This month I celebrate two anniversaries – 3 years of working at The Minneapolis Foundation and 3 years since returning from the East Coast to live in Minneapolis. These three years have been filled with exciting things, purchasing our first home and having my son to name just a few. At the time, making the decision to move to Minneapolis was relatively easy for my husband and me. I was recently reminded by two events why that was the case.
Minneapolis is a vibrant community filled with civic minded individuals, something I value. A few weeks ago, Minneapolis was the host of the first National Civic Summit. The event was created around the National Association of Secretaries of State being hosted by our Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie. The Summit was a two day affair that focused on two key questions:
- How can we increase civic imagination and capacity to solve today’s challenges in ways that serve the public interest?
- How do we use technology to move from isolation and overload to effective collaboration and solutions?
I had the pleasure of attending the kick-off event held among the ruins of the Mill City Museum. The evening, sponsored by Target, was also promoted as a Tweetup with live stream tweeting by attendees. It was a real effort to ensure that even those who could not attend in person can still feel that they are engaged. There was great music, thanks to Dan Wilson and a full crowd. Every time I looked around I was struck by who was there. There was a shared energy throughout the space by the diverse crowd representing a variety of ages, ethnicity, and professions.
A short picture montage of the National Tweetup in Minneapolis, MN on July 15, 2009, part of the larger National Civic Summit. Live music by Dan Wilson.
more about “Tweetup Picture Montage on Vimeo“, posted with vodpod
Everyone who was there had come because they had some connection to civic engagement. I left the event feeling proud that I live in a place where people care so much about their community, have a desire to be connected and want to contribute to its future.
Then, last week I opened up the Star Tribune to read the headline, “For the third year in a row, Minneapolis-St. Paul is ranked No. 1 in the country for volunteerism among the nation’s larger metro areas.” Based on a study by the Corporation for National Service, Minnesota also ranked number 3 in the country. The article stated,
“Volunteer officials in Minnesota said the Twin Cities and the state have consistently experienced high volunteer rates because of citizens’ sense of civic duty, professional organizations that connect volunteers with opportunities and corporations that encourage and reward volunteerism among employees.”
The results of the survey were another illustration that I live in a community where people proudly and willingly give of their time and resource to act on their civic duty.
There are so many great things in our community, what makes you love living here?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: National Civic Summit, Volunteerism, Minneapolis, Civic Engagement
