The Funders Collaborative creates and promotes opportunities for learning so decisions affecting the Central Corridor are well informed and far-sighted. We accomplish this by creating shared learning experiences, supporting and highlighting research, and promoting learning from experiences and experts in other communities.
We fund learning opportunities for community partnerships in Minnesota, but also share with funders in other regions what we learn here from developing new strategies, initiatives and public policy for the Central Corridor.
SHARED LEARNING EXPERIENCES
WORKFORCE DIVERSITY LEARNING SESSION
On January 21, the Funders Collaborative hosted Bruce Watts, Senior Director of Diversity and Transit Equity at Tri-Met, the transit authority for Portland, Oregon and Wanda Kirkpatrick, Director, Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity, at the Metropolitan Council to describe their agency’s approaches to increasing DBE participation and workforce diversity on transit construction projects. The event, building off of a Metropolitan Council retreat on the same topic held the day before, attracted more than 35 attendees, representing workforce training providers, the unions, local government, and DBE consultants, and others.
Read more on our news page about this important workforce diversity learning session. Or, download the presentations from keynote speakers under our Experiences & Experts sidebar on this page.
RAIL-VOLUTION
The Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, with support from the Funders Collaborative, has awarded 25 full scholarships to the nation's preeminent transportation and land use conference, Rail~Volution 2009. The scholarship recipients represent a broad cross-section of individuals from the Twin Cities who are interested in helping neighborhoods benefit from the Central Corridor Light Rail Line. See the full list here. For more information on the scholarship program, please contact Diana Williams, dmewilliams@hotmail.com or (510) 872-5551 at the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities.
COMMUNITY COMPACT
The Funders Collaborative, along with many other Central Corridor stakeholders, shares an interest in the idea that a public agreement tool could align as many stakeholders as possible around commonly held goals, promote action toward those goals, and create accountability for achieving them. We believe that a community compact might be one model for just such a tool.
To explore this idea, the Funders Collaborative has held three meetings with local community representatives and elected officials. The first meeting was held February 6, 2009 (agenda, presentation, and minutes), the March 13, 2009 (agenda and minutes), and the third meeting June 26, 2009 (agenda and minutes). Interest in this idea has been high, and, picking up from the definitions developed in these Exploration Conversations, stakeholders are considering the next steps needed to create a widely agreed upon community agreement.
