Minnesota Works Together
The Center for Democracy and Citizenship is connecting and coaching organizations and individuals from all walks of life to do work on community issues that they care about, from reintegration of veterans to education to health. We call this long-term effort Minnesota Works Together and see it as a way for Minnesotans to shift our culture from me to we. Through this initiative we are also creating a common language and a sense of interconnection and larger possibility which will help Minnesotans move beyond the role of spectator or consumer to be architects of a democratic way of life.
Statewide
Warrior to Citizen Campaign
a non-partisan initiative bringing communities together to assist Minnesota veterans and their families with the transition home
Citizen Health Campaign
this community effort involves students, legislators and staff, health care professionals, immigrants, clergy, teachers, and others in rethinking our roles and expanding the conversation and work on health beyond provider-patient relationships
Citizen Legislators Working Group
With coaching and mentoring by staff of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, a bipartisan coalition of Minnesota state legislators is thinking about their role as elected officials in a new, more public and engaged way.
In neighborhoods
Civic Life in St. Paul – Minnesota Works Together assumes that a flourishing civic life requires a strong sense of place. The Center for Democracy and Citizenship's decade of work on the West Side of St. Paul is a foundation for revitalizing a civic culture in neighborhoods across the city. Other cities and institutions use the center's work in neighborhoods as an example of how to create cultures of civic learning and organizing.
Jane Addams School for Democracy
a community-based civic engagement initiative in St. Paul bringing immigrant families, college students and other community members together to learn and do public work
Neighborhood Learning Community
a coalition of neighborhood organizations, local government, and residents that have worked together as civic partners for seven years to create a culture of learning in the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota
Cedar-Humphrey Action for Neighborhood Collaborative Engagement (CHANCE) – The Center for Democracy and Citizenship works with this student-led effort to create connections and promote respectful, mutually beneficial partnerships between University students and staff, and local businesses and neighborhood residents
Hope Community – The Center for Democracy and Citizenship's Public Achievement model of youth engagement is integrated with other organizing models at Hope Community to create public power spaces in one of Minneapolis’ most diverse and economically challenged neighborhoods.
Engagement of students and young people
Young people and students from kindergarten through graduate school play a key role in Minnesota Works Together campaigns and neighborhood work. Staff of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship teach courses in public work skills, mentor individual students, and provide resources to other educators who wish to incorporate public work into their curriculum.
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