Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Seeking AmeriCorps member to support youth leadership development in St. Paul
The Jane Addams School for Democracy (JAS) and Youth Farm & Market Project (YFMP) seek a Multicultural Communities in Action AmeriCorps Member to strengthen the work of these two organizations. This position’s time is shared between the organizations' sites, which are located in the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota.
At both sites, the AmeriCorps member will work with youth on a variety of leadership activities. At YFMP, leadership is fostered through nurturing relationships between urban youth and their families, their communities and the earth around them by growing, cooking, eating, and selling healthy food. At JAS, leadership is fostered by strengthening learning among people of diverse ages and backgrounds who are working towards particular goals.
Some of the essential functions at Jane Addams School include: helping the functioning of the East African Circle or Spanish Circle by coordinating learning pairs and developing materials; becoming knowledgeable about the process to naturalize as a U.S. citizen, English language learning, and community/civic issues; and, if possible, performing Somali-English or Spanish-English translation.
Some of the essential functions at Youth Farm include: performing after-school farm and greenhouse activities; providing tutoring during the school year; and serving as youth market coordinator.
Download the complete position description ( Spanish Circle or East African Circle), including requirements, preferred qualifications and contact information.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Veterans helping other veterans: acts of citizenship that smooth transition home
Steve Biorn, an Iraq war veteran and student at the University of Minnesota, says a helpful part of his transition home was helping other veterans. He became an officer with the student-led Veterans Transition Center and has been a "go-to guy" in the Warrior to Citizen Campaign, helping organize a study circle for veterans where they can discuss issues among themselves, laying the groundwork for a program that would pair veterans as mentors with troubled youth, and working with a high school Public Achievement team to organize a Veteran's Day 2008 event at St. Bernard's School in St. Paul.
"He's passionate about citizen engagement and other veterans transitioning smoothly," says Dennis Donovan, who worked with Biorn through an independent study course at the University of Minnesota this spring.
Read an interview with Biorn in the May 8, 2008, Minnesota Daily.
The Warrior to Citizen Campaign is a non-partisan collaborative of individuals and organizations in Minnesota engaging at the community level to ease reintegration of returning veterans into civilian society and to enlist their skills and experience in strengthening community life.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Role of higher ed in creating an enduring sense of civic agency
"...Who teaches civic agency and how it is taught go[es] to the heart of challenges facing higher education," writes Harry Boyte in the current edition of Change magazine. "The devaluation in the academy of the intelligence and talents of those without degrees and credentials is tied to detachment from place...As the cultures of research universities became detached, higher education lost the connections that teach students how to work in communities."
Read "Against the Current: Developing the Civic Agency of Students" for more about civic agency, technocratic creep, and strategies for institutional change that would make democracy a way of life on college and university campuses.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
New funding will support cross-cultural citizen work
Through a grassroots online voting process--which many of this blog's readers participated in--a project building on more than 10 years of work at the Jane Addams School for Democracy was selected to receive additional funding from the Case Foundation for a total grant of $25,000! The Crossing Borders proposal was one of 5,000 submitted to the foundation in the first round of selections.
"Through the Crossing Borders project, an intergenerational group of Somali, Mexican, Peruvian, Hmong, Korean, and U.S.-born people will explore how to bring more diverse people into public work and strengthen democratic practices – both at the Jane Addams School for Democracy in St. Paul and in towns throughout Minnesota," says project leader Nan Kari. Among the project’s goals are bi-monthly team discussions, cross-cultural multimedia projects, and training on democratic education and outreach.
Monday, May 5, 2008
October conference in Austin, Texas, on public engagement
The National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation is hosting a conference in Austin, Texas, in October on "Creating Cultures of Collaboration." The conference will bring together leaders and future leaders in public engagement, conflict resolution and related fields to share resources and strategies, build lasting relationships, and initiate collaborative projects.
Complete conference information is on the NCDD web site. A special registration rate is available through May 16.
Frustration, maybe, but apathy? No way! Young people want to be engaged in civic life
Minnesota Public Radio recently held something called a youth caucus, where they convened young people to talk about increasing their involvement in civic life. MPR reporter Bob Collins included many comments verbatim during his live blogging session. One of the caucus attendees, Jordan Hamilton, is a member of SPEAC, a group of youth organizers at Hope Community in Minneapolis. Read about SPEAC's work here.
Below are reactions to the youth caucus from two University of Minnesota students taking a class called Community Organizing Skills for Public Action. Submit a comment to add your voice to the conversation. Are you "civically engaged"? If not, why?
Friday, May 2, 2008
Doing public work - apprehension, then inspiration
Angela Vogt is a master's of public policy candidate at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, graduating later this month. She is originally from St. Cloud, Minnesota.
I have been privileged to have been a part of the Warrior to Citizen Campaign Community Dialogue Subcommittee, which has focused on inviting and encouraging diverse communities to have conversations about veterans. Our group includes individuals from varied backgrounds, including University of Minnesota students, nonprofit executives, religious leaders, and professional staff at the Humphrey Institute. I have been very impressed by the inspired commitment by all the members of our group. In particular, the undergraduate student veterans in our group this year have done a marvelous job of reaching out to the broader campus community to help us understand both the gifts and talents veterans bring and the challenges they face upon returning from deployment.
Community dialogues on veterans reintegration were inspired by students in Harry Boyte’s Community Organizing Skills for Public Action class in 2007, and our group wanted to continue developing interest in it as well as developing tools for groups interested in addressing veterans in their own communities.
Several members of our group (including me) felt a little uncomfortable with the idea of being facilitators in the beginning. We realized through our work together that actually participating in a dialogue event was the best way to overcome the apprehension we felt. We wanted to alleviate the fear factor for others as well, so we worked to put together a facilitator’s guide.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Judge's work on and off the bench contributes to a vibrant democracy
Renee Worke is no ordinary judge. With her characteristic wry sense of humor and modesty, she somewhat grudgingly accepts the title "citizen judge."
Like journalists, many judges feel they can't play a significant role in civic life because their professional code of ethics demands that they keep their political views or policy preferences to themselves. But there are many ways - beyond politics and advocacy - in which professionals can maintain a connection between their work and civic lives.
Tuesday, Apr 29, 2008
Seeking VISTA member to support neighborhood-based learning in St. Paul
The Neighborhood Learning Community is looking for someone to support its work through the Americorps VISTA program.
The Neighborhood Learning Community has an ambitious goal of creating a culture of learning on the West Side of Saint Paul. Our work focuses on creating a shift in culture that empowers many different people to feel confident and capable in supporting education and learning rather than relying solely on experts and credentialled teachers to educate. We do this by tapping the talents and resources of residents, community organizations, and institutions to co-create learning opportunities that connect people back to the neighborhood and build their civic skills. Creating the infrastructure that can support this exciting and creative work takes skilled individuals with a talent and passion for community organizing.
Our VISTA member will work to develop, strengthen, and make more visible the infrastructure of the Neighborhood Learning Community (NLC) while fostering a sense of ownership and collaboration in the organizations and community members who participate in the work.
This work would include:
- building relationships with West Side community members and organizations
- expanding the breadth and depth of people's involvement in the NLC
- focusing on engaging youth, immigrants, and people of color in the overall work of the NLC in meaningful ways
- working to support current and new learning opportunities connected to the NLC
- working to share the story of the NLC with other neighborhoods and communities
- continuing to work with West Side schools to connect and extend learning that happens in the neighborhood to learning that happens in schools
If you are interested in hearing more about this opportunity or the NLC, please contact Erik Skold, Neighborhood Learning Community coordinator through the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, at 651-209-3519 or at eskold@umn.edu.
The Center for Democracy and Citizenship is enriched by diversity among our staff members and our partners in public work. The diversity of views and experiences enhances our ability to do the work of democracy and to create change in communities, the nation and the world. We are committed to creating a diverse staff and supporting work that reflects the multicultural world in which we live.
Monday, Apr 28, 2008
The power of active citizens to generate power
"When I first heard about global warming, I thought 'Oh, some environmentalists will come along and take care of it,'" said Felicity Britton. "But eventually you get the idea that it's got to be all of us." Today, Ms. Britton is executive director of a nonprofit group in her Minneapolis neighborhood working to convert garbage into electricity.
The garbage-to-electricity project is one of several organized by Linden Hills residents in the past few years. "We're going to have a small impact on [climate change], said resident and small business owner Tom Braun, "but what I've felt is most important is that other groups and neighborhoods hearing our story will be saying, 'If they can do it, why can't we?'"
The story of these organizers is reported in today's Star Tribune newspaper. The print version includes a picture of Felicity Britton and members of the Linden Hills Power and Light board in front of a sign that reads "We are the people we've been waiting for." Amen!
