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

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

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.

Join Our Discussions Every Sunday in October

Please join us every Sunday in October as we lead discussions designed to help participants become savvy, thoughtful, active citizens. Presbyterian Church of the Way in Shoreview, Minnesota is hosting Tom Vellenga and our new Fellow, Phyllis Stenerson, in its adult education program. The sessions run from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m. We will investigate the joy and fulfillment of active citizenship, the workings of our political system, and why perfectly sane and reasonable people can hold widely divergent views. These and related topics will aid participants' understanding of the elections this fall. In these discussions, we provide participants with the tools and incentives to examine their values and levels of participation in community, politics, and government. Presbyterian Church of the Way is at 3382 North Lexington Avenue in Shoreview, Minnesota (north of Highway 36). The sessions are part of our core program, Empowering U. Heartland Democracy is a non-partisan, secular, public charity. We work with many types of host organizations, from schools to community forums to houses of worship, throughout our region. Let us know if you would like to explore hosting us at your organization by clicking on the Get Involved button on our website.

Sunday, Nov. 1 Forum at 11:15 a.m. in St. Paul

Please join the First Sunday Forum at Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church in St. Paul on Sunday, November 1 at 11:15 a.m.  "Dayton Avenue" welcomes all comers.  Heartland Democracy's Tom Vellenga will introduce our work and plans and lead a discussion on the challenges of winning over new hearts and minds to progressive policies.  Located at the intersection of Mackubin and Dayton Avenues in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood, one block north of Selby, Dayton Avenue Presbyterian Church is a diverse, progressive congregation housed in a historic church designed by the renowned architect Cass Gilbert, architect of Minnesota's State Capitol and many other treasured buildings.