Event I Organizer Roundtable: The Intersection Between Electoral and Issue Organizing Event I Strategic Values-Based Communications for Organizers
Event I HIRE Minnesota - Creating Jobs, Protecting the Environment, Strengthening Communities
Event I Applied Research Center Conference Call on Race and Jobs Resource I Nominations Now Open for the 2009 Environmental Initiative Awards Resource I Grants for Communities Creating Healthy Environments Resource I DTV Transition: Are you ready? Article I Transit Backers Expect an End to Major Funding Hurdle
Article I Reducing Carbon Emissions: Building Sensible Communities and Other Legislative Proposals for Minnesota Job Opportunity I Community Development Specialist- NACDI
Event I Organizer Roundtable: The Intersection Between Electoral and Issue Organizing
Noon - 1:30 pm
Wednesday, February 11
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, Minneapolis
Come join in the dialogue about incorporating lessons from recent electoral organizing efforts into planning for issue-based campaigns. Regional leaders will engage organizers in a discussion about their get out the vote efforts in the last election and how they are using the connections they made with community members to develop new organizing strategies and campaigns.
The discussion will be led by:
Amalia Anderson, Mainstreet Project Director
Hashi Shafi, Somali Action Alliance Executive Director
Dai Thao, TakeAction Minnesota Community Activist
Organizers are encouraged to bring a lunch. Organizer Roundtables are free, but an RSVP is required. Back to top
Event I Strategic Values-Based Communications for Organizers
Noon - 1 pm
Thursday, February 12 In September of 2008, SCOPE, a Los Angeles-based organizing and advocacy group, initiated a regional experiment to develop new values-based organizing and communication strategies able to move swing constituencies. Join the Progressive Technology Project for an online presentation to hear Sabrina Smith, Strategic Communications Director at SCOPE share her learnings. The cost to participate is $20. Back to top
Event I HIRE Minnesota - Creating Jobs, Protecting the Environment, Strengthening Communities
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Tuesday, February 17
American Indian Center, Minneapolis
HIRE Minnesota aims to unite a variety of community voices in a campaign to grow our economy and produce thousands of jobs for low-income people and people of color in Minnesota. The campaign will seek commitments for new jobs in emerging and green sectors and secure major commitments for business development and job training for people of color. Come to this town hall meeting to learn about this exciting campaign and the opportunities to strengthening our communities. Free food and musical entertainment. RSVP to let the Alliance know you'll be coming! And check out this video to see what happened at the last town hall meeting in St. Paul! Back to top
Event I Applied Research Center Conference Call on Race and Jobs
3 pm
Tuesday, February 17
The Applied Research Center is hosting biweekly conference calls on issues related to racial justice in early 2009. Justice advocates who dial in will track the first 100 days of the Obama administration and shape plans to influence policy affecting racial justice. In addition to engaging featured speakers, participants will share progress on local, state and national efforts, and join a call to action on key issues. The next conference call on February 17 will cover the topic of Race and Jobs. Check out the list of topics and be sure to RSVP by February 16.
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Resource I Nominations Now Open for the 2009 Environmental Initiative Awards
The Minnesota Environmental Initiative is now accepting nominations for partnership-based environmental projects for the 2009 Environmental Initiative Awards. Awards are given in the areas of energy and climate protection, environmental education, green building and development, green business and environmental management, and natural resource protection and restoration.
The deadline for submissions is March 2, 2009. For more information about the Environmental Initiative Awards and the award categories, please visit MEI’s web site.
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Resource I Grants for Communities Creating Healthy Environments
Communities Creating Healthy Environments, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will provide training, technical assistance and three-year grants of up to $250,000 to ten local advocacy groups working in communities of color and indigenous nations to develop effective, replicable policy initiatives that achieve food and recreation equity in the communities where they work. This capacity-building initiative brings successful local advocacy organizations together with key local, state, and national leaders to build healthier communities. Visit the program's website for more information.
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Resource I DTV Transition: Are you ready?
In the near future, all television stations will be transitioning from analog to digital TV. The Digital Television (DTV) Transition will require millions of Americans to take action of some kind in order to maintain access to free over-the-air television.
African Americans, Latino/as, Asian Americans, people who rely on languages other than English, low-income working families, older Americans, and people with disabilities will be most impacted. TV provides vital educational programming, important community updates, and life-saving information, such as weather and emergency announcements.
If you are interested in receiving a training for your organization on the DTV transition—including converter box coupon information, retailer and brand breakdowns, where to go for help, and set up demonstrations— or informational materials, please call the Minneapolis-St. Paul DTV resource line at (612) 246-3017. For more general information about the transition, you can visit www.dtv2009.gov, www.civilrights.org/DTV or www.mainstreetproject.org.
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Article I Transit Backers Expect an End to Major Funding Hurdle
A big transit project like the Central Corridor light rail proposal must clear a lot of hurdles to get federal funding.
The project must show it will not damage the environment, can attract riders and has a guaranteed source of local funding. Most important, however, a transit project seeking federal money must hit a money target called the CEI, the cost effectiveness index. Take the total cost of building and operating a transit project, divide it by the estimated amount of travel time riders save and the result is the cost effectiveness index. The CEI has been cited as one of the main reasons additional stops can't be added to the Central Corridor LRT line, even though those stops are essential for connecting low-income people and people of color living in adjacent communities to jobs and amenties along the line. If Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar has his way, the requirement will be eliminated. Read more about the CEI from Minnesota Public Radio News.
Visit the Alliance's web site to learn more about the Stops for Us campaign, which is seeking three additional Central Corridor LRT stops to serve east University Avenue communities. Back to top
Article I Reducing Carbon Emissions: Building Sensible Communities and Other Legislative Proposals for Minnesota
With a new state law calling for controls on greenhouse-gas emissions and the Obama administration reversing federal policy and forcefully advocating reducing carbon emissions linked to climate change, the transition from setting policy to implementing it has begun at the Capitol in St. Paul.
The Building Sensible Communities legislation (being proposed by the Alliance, Transit for Livable Communities, 1,000 Friends of Minnesota and Fresh Energy) is one of the bills covered in this article from MinnPost. The legislation would require the Metropolitan Council to incorporate carbon-reduction targets in its comprehensive planning process and impose similar requirements on other government planning agencies, and it would provide financial incentives for communities to adopt goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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Job Opportunity I Community Development Specialist - NACDI
The Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI) is an alliance of the major Indian nonprofits and several Indian businesses in the metropolitan area committed to community-building through sector economic development and large-scale development.
NACDI is seeking a community development specialist who will be responsible for organizing and coordinating specific American Indian community development initiatives and projects within the American Indian community. This individual will work closely with local residents, business owners, community leaders, government officials, development specialists and other key stakeholders and must be knowledgeable of the American Indian community. The deadline to apply is February 9.
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To contribute a news item for the next Metro Organizer, please contact Tracy Nordquist Babler at tracy@metrostability.org. Alliance for Metropolitan Stability I 2525 Franklin Ave E, Suite 200 I Minneapolis, MN 55406 I 612-332-4471 | 
