2008 Annual Meeting
Reception 5:00 p.m. | Program 6:30 p.m. | Dessert 7:30 p.m.
The Depot Great Hall
225 Third Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55401
Admission is free and appetizers will be provided
Can 2+2=5? A New Civic Equation
Our challenge: Headlines all around us are about diminishing returns and downturns. In public policy and politics, it seems lately like 2+2=3.
- Budget shortfalls everywhere, from governments, nonprofits, and businesses to our own home equity and personal finances
- Rising costs and outcome gaps in education, health care, and other important systems
- Partisan gridlock that diminishes our leadership and our capacity to work together as a community
These aren't reasons to celebrate. But they are reasons to innovate.
Our opportunity: Minnesota's 150th anniversary year must be a turning point, because in the midst of this crisis are successes and new opportunities for policy innovation and entrepreneurship. The Citizens League has been working hard, thanks to you, to build the civic imagination and capacity to take on these types of challenges.
A new civic equation: The Citizens League is developing a better model -- a better civic "equation." We have worked to organize citizens in all types of institutions to address problems in areas like mental health, high school reform, transportation, and property taxes. And we've been successful because active citizens have come up with creative solutions where others have gotten stuck; because the problems are defined by the people and institutions who are affected by the problems; and because everyone contributes their time and resources to help address the problem in light of what is best for Minnesota. We are moving forward with this new equation in 2009 on issues such as poverty, water and regional prosperity.
This combination of civic imagination and pragmatism led to some of Minnesota's greatest policy innovations in the past, and it is what we must do more often today. Our ability to innovate is a reason to celebrate.
In a year where we face many financial challenges, we have to find innovative civic solutions -- a new model for public policy that involves all citizens and institutions differently -- to more effectively address the policy challenges and opportunities that Minnesota faces right now.
Join us in engaging members in these efforts, as we celebrate our past year and look to the year ahead.
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