Sean Kershaw's Weblog
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October 30, 2006
Honoring our Honorees: Ben Cox
As I said in my introduction, staff were thrilled to honor Ben Cox for his work. He truly exemplifies our mission and (we hope) our attitude!
From Ben:
I can still remember clearly the first time I encountered the Citizen's League. I was at the first Policy and a Pint event, which featured Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page. I had found out about the event on MPR, but had never heard of the Citizen's League until a tall man with curly hair and a most distinctive set of eyeglasses introduced himself and welcomed me to the event. Sean handed me a brochure and invited me to come to one of the policy breakfasts. The topic sounded interesting, so I decided to attend. The Policy and a Pint event stimulated my interest in becoming involved in the Citizen's League, but it was the collaborative and constructive dialogue taking place across party and idealogical lines that convinced me that the Citizen's League was vitally important to Minnesota's future.
The Civic Leadership award came as a great surprise to me. I can't articulate how great an honor it is to be recognized along with a pillar of policymaking like Tom Swain, and a vital institution like the Jane Addams School of Democracy. I just showed up and spoke up. However, maybe civic leadership is no more complicated than that - we need to bring people to the table and give them a chance to speak. I am very grateful to the Citizen's League staff; Sean Kershaw, Ann Kirby-McGill, Victoria Ford, Bob DeBoer, Annie Levenson-Falk, and Brian Bell each deserve an award for their hard work in strengthening the voice of the Citizen's League.
But the voice of the Citizen's League needs to be strengthened further. We all need to reach out to those around us - invite a colleague to a policy breakfast, or take your children and their friends to a Policy and a Pint. I know that by bringing more voices to the discussion, and thus growing our own civic capacity, we can build a better Minnesota. (You betcha!)
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From us: If you've attended any Citizens League event in the past year, you've seen Ben Cox. Our partners at Minnesota Public Radio have begun to refer to him as our "plant." He never fails to miss a chance to make a pitch for membership. Is it any wonder we want to honor him?
In addition to attending events, Ben has helped us out every time we've asked, participating in programming and membership discussions. In fact, he had a fair bit to do with shaping this year's annual meeting.
The oldest of nine children with politically involved parents, Ben was raised and home-educated in Des Moines, Iowa. A lifelong, self-described current events and policy junkie, Ben is committing his time and energy to the Citizens League because he says he's found a place where a "constructive and collaborative environment exists and you can actually create a dialog that will make a difference."
A graduate of Grace University, Ben's background in broadcast journalism and theatrical lighting have led him to his work with SECOA. Ben and his wife, Sasha, live in Cologne, MN and brought their very first civic leader into the world when Creighton was born on July 30.
We're recognizing Ben this year because we see great promise in his future as a policymaker and civic leader for Minnesota.
Posted by Sean Kershaw at October 30, 2006 8:41 AM