“Knowing the realities of others around us helps to form stronger communities. The Why Treaties Matter exhibit gives us a better sense of who we’re living among and the land we’re living on.” – David O’Fallon, president of the Minnesota Humanities Center. Take a minute to travel back in time to your history lessons in …
Leaders are at their strongest when they’re connected. We’ve learned, by engaging with our network of over 6,000 leadership alumni, how great things happen when people take the time to share knowledge, expertise and plans. This is especially true for rural nonprofit leaders. Every nonprofit brings a unique understanding of the challenges facing today’s rural …
Blandin Foundation trustees made history last week when they voted to double-down on early childhood programming for at-risk children and their families. Making its largest grant commitment ever, Blandin Foundation has extended support for the Invest Early initiative by 10 years and $21 million.
“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem At the 2014 Center for Small Towns Symposium, rural sociologist Randy Cantrell said that, more than anything, people …
This week more than 600 ninth graders from seven Itasca County schools traded their sneakers in for a comfy set of loafers, putting themselves in the shoes of local business men and women for a day. As part of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Future Workers program, students were paired with over 57 organizations …
What if you had to drive an hour to turn in a homework assignment. Would you make the trip? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a lose-lose situation really. You either miss out on time to do other things, like other homework or extra-curricular activities, or you risk getting a zero on an assignment. Imagine having make …
Today we welcome Dane Smith, president of Growth & Justice, a research an advocacy organization that develops innovative public policy proposals based on independent research and civic engagement. For Minnesotans with roots in country life or smaller towns, there are certain treasured historic images that reflect the values and advantages of rural communities: the communal …
In a recent Star Tribune editorial, Growth & Justice president Dane Smith challenges us to think about how we perceive competitiveness. He argues that the focus has been narrow for far too long, emphasizing “cheap labor and lower taxes.” Smith says that, instead, competitiveness should be defined by what is done to increase human potential. …
Invest Early is in its ninth year of providing wrap-around early childhood services for Itasca County children and their families. They recently released their Year 7 results in a report compiled by Wilder Research. Highlights include: Home learning environments, which are associated with higher school readiness scores, improved significantly for Invest Early families during their …
The Editors & Publishers Program was founded in 2005 and modeled after the Blandin Community Leadership Program. It is a program of the Minnesota Newspaper Foundation, supported in part through Blandin Foundation grants. More than 65 editor-publisher teams have gone through the program and have emerged with a deeper understanding of how to build social …