Flood damage from last week’s torrential rains have put leaders across northeastern Minnesota to the test. From emergency services workers to church communities to school staff, those in positions of authority are leading the way towards securing resources for recovery, and bolstering their neighbors with hope. Blandin Foundation has joined the Northland Foundation, AgStar Financial …
On January 26, 2012, the Blandin Foundation kicks off a series of Listening Meetings throughout the Itasca County area communities that comprise its “home giving area.” New Blandin Foundation President Kathy Annette will meet with local community members over the next several months to hear about opportunities and challenges in their area. This feedback will …
Northwest Minnesota gathers today in Bemidji to think regionally and act locally. Blandin Foundation invited alumni of its leadership programs to gather to explore the region’s trends and to imagine new ways to frame issues, build social capital and mobilize resources around a shared regional vision. Nearly 100 people are gathered for this event, the first of …
Last Friday, 26 residents of the Aitkin and Palisade area wrapped up their five-day Blandin Community Leadership Program retreat. North-central Minnesota’s Aitkin County, home to both communities, spans a portion of Minnesota’s lake country. Tourism and timber are important here, as is community collaboration.
Rural aficionado Michael Knutson’s tweets yesterday mentioned “third places” – a term, we discovered, used in community planning to identify a community’s social gathering places, like pubs, diners and coffeehouses. People also have “first places” (home) and “second places” (work) in communities. Together, these three types of place give communities, rural communities included, their sense …
Minnesota’s spotlight is on its leaders, at every level, who are trying to do more with fewer resources. State legislators, especially, have their work cut out for them as the “cut vs. tax” debate persists.
The following article was published in the Saint Paul Pioneer Press on February 8, 2011.
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Getting children ready to learn by the time they enter kindergarten is important. Some believe it is vital to solving the problems in our K-12 system.
Legislative Task Force Finds Single Point of Authority and Responsibility will Result in More Efficient Government
Local grants support education, early childhood, housing and economic development.