Training in Public Policy and Race

Aligned with our objectives to promote discussions on race and foster bridge building among communities of color, the Wilkins Center offers two training programs for members of the community. 

Wilkins Community Fellows Program

The Roy Wilkins Community Fellows program is an intensive one-week boot camp that provides individuals and nonprofit organizations serving Minneapolis communities of color an introduction to policy analysis and methods of evaluation to assess the effectiveness of programs specifically targeted at those communities.

This program addresses structural causes of inequality and provides a framework for creating social change using two approaches:

  • Build the capacity of local community-based organizations to use the tools of policy analysis and evaluation with the assistance of Wilkins Center graduate students trained in policy analysis
  • Prepare leaders of communities of color, via Wilkins Center graduate students, to make their own cases for social change.

Participants will be able to understand basic concepts and terminology of policy analysis and understand the strengths and weaknesses of alternative approaches to policy analysis. Two key elements of policy analysis are emphasized: problem structuring and recommendation. 

Expand all

More About the Wilkins Community Fellows Program

The Roy Wilkins Community Fellows program is an intensive one-week boot camp that provides individuals and nonprofit organizations serving Minneapolis communities of color an introduction to policy analysis and methods of evaluation to assess the effectiveness of programs specifically targeted at those communities.

The annual workshop is led by Professor Samuel Myers Jr., director of the Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Social Justice. Dr. Myers assists the fellows in developing skills to help them conduct high-quality, objective policy analysis—while keeping race and ethnicity at the center of the conversation.

When analyzing a policy, some researchers might simply ask, “Does it work?” The Wilkins Community Fellows are challenged to go further and ask, “Does this policy work for communities of color?”

The workshop covers the following topics:

  • What is policy analysis?
  • Problem structuring
  • Equity v. Efficiency
  • Evaluation
  • Recommendation
  • Writing policy memoranda
  • Final presentations

The fellowship program, which began in 2014, was developed by the Roy Wilkins Center in partnership with the Minneapolis Foundation.  

Fellows are selected through a competitive process, and there is no cost to attend the workshop, which includes reading materials, parking, and meals. 

How to Apply

The application period opens each year several weeks before the program takes place. The online submission form will be made available here. 

Applicants must obtain approval from their employer to participate in this workshop if accepted.

For more information, contact us at [email protected].

Advanced Methods Academy

Past Wilkins Community Fellows have participated in the Advanced Methods Academy. During this summer program, participants have focused on developing strategies to advance agendas on remedies to racial and economic inequalities in a heterogeneous and culturally less familiar environment and in a political setting. 

Expand all

More About the Advanced Methods Academy

The Roy Wilkins Center, with the support of the Minneapolis Foundation, hosted an advanced training program in 2018 for the four cohorts of graduates of the Wilkins Community Fellows "boot camp." The training was an Advanced Methods Academy for highly motivated community activists, community organizers, and leaders of nonprofit organizations committed to solving problems of racial and ethnic inequality.

The training comprised workshops designed to help cohort graduates develop strategies to advance agendas on remedies to racial and economic inequalities in a heterogeneous and culturally less familiar environment and in a political setting.

How to Apply

The application period for future workshops will be announced several weeks before the program takes place. The online submission form will be made available here. 

For more information, contact us at [email protected].