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October 25, 2004
Viewpoint Details
My October Viewpoint points you here to get more information on the specific weblogs ("blogs") that inspired this column. Here are some links -- and keep in mind that they reflect the partisan/ideological nature of the evening:
* I was invited by David Strom to join folks at his house. Here's a link to he and his wife's blog, and the specific reference to the weblogging party during the 2nd Presidential debate. The post also links to the blogs maintained by the folks who were there at the party.
* For a more ideologically diverse and extensive list of blogs, the Star Tribune maintains and updates a great list, which can be found here.
Posted by Sean Kershaw at 03:42 PM | TrackBack
Elections for Citizens League Board
Elections for the Citizens League Board will be held at our upcoming annual meeting on November 17th. We have a terrific slate of nominees -- please click on the link below for their biographies.
Andy Brown*, Dorsey & Whitney LLP.
Carl “Buzz” Cummins*, Workers' Compensation Reinsurance Association.
Steve Dornfeld, Metropolitan Council.
Tanessa Greene, private consultant.
Thomas F. Horner*, Himle Horner Inc.
Kevin Janicki*, Goldsmith Agio Helms.
Mary Pickard*, St. Paul Travelers.
Jack Uldrich, The NanoVeritas Group.
Rebecca Wallin, Wallin Scholarship Program.
* indicates returning board member.
Andy Brown* is an attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, focusing on environmental law. He is the former chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Environment and Natural Resources Section. Mr. Brown served on the Citizens League Board of Directors from 1996-2002 and a one-year term in 2004. In 2002, he co-chaired the Citizens League Study Committee on Electricity Reliability for Minnesota. Mr. Brown currently serves as a director of the Minnesota Environmental Initiative. Mr. Brown studied history at Stanford University, received his law degree from Duke University, and received his masters degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Carl “Buzz” Cummins* is president of the Workers' Compensation Reinsurance Association. He is a past-president of the Citizens League, has served several terms on the League's Board of Directors, and has chaired a number of League studies. He most recently served as a member of the League's Higher Education Study Commission.
Steve Dornfeld is the Director of Public Affairs at the Metropolitan Council. Before joining the Met Council, Mr. Dornfeld spent more than 20 years at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the last dozen on the opinion pages as a writer, columnist and editor. Previously, Mr. Dornfeld worked for 10 years as a state Capitol and political reporter for the Minneapolis Tribune. Mr. Dornfeld earned a bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota and later held a mid-career fellowship at the University of Michigan. He is a past national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a past president of the Minnesota News Council and a board member of the St. Paul chapter of the American Red Cross. Mr. Dornfeld lives in Woodbury.
Tanessa Greene is an independent consultant providing management and technical assistance to Twin Cities nonprofits. Ms. Greene has served as Executive Director of Minneapolis Way to Grow, Operations and Program Director at Pilot City Neighborhood Services and held management positions at PCS Health Systems, Ernst & Young, General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) and Opus Northwest Management. Ms. Greene has established a track record as a visionary leader and strategist. She is known for her ability to quickly identify and diagnose growth impediments and develop successful turnaround strategies that improve services, cost efficiency and organizational capacity. She serves on the Board of Directors at Ascension Academy, a college prep high school in Minneapolis, and as an Advisory Board member to NdCAD, a literacy program that targets underserved children of color.
Thomas F. Horner* is president of Himle Horner Inc., a Minnesota-based public relations/public affairs firm. Previously, he was vice president and general manager in the Minnesota office of Hill and Knowlton and served as Chief of Staff to former U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger. Mr. Horner was managing editor of Sun Newspapers, Inc., where he supervised the editorial content and production of 16 suburban newspapers. He is a native of Minneapolis and a graduate of the University of St. Thomas. He teaches courses in corporate communications and public affairs at the University of St. Thomas and is a regular commentator for Minnesota Public Radio and other news media. Mr. Horner has served on the Citizens League board since 2003 and is a member of the board of the Minnesota Commission on National and Community Service. He also serves on the Premack Board and the board of the Children’s Theatre Company.
Kevin Janicki* is a senior associate with the investment banking firm Goldsmith Agio Helms. Mr. Janicki earned a bachelors degree in economics and government from the University of Notre Dame and a masters degree in public policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has served on the Citizens League board since 2003. Mr. Janicki was raised in Burlington, Connecticut and now resides in Hugo with his wife, two daughters and brand-new baby boy (born 10/8/04).
Mary Pickard* is president of the St. Paul Travelers Foundation, where she is responsible for the overall leadership and management of the company’s community and civic affairs. Pickard earned her B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Minnesota and worked as a newspaper reporter before joining St. Paul Travelers. Ms. Pickard serves on the Local Advisory Committee for the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, The Saint Paul Foundation’s Anti-Racism Task Force, the advisory committee for the School of Human Ecology at the University of Minnesota, and the capital campaign committee for Chicanos Latinos Unidos en Servicio. In addition, Pickard has served on the national board of the Council on Foundations and chaired the Minnesota Council’s Board of Directors. Pickard lives with her family in St. Paul.
Jack Uldrich is the president of The NanoVeritas Group, an international leadership and technology consultancy that focuses on helping organizations navigate through technological change. Uldrich is the author of The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business and Into the Unknown: Leadership Lessons from Lewis and Clark’s Daring Westward Adventure. He is a former naval intelligence officer and Defense Department official and served as the Deputy Director of the Minnesota Office of Strategic and Long Range Planning under Governor Jesse Ventura. From 2001-2003, Uldrich served as the chair of the Independence Party of Minnesota. He is a graduate of Drake University, received his MA from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota and lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Cindy, and their two children, Meghan and Sean.
Rebecca Wallin is the Director of the Wallin Scholarship Program, which provides college scholarships to Minneapolis Public Schools students with financial need. Rebecca holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University, an M.B.A. from The Wharton School, and an A.B. in History from Brown University. She has teaching and research experience at the college level in topics relating to work and occupations, education, and social stratification. She also has corporate business experience in staffing, compensation, and employee relations at Wells Fargo, Sprint, and Pepsico. She and her husband have three children and are the oldest parents they know.
Posted by Victoria Ford at 12:22 PM | TrackBack
October 24, 2004
Battleground Minnesota
Here are the quick links to more information on this project (and our recent press).
* Here's Battleground Minnesota's home page.
* Here's a link to the TPT Almanac feature on it last Friday.
More broadcast times:
Sunday, October 31, 5:30PM on TPT2
and again that same day:
Sunday, October 31, 11:00PM on 45 (ABC Family)
This election may very well be decided by the turnout from the star of this show, Chris Johnson's, 18-25 year old cohort. They are the least likely to participate, but will be the largest group of voters within 10 years!
It was a blast to be a small part of this effort, but the real credit goes to Chris Johnson (the star), Arjan Schutte (the Executive Producer), Gabriel Cheifetz (the Producer), and the lead sponsors (Target Corporation, Phillips Family Foundation).
Posted by Sean Kershaw at 05:58 AM | TrackBack
October 23, 2004
Mind Opener with Tom Gillaspy Airing in New Areas
The Tom Gillaspy Mind Opener is now playing on Northern Suburbs Community TV on Channel 14 for those of you who missed the event. This airing includes the cities of Arden Hills, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Little Canada, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, St. Anthony and Shoreview. It will air on Sunday, October 24 at 9:00 p.m and on Tuesday, October 26 at 4:00 p.m.
The Mind Opener will also play on Suburban Community Channels, which serves the cities of Birchwood, Dellwood, Grant, Lake Elmo, Mahtomedi, Maplewood, North St. Paul, Oakdale, Vadnais Heights, White Bear Lake, White Bear Township and Willernie on Wednesday, October 27 at 11:00 p.m.
Many other cable stations across the state have a copy of the program and play it at unscheduled times, including:
--Rochester Public Access, which will run it every Tuesday and Thursday at 5 p.m. through October
--The Minneapolis Television Network
--Duluth Public Access Community Television
--St. Paul Neighborhood Network
--The Northwest Community Television, which serves the cities of Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth and Robbinsdale.
Posted by Bob DeBoer at 02:46 PM | TrackBack
October 15, 2004
Couldn't make the race & public policy mind-blower? Join the conversation online!
We want to continue the important dialogue on race and public policy that we began in June with Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels, so we set up an online forum to do just that. Click here to join the conversation.
Posted by Victoria Ford at 03:03 PM | TrackBack
Facts Unfiltered on twincities.com
The Facts Unfiltered project made the front page of the St. Paul Pioneer Press again!
Click here to check out the five-week series in the Pioneer Press: education, health care, the economy, the environment, and global affairs.
Here's a link to the TPT coverage. Sean Kershaw was on Almanac last Friday with a brief wrap-up for the series. Here's a link.
Facts Unfiltered is a joint project of the Citizens League, the Pioneer Press and TPT. Weekly reports in the Pioneer Press and on TPT's public affairs show, Almanac, highlight key pieces of information that voters need for the fall election.
Almanac's September 10th introduction to the effort can be found here.