Dennis Donovan

Areas of Expertise

Theory and practice of democracy; civic engagement; citizen politics; culture change in K-12 settings; strategies for public engagement of K-12 and university students; democracy building in international settings

Biography

Dennis Donovan is the national organizer for Public Achievement. Along with Harry Boyte, Donovan was a key architect of Public Achievement, which is a theory-based practice of citizen organizing to do public work for the common good. Since 1997, Donovan has worked with school, university and community groups across the country and abroad as a speaker, trainer and coach. In Minnesota, he is currently working with legislators, Humphrey School Policy Fellows, graduate and undergraduate students including athletes, veterans and participants in the University of Minnesota leadership minor program, among others, and is lead organizer of the Warrior to Citizen Campaign. He was honored in 2008 with the University of Minnesota's Outstanding Community Service Award for making "substantial, enduring contributions to the community and to improving public life and the well-being of society."

In 2006, Donovan was invited by the Educational Society for Malopolska (MTO) in Poland to lead Public Achievement training for educators and school administrators from the Balkans. Later that year, he served as a facilitator at a Public Achievement conference organized by the MTO in Macedonia; the conference was sponsored in part by the National Endowment for Democracy and was attended by more than 200 educators and young people using Public Achievement in the Balkans, Turkey and Poland.

In 2000, Donovan was invited to participate in a Salzburg Seminar on Youth and Civic Engagement: Models for Engagement. The Salzburg Seminar is a program that convenes innovative thinkers from different cultures and institutions to identify critical international problems and generate creative and practical solutions to address them. In 2003, Donovan was invited back as a speaker for a Salzburg Seminar on Engaging Youth in Community Development. Before joining the Center for Democracy and Citizenship, Donovan worked in K-12 education for 24 years, including 16 years as principal of St. Bernard's School in St. Paul. In the 1990s, St. Bernard's served as a demonstration site for Public Achievement, and under Donovan's leadership the school won the archdiocesan Social Justice Award for work done to improve St. Paul's North End community. Donovan was also recognized for outstanding educational leadership when he received the 1995 Principals Award from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and when he was named one of "98 to Watch in '98" by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, along with now-U.S. Senator Norm Coleman.

Donovan began his work as an organizer after attending training at the Gamaliel Foundation in Chicago. He helped found and served as education chair (1990 to 1997) of the St. Paul Ecumenical Alliance of Congregations (SPEAC), which has since grown into a statewide organization known as ISAIAH. ISAIAH is committed to building power for a worldview rooted in racial and economic justice and is one of the most active partners in the national Gamaliel organizing network.

Donovan earned a master's degree in educational administration from the University of St. Thomas and a bachelor's of science degree in elementary education from the University of Minnesota.

Courses Taught

Go to the University of Minnesota One Stop website to apply for these and other public affairs courses.

For syllabi for the current or upcoming semester, please visit the University of Minnesota's Course Guide and look for the syllabus icon. If the syllabus is not there, contact the instructor directly. Syllabi are available in alternative formats upon request. Please contact Jeremy Gordon at gord0215@umn.edu or 612-624-7095 for assistance.

Fall 2012

• PA 5920: Skills Workshop: Community Organizing for Effective Public Policy

Spring 2013

• PA 1401: Public Affiars: Community Organizing Skills for Public Action