Heartland Democracy Center

Help Find Our New Empowerment Coaches!

Tom Vellenga — 2012-02-21T14:37:34-06:00

Heartlanders, please help us find our new coaches for Empowering U, our innovative deep civic empowerment program. We are growing, and we are looking for enthusiastic, savvy educators and experts in community, government, politics, and public policy. Direct potential applicants to this handy posting on the job board of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits for details: Coach Search. Thanks for your help!

12/6 Forum on Citizenship @ Macalester College 6 to 8pm

Tom Vellenga — 2011-12-05T21:17:59-06:00

"Citizenship in a Sound Bite Era" is the topic for this community forum from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Hill Ballroom at Kagin Commons at Macalester College, Tuesday, December 6, 2011 in St. Paul. RSVP at www.worldsavvy.org/events. "Anyone interested in civic engagement, youth development and education" should attend. Panelists will include Minnesota's innovative Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie; Trista Harris, Executive Director of Headwaters Foundation for Justice; Brian Rosenberg, President of Macalester; Jamal Thompson, Director of Education for the National Black MBA Association; and Dana Mortenson, Executive Director of World Savvy. David O'Fallon, President and CEO of the Minnesota Humanities Center, will moderate the panel's discussion.

Brief TEDx Video - Empowering U

Tom Vellenga — 2011-11-22T15:31:00-06:00

Click on the headline above to reach our full News Blog and a short TEDx talk video on Empowering U -- TEDx Video -- in which Tom Vellenga makes the case for robust civic empowerment programs such as ours. The Blandin Foundation sponsored a conference -- Expanding Opportunity: Economy, Education, and Inclusion -- using the TEDx format. Listen to Tom describe critical challenges to our democracy, our response, and the crucial benefits to our people, our communities, and our economy. Spread the word to others! Make a tax-deductible donation now to help scale up Empowering U to serve more people through our host and partner organizations.

November 16 Give Maximal Slices of Pie

Tom Vellenga — 2011-11-16T10:47:13-06:00

On November 16 "Give to the Max" to Heartland Democracy and all your favorite charities. Bake a bigger pie and share larger slices with your best 501(c)(3) nonprofit groups! You can give directly to us through our Donate button or go to GiveMN's page on Razoo at Heartland Democracy on Razoo's GiveMN. That same web page will also provide you with an updated summary of our deep civic empowerment program, Empowering U, and the first-of-its-kind project we coordinated with five allied groups, the Framework for Governing, which we will release soon.

We are preparing to scale up Empowering U in 2012 with the help of foundations, donors, and three new partners -- Twin Cities Rise!, 180 Degrees, and Unity Leadership, whose participants we will serve and whose staff we will train. This is how we are getting "the uninvolved" back into their community, the wider democracy, and the networked grassroots economy -- and providing them with the tools and motivation to stay involved long after they have completed Empowering U. That is one crucial strategy for reviving community, democracy, and the networks that sustain local economies. In 2012, a new grant from the F.R. Bigelow Foundation will allow us to realize our dream of scaling up Empowering U with an expanded curriculum, training for additional trainers, and many more participants in the St. Paul region.

The Framework for Governing gathered together statewide initiatives for Minnesota from Envision Minnesota's 12-member collaborative, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, Growth & Justice, Ready 4 K, TakeAction Minnesota's ReNewMN values statements, and the report of the Legislative Commission to End Poverty. Heartland Democracy identified the themes and values common to all the initiatives and statements, organized them in a framework of values, and crafted a case for a practical, progressive approach to governing ourselves. The top three values emerging from the policy initiatives: Community, Justice, and Equality of Opportunity. If we truly conceive of every person and resource in Minnesota as part of one community, we will make the best and most sustainable decisions for Minnesota over the long term. Early reviewers have remarked that the Values Framework is beautifully written...we look forward to sharing it with policymakers, you, our allied groups, and the media soon.

Saturday 11/12 Join the Discussion

Tom Vellenga — 2011-11-08T18:28:14-06:00

November 12 from 8:00 to 9:30 am please join the Stone Arch discussion series for remarks and a discussion on these great questions: 1) How can we get more neighbors involved in community and politics and 2) How can we win over more hearts and minds to progressive goals? Why are these twin challenges so absolutely critical to our fate? What does "progressive" mean in 2011? Heartland Democracy's Tom Vellenga will present our innovative responses to these timely questions, followed by an hour of discussion.

Breakfast foods, coffee, and other savories will greet you at the Gardens of Salonica (specializing in Greek delicacies), at 19 Fifth Street Northeast in Minneapolis. The event is free and open to all. Tell your friends!

Tune in at 9:00 am Memorial Day to 90.3 and 106.7 FM

Tom Vellenga — 2011-05-29T22:18:40-05:00

Tune in at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, Memorial Day on 90.3 and 106.7 FM in the Twin Cities area to hear a one-hour broadcast of our recent Forum on Values in Governing. Held on Wednesday, May 18, the forum featured panelists Dane Smith of Growth & Justice, Wesley Walker of the Northway Community Trust, Alison Norman of the Minnesota State College Student Association, Steve Rogness of TakeAction Minnesota, and Tom Vellenga of Heartland Democracy. Phyllis Stenerson, who leads and writes for ProgressiveValues.Org and is a Fellow of Heartland Democracy, moderated the Forum, which took place at the First Universalist Church in South Minnesota. Radio KFAI's Truth to Tell team was there to tape the forum. Led by Truth to Tell's host, Andy Driscoll, KFAI is providing an edited broadcast of the original two-hour forum to provide a one-hour broadcast.

With the help of the audience's tough questions and insightful comments, our panel offered diverse perspectives on the values we all bring to the challenge of self-governance, using our collaboration's practical and progressive Framework for Governing as a touchstone for conversation. We joined with Growth & Justice, Ready 4 K, a collaboration led by 1,000 Friends of Minnesota, the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, and TakeAction Minnesota to create the Framework. Our collaborators contributed policy proposals for Minnesota across a wide range of issues. Heartland Democracy worked with its collaborators to fashion a Values Framework that identified the values and themes common to all initiatives. In this way, we are making the progressive approach to governing more coherent. The Framework is a tool with which progressives can make decisions as well as communicate them. We presented the Framework to the Governor, his aides, and agency commissioners. Soon we will provide it to legislators, other groups, the media, and the public.

May 18 Forum: Developing Coherent Public Values

Tom Vellenga — 2011-04-26T13:11:16-05:00

On Wednesday, May 18, the First Universalist Church in South Minneapolis will host a public forum on the values in our Framework for Governing, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Framework for Governing is a collaboration of half a dozen progressive groups and collaborations, initiated and coordinated by Heartland Democracy to serve the state of Minnesota. It includes policy proposals spanning a wide range of public issues as well as a set of values common to all the initiatives. A "Values Framework" within the larger Framework for Governing identifies the values running throughout the Framework and makes the case for a coherent progressive approach to governing based upon those shared values. By identifying the relationship of the principles and concepts that drive progressive ideas across a range of issues, we hope to serve progressives in every sphere as they solve public problems and communicate their approach. At the Forum, panelists representing a range of progressive groups and constituencies will speak briefly to the sources of their public values, particularly as they relate to spirituality and the Framework for Governing. Following their very brief remarks, Phyllis Stenerson, a Fellow of Heartland Democracy and the founder and writer for ProgressiveValues.Org, will moderate a discussion with the audience. Watch this space for information on the panelists. First Universalist Church is located at 34th Street and Dupont Avenue in South Minneapolis.

Saturday, 12/11, 8:00am: So, You Want to Win Elections?

Tom Vellenga — 2010-12-10T10:36:43-06:00

Saturday, December 11, from 8:00 to 9:30 a.m., Tom Vellenga of Heartland Democracy will talk with the Stone Arch Discussion Group about non-partisan strategies to win over hearts and minds to progressive goals. The Stone Arch Group meets at the Gardens of Salonica in Northeast Minneapolis, at 19 Fifth Street NE. This event is FREE.

See Casino Jack Friday, December 3, 7:00

Tom Vellenga — 2010-12-03T11:49:03-06:00

Tonight, Friday, Dec. 3, at 7:00 join a special screening of Casino Jack and the United States of Money, the story of criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Following the screening, stay for a discussion with whistleblower Tom Rodgers. WHERE: Cowles Auditorium in the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota (301 Nineteenth Avenue South, Minneapolis, just north of Riverside Ave.) Common Cause of Minnesota is co-sponsoring the film. This is what Mike Dean of Common Cause had to say: "The film shows how the corruptive role of money in politics is fundamentally undermining our basic principles of democracy." Our current system of funding campaigns allows Big Money from companies, wealthy individuals, and front groups to spend billions of dollars to gain access to decision-makers in government. The documentary demonstrates the real consequences of this system. It helps make clear why the United States of America needs and deserves a truly open and transparent government, as our founders envsisioned. Look for the film's release, and, as always, "Tell Your Friends!"

Larry Hansen the Great

Tom Vellenga — 2010-11-18T10:38:14-06:00

The movement to renew American democracy lost perhaps one of its most influential champions this week when Larry Hansen passed away in Chicago. The post from which he most recently amazed and delighted reformers and progressives across the nation was his vice presidency at The Joyce Foundation. But his five decades of brilliant, dedicated, humane, and ever-witty public leadership took him from the streets of the civil rights movement to the halls of power in Congress to Walter F. Mondale's presidential bid as well. Larry was an early and regular adviser to Heartland Democracy and to me. He cared enough about our common causes to tell me, candidly, when he thought we were going off in the wrong direction -- a mark of a friend with integrity. He was a mensch's mensch, sparking, aiding, and supporting would-be reformers across the nation with a sensibility that warmed and an intellect that sizzled. Heartland Democracy, the democracy reform movement, and the larger progressive cause have lost one of our lions. We celebrate his life and example, and we mourn his death. Whether you knew him or not, read his world-class obituary and other tributes here on the website of the Midwest Democracy Network, which is just one of his many legacies: MDN on Larry Hansen. Reading it, you will find yourself taking a walk with Larry through the history of justice and democracy these past five decades. He will remain an inspiring example to all of us. -- Tom Vellenga