Common Ground.
Common Good.
The Citizens League is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that empowers people to engage in civic life and public policy to make Minnesota a better place to live and work for everyone.
Recent News
Legislators build trust, relationships during Minnesota Legislative Exchange
Over the last several months, four pairs of Minnesota House Republican and DFL state legislators spent time together in each other’s districts as part of the Minnesota Legislative Exchange.
Welcome, new 2026 board members!
Citizens League is proud and excited to welcome two new prominent civic and community leaders to its Board of Directors this year.
Interconnected: Bridging divides and building relationships through the MN Legislative Exchange
January 22: Join us for our next Interconnected for a discussion with MN legislators on their participation in the MN Legislative Exchange.
Welcome, Domonick!
Domonick Fields joins the Citizens League as our new Capitol Pathways Program Manager!
Watch Now: 2025 Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate Debate
Citizens League was proud to host a 2025 Minneapolis Mayoral Candidate debate on Friday, September 26. The debate can now be viewed in its entirety online.
2024-2025 Annual Impact Report
For more than 73 years, Citizens League has been a trusted, nonpartisan voice for civility, collaboration and pragmatic public policy solutions in Minnesota. Learn about the League’s impactful initiatives, milestones, and achievements of the last year.
Current Work
Minnesota Legislative Exchange
The Minnesota Legislative Exchange is a first-in-the-nation effort to build trust and bipartisan relationships in state legislatures. As Minnesota’s leading nonpartisan nonprofit focused on civic engagement and public policy solutions, Citizens League is proud to lead this important effort, intentionally forging new relationships to bridge divides and govern our state effectively.
Capitol Pathways
With the long-term goal of making our government truly representative of our communities, the program opens access to the Minnesota Capitol to the next generation of leaders of color. Through this program, interns build relationships with established Capitol leaders, gain exposure to various kinds of careers in policy, get real-world experience in career fields they would like to learn more about and build a strong professional resume in the process.
Strengthening Public Service
Citizens League is embarking on a new project to dig deeper and explore the unique challenges and barriers to public service, with a particular emphasis on non-elected roles and people who make our state’s local governments work.
Events
Through our engagement with communities in Minnesota, we strive to help people understand that public policy happens everywhere, and everyone has a role in decision-making.
Our events are organized around these goals, inviting a panel of different viewpoints to discuss policy issues that affect Minnesotans. We cover such topics as mental health, aging, disruptive protests, and water quality. Those in attendance can expect ample opportunity to voice their perspectives, questions, and ideas as well.
Interconnected: Bridging divides and building relationships through the MN Legislative Exchange
Join us online on Thurs, January 22 from noon – 1pm for another Interconnected event, this time talking about Citizens League’s Minnesota Legislative Exchange (MLE) initiative.
Thursday, April 16, 2026
Save the Date: Civic Celebration 2026
The annual Civic Celebration, Citizens League’s premier fundraiser and networking event, will take place on Thursday, April 16, 2026!