. Want to be a guest reader on the Podcast? Sign up today! Click here and choose your date: goo.gl/forms/RbyFFwvbLA4Bgpii2 The 2018 Moravian Daily Texts are ©2017 by IBOC Moravian Church in America, used with permission. You can learn more about the Moravian Daily Texts, purchase a printed copy or subscribe to the Daily Texts e-mail by visiting www.moravian.org.

This week you're in for a treat as La Llave gets inspiration from Henry Jimenez, a scholar with a dual degree in Woman's Studies and Political Science. He is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Council on Latino Affairs. Henry talks about how hard working our parents are to come into this country, undocumented, and provide a life for their families. He believes in leading and working towards a bright futuro para nuestros hijos. We dive into Henry's dream of creating the act of voting as a new family tradition. The compadres were inspired by Henry's optimism radiating through the studio. And we hope he has the same effect on you. Tune in so you can get to know this humble man who is proud of wearing his chanclas and carry with him his culture.  Follow our journey through Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Thanks to Rev. Peg Chemberlin, member of Waconia Moravian Church in Waconia, MN and recently retired from the Minnesota Council of Churches, for being our guest reader today! Want to be a guest reader on the Podcast? Sign up today! Click here and choose your date: goo.gl/forms/RbyFFwvbLA4Bgpii2 The 2018 Moravian Daily Texts are ©2017 by IBOC Moravian Church in America, used with permission. You can learn more about the Moravian Daily Texts, purchase a printed copy or subscribe to the Daily Texts e-mail by visiting www.moravian.org.

100 Episode Spectacular! As in, it is spectacular that we have made it to 100 episodes with today's podcast! Today's guest reader is Rev. Peg Chemberlin, member of Waconia Moravian Church and retired from the Minnesota Council of Churches. Want to be a guest reader on the Podcast? Sign up today! Click here and choose your date: goo.gl/forms/RbyFFwvbLA4Bgpii2 The 2018 Moravian Daily Texts are ©2017 by IBOC Moravian Church in America, used with permission. You can learn more about the Moravian Daily Texts, purchase a printed copy or subscribe to the Daily Texts e-mail by visiting www.moravian.org.

Our guest reader today is Rev. Peg Chemberlin, member of Waconia Moravian Church in Waconia, MN and recently retired from the Minnesota Council of Churches. Want to be a guest reader on the Podcast? Sign up today! Click here and choose your date: goo.gl/forms/RbyFFwvbLA4Bgpii2 The 2018 Moravian Daily Texts are ©2017 by IBOC Moravian Church in America, used with permission. You can learn more about the Moravian Daily Texts, purchase a printed copy or subscribe to the Daily Texts e-mail by visiting www.moravian.org.

Even when asked by their funders, organizational leaders are often reluctant to provide candid feedback to foundations, for fear of alienating  them.  As a result, foundations don't always have an accurate picture of what the grantee experience has been with them, while nonprofit organizations sometimes suffer in silence, or decide not to pursue a relationship due to things like, onerous application or reporting requirements.  DonorAdvisor, a new platform that allows nonprofits to provide feedback to foundations anonomously, hopes to eliminate those barriers and improve the grantmaking process for everyone involved. Join Kari Aanestad, Development Manager at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Andrea Sanow, GrantAdvisor Coordinator at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, for a GrantAdvisor teach in.  You will: Learn what GrantAdvisor is, where to find it and how to use the tool.Better understand the roles and impact of transparency and reciprocity between grant making foundations and grantees in the feedback loopExplore how this information can improve the nonprofit sector. Call in live at (347) 884-8121. You don't need an account to listen, but, if you want to participate in an online chat, open a listener-only account at https://secure.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx?type=listener to participate in a live chat. Visit Valeriefleonard.com. Archived episodes may be found at http://Valeriefleonard.com/NonprofitU, iTunes, Podcast Chart, Blubrry and Stitcher.

Get your copy of Dr. Anderson’s book, Recover Your Perspective, on Amazon.com! Get a signed paperback on my website. Quinn Nystrom, Diabetes Author, Advocate, and Speaker, joins us to talk about eating disorders and diabetes. Quinn shares with us: -the difference between type I and type II diabetes -the story of her diagnosis of Type I diabetes -her eating disorder journey and recovery -complex factors of diabetes management and eating disorder recovery This podcast is hosted and produced by Janean Anderson, Ph.D., CEDS. Dr. Anderson is a licensed psychologist, author, and podcast host. She holds the Certified Eating Disorder Specialist designation from the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP). She is the Founder and Director of Colorado Therapy & Assessment Center, an outpatient treatment center in Denver, Colorado that specializes in eating disorders.   Dr. Anderson also provides private, one-on-one recovery coaching for listeners of the podcast and for treatment providers seeking supervision and consultation for their CEDS. Interested? Email for more info: podcast@eatingdisorderrecoverypodcast.com To learn more about the podcast, visit www.eatingdisorderrecoverypodcast.com.  Follow Dr. Anderson’s work here: Facebook.com/DrAndersonAuthor Facebook.com/DrJaneanAnderson Twitter.com/DrJanean Get emails about Dr. Anderson’s writing and other happenings at www.eatingdisorderrecoverypodcast.com Guest Bio: Quinn Nystom has shared her story of living with type 1 diabetes to over 300,000 people across North America over the past 20 years. As a National Diabetes Ambassador for Center for Change and a Council Member for the Minnesota Council of Disability, appointed by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, she brings a voice of hope and knowledge to the millions of people living with this disease. Quinn is an accomplished writer and the author of “If I Kiss You, Will I Get Diabetes?” a first-hand account of negotiating life with a chronic illness and lauded as a must-have book for parents, educators and healthcare professionals in understanding a teen’s perspective on living with diabetes. This podcast is sponsored by 'Ai Pono Maui. 'Ai Pono is led by internationally renowned expert on eating disorders, Dr. Anita Johnston. Located in a home oceanfront facility in beautiful Maui, Hawaii, Ai Pono offers residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient treatment for eating disorders. Visit aiponomaui.com This podcast is sponsored by EDCare. EDCare has provided PHP, IOP & Outpatient treatment for all genders, 18 and over, since 2001. CAMSA ( which stands for Connection, Acceptance, Mindfulness, Sense of Self & Action), is EDCare’s mindfulness-based treatment approach and is incorporated into each individualized treatment plan. Facilities are located in Denver, Colorado S, rings and Kansas City and all treatment is supported by Masters’ Level Clinicians or higher. EDCare offers 4 specialty tracks (BED, ELITE Athlete, Substance Use, & Trauma), and the Connections House, an affordable supportive housing component, adds an extra layer of supervised support. www.eatingdisorder.care or (866) 771-0861

Rev. Dr. Curtiss Paul DeYoung is the CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches. Previously he was the Executive Director of the historic racial justice organization Community Renewal Society in Chicago and the inaugural Professor of Reconciliation Studies at Bethel University in St. Paul. This week he joins co-hosts, Rev. Tracy Howe Wispelwey and Rev. Dr. Velda Love to talk about de-centering whiteness when you've been socialized white, and how to dismantle racism from a place of privilege.

No doubt you’ve already got your calendar marked for the decennial U.S. Census. As the Constitution mandates, every person in the United States will be counted in 2020. Or at least that’s the hope. There are already major concerns whether the federal government is adequately preparing for the upcoming census. We asked two local experts how the census actually works on the ground, and whether it’s a big deal if the count’s off by a few (million) people. We talked with Susan Brower, Minnesota State Demographer and Bob Tracy, Director of Public Policy and Communications, Minnesota Council on Foundations.

The Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem Map documents impact investing activity in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. If you would have picked up a copy of the Financial Times last Saturday, you might have noticed a half-page ad asking readers to participate in the Investing for Global Impact research study. Two pages later, you may have also noticed a full-page ad for a report from Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI) on the relationship between the Sustainable Development Goals and investment opportunities. And, you may have caught this interview with Rehana Nathoo of The Case Foundation on their efforts to map this space. Impact investing is a hot topic. According to the World Economic Forum, impact investing “intentionally seeks to create both financial return and positive social or environmental impact that is actively measured.” But, what does impact investing look like in the Twin Cities? Last year, Susan Hammel set about to answer this question. Susan is the CEO of Cogent Consulting and Executive in Residence for impact investing for the Minnesota Council on Foundations. In 2016, Cogent Consulting partnered with the Bush Foundation, the Impact Hub Minneapolis – Saint Paul, and others in the community to map the impact investment space. The result is Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem map. The map consists of three components: sources of capital, companies being funded and intermediaries. The map covers both debt and equity investments. Work on the Twin Cities Impact Investment Ecosystem continues. Cogent Consulting is holding a meeting on November 28, 2017, “What's Next for Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem?” Click here for details. Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Susan Hammel “Entrepreneurs really need patient capital to fuel their great ideas.” @susan_hammel “If it is intentional and measured, it is an impact investment.” @susan_hammel “Where is all this money going? Could any of it being going to good purposes?” @susan_hammel “We don’t think there is a deal flow problem we think there is a deal mismatch problem.” @susan_hammel “The Investees sometimes go to the investors and ask them for things they will never do.” @susan_hammel Social Entrepreneurship Resources: Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem: https://minneapolis.impacthub.net/impact-investing-ecosystem Upcoming event, “What's Next for Twin Cities Impact Investing Ecosystem,” https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-next-for-twin-cities-impact-investing-ecosystem-tickets-39456629842 Cogent Consulting: http://www.cogentconsulting.net Bush Foundation: https://www.bushfoundation.org Impact Hub Minneapolis – Saint Paul: https://minneapolis.impacthub.net Minnesota Council on Foundations: https://mcf.org Susan Hammel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-hammel/ Susan Hammel on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cogentconsultinginc/ Susan Hammel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/susan_hammel Book: The Impact Investor: Lessons in Leadership and Strategy for Collaborative Capitalism: http://amzn.to/2xZcbTF Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: https://tonyloyd.com/book  

 Even when asked by their funders, organizational leaders are often reluctant to provide candid feedback to foundations, for fear of alienating  them.  As a result, foundations don't always have an accurate picture of what the grantee experience has been with them, while nonprofit organizations sometimes suffer in silence, or decide not to pursue a relationship due to things like, onerous application or reporting requirements.  DonorAdvisor, a new platform that allows nonprofits to provide feedback to foundations anonomously, hopes to eliminate those barriers and improve the grantmaking process for everyone involved. Join Kari Aanestad, Development Manager at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Andrea Sanow, GrantAdvisor Coordinator at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, for a GrantAdvisor teach in.  You will: Learn what GrantAdvisor is, where to find it and how to use the tool.Better understand the roles and impact of transparency and reciprocity between grant making foundations and grantees in the feedback loopExplore how this information can improve the nonprofit sector. Call in live at (347) 884-8121. You don't need an account to listen, but, if you want to participate in an online chat, open a listener-only account at https://secure.blogtalkradio.com/register.aspx?type=listener to participate in a live chat. Visit Valeriefleonard.com. Archived episodes may be found at http://Valeriefleonard.com/NonprofitU, iTunes, Podcast Chart, Blubrry and Stitcher.  

For millions of Minnesotans with disabilities, lack of access to affordable, reliable, and convenient transportation options also means lack of access to jobs, education, healthcare, social services, recreation, friends and family, and community activities. As such, Minnesotans with disabilities face disproportionately high levels of unemployment, poverty, homelessness, institutionalization, and isolation. So, too, do we all miss out on meaningful relationships with and contributions by these members of our community. In this episode, we become the commuters and take an Accessibility Walk through Highland Park with disability advocate Kjensmo Walker. Back in the studio, we speak with Joan Willshire, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council on Disability, about the policies and technologies that can broaden opportunities for people with disabilities.

32: Comedian Levi Weinhagen is a co-founder of Comedy Suitcase, an all ages company from Minneapolis. He hosts The Pratfalls Podcast and Not About You, facilitating conversations with individuals of diverse circumstances in the hope of encouraging further conversation and inquisition. He works as a Communications and Digital Media Specialist at the Minnesota Council on Foundations. Opening track by Josh Johnson: https://soundcloud.com/saxophone_capone/vibrations-willie-g-x-josh-the-classic-feat-kris-bergh http://leviweinhagen.com/ http://www.chancebychance.com/

On this episode of Social Impact now, we'll be talking to Susan Hammel President and Founder of Cogent Consulting Inc. and Executive in Residence for impact investing at the Minnesota Council on Foundations. Cogent Consulting is also leading the charge to map the Twin Cities impact investing ecosystem.  On today's show we'll discuss a stark incident of structural racism in impact investing, how other communities can embark on mapping their own eco-system, as well as the untapped opportunities of corporate and unaccredited investors in the impact investing space. Edited for time.

On this episode of Social Impact now, we'll be talking to Trista Harris, President of Minnesota Council on Foundations. The Minnesota Council on Foundations is a vibrant community of grantmakers who award more than $1 billion annually. On today's show we'll discuss her recent interview with Sir Richard Branson, mogul, futurist and philanthropist extraordinare, the intersection of philanthropy and advancing equity, as well as how to aligning impact with community-led innovation. Content edited for allotted time.

12: The President of the Minnesota Council on Foundations, Trista Harris, addresses exponential technology, the fraught educational system, generosity, abundance and how to prepare for the future. Opening song by Josh Johnson https://soundcloud.com/saxophone_capone/vibrations-willie-g-x-josh-the-classic-feat-kris-bergh https://www.mcf.org/ http://www.tristaharris.org/ http://www.chancebychance.com/

This week on RuralMN Radio, Jim is joined by Emily Steinmetz, the central MN regional coordinator for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Michelle Kylie, of the Initiative Foundation in Little Falls, to talk about the impact of nonprofits in rural areas. Nonprofits exist in just about every town in Greater Minnesota to help people locally, showing that there will always be people willing to rise up and help their communities, says Steinmetz. The impact of nonprofits in Greater MN The post The impact of nonprofits in Greater MN first appeared on Center for Rural Policy and Development.

Today we take another cultural departure from Washington, DC and chat with Jon Pratt of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. The Council exists to make nonprofits more effective and helps share resources, education, and training among nonoprofits working in Minnesota. This helps their member organizations stay current on trends and technology even while focusing primarily on their core issues. Minnesota as a whole and the nonprofits working there benefit from a unique state tradition -- the Keystone Awards. Find out how charitable organizations are supplementing their fundraising and maybe something you hear in today's episode will trigger a great actionable idea for your organization. Jon Pratt is the executive director of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. He has worked at Minnesota Public Interest Research Group as an attorney and lobbyist, as regional director at the Youth Project, and as director for the Philanthropy Project. The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) was founded in 1987 to meet the increasing information needs of nonprofits and to convene nonprofits to address issues facing the sector. It is the largest state association of nonprofits in the U.S. Through MCN, nonprofits join together across interest areas to work on issues of common concern to all.

In this episode, Mark interviews Jin Kim.   Jin is the founding pastor of Church of All Nations. Born in Korea in 1968, he came to the US with his family at age 7, and grew up in Columbia, SC & Atlanta, GA in multiethnic environments. He holds degrees from Georgia Tech, Princeton Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Seminary. He serves on Minnesota Council of Churches' board, and formerly served as Presbyterian Church USA delegate to the National Council of Churches, as US delegate to the 3rd Lausanne Congress, as Moderator/Council Chair of Presbytery of Twin Cities Area, and as President of Presbyterians For Renewal. Jin has a passion for the ministry of reconciliation and a vision for the visible unity of the global church. His household includes his wife, Soon Pac, children Claire Nicea and Austin Athanasius, and Jin's parents. He is an avid golfer, enjoys volleyball, basketball, racquetball, table tennis & Monopoly, and will one day pick up ice fishing (?).

On this week’s show, Christine Durand of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and I focus again on her website redesign project. Christine is the communications and marketing director for that organization. Non profit leaders may be wondering why I’d do a show about websites when those projects often have little to do with my target audience of executive directors and … Read more about this episode...