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October 23, 2008
What we heard in the initial poverty discussions
In September, the Citizens League held three initial conversations on how we could best focus our efforts on the policies to address poverty in Minnesota. Those who attended were mainly from different levels of government, higher education, or non-profit organizations, along with some interested citizens. The Citizens League is using these conversations to hone our focus for a second round where we will seek to engage more people who are directly impacted by the effects of poverty and more institutions that are part of the economic reality of poverty.
The Citizens League approaches these conversations with particular goals in mind. As the process continues, we will ask all participants to:
- Contribute to problem definitions and solutions according to the current realities of policy questions around poverty. It is our goal to involve a broad range of individuals, groups and institutions that are affected by poverty.
- Share and learn from one another and be open to exploring the implications of various courses of action through a transparent process that expects all participants to engage in decision-making.
- Identify actionable next steps, where all participants connect their self-interest with the common interest to evaluate outcomes and determine ways to work together.
- Strive to make progress on the next steps by encouraging all participants to advance and sustain recommendations in the institutions where they spend their time and have the authority and influence to act.
The Citizens League sent emails to a list of about 900 to invite them to be a part of the conversations. About 40 people were able to attend and participate, although many more either signed up to attend or indicated interest in the conversation. Nearly 70 people took the online survey that was part of the invitation. On our website and at the meetings, we asked people to comment on what they thought were some of the misconceptions about poverty and why we hadn't been able to "solve" poverty in Minnesota. The breadth of the discussions was startling and the following excerpts represent some of the most compelling thoughts that emerged.
Click here to read the details from the three conversations.
WHAT NEXT?
The Citizens League is organizing a second round of conversations that will explore this ground further with a greater diversity of perspectives to find the areas where we can be most effective. To see the list of those who participated in the conversations click here.
Posted by Bob DeBoer at October 23, 2008 12:14 PM