Nonprofits and funders are finding new ways of working together to achieve greater impact, a survey conducted by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations found. Forging partnerships through authentic communication is crucial to understanding the needs of both grantees and those they serve. Building deeper relationships was the focus of a recent visit between Blandin Foundation trustees […]

In November, Carolyn Olson joined Blandin Foundation as the Administrative Executive Assistant for our CEO, Vice President and Director of Human Resources and Board Services. In this role, she handles correspondence, travel and meeting logistics, and document management. To get to know Carolyn better, we asked her a few fun questions: What can’t you live […]

[pullquote] Leadership Insight Are leaders born or created? “There is a lot of research (and personal witness) that could bend your thinking either way but this is what I believe from working in rural communities throughout Minnesota. They are both – people have personality traits and life experiences that give them the ability to lead. […]

Today we’re joined by Colleena Bibeau, Indian Services Student Advocate and Tutor at Grand Rapids High School. This month she had the opportunity to accompany local students as they traveled to Washington D.C. to see the lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree. Here’s her experience. When I saw the U.S. Capitol holiday tree from Leech […]

Around our office, you often hear – “If you’ve been to one rural community, you’ve been to one rural community.” Understanding that every rural community is unique and has its own challenges and opportunities is central to our work. Sometimes, though, a challenge is so pervasive that it does impact all rural communities. Philanthropy in […]

In today’s Council on Foundations blog post, Blandin Foundation’s Bernadine Joselyn makes the case for philanthropic support for increasing Internet access and use in the U.S. This is work that Blandin Foundation has been doing in rural Minnesota communities since 2003. Through the Minnesota Intelligent Rural Communities project and the current Blandin Broadband Communities program, […]

“Success is a science; if you have the conditions, you get the result.” – Oscar Wilde Rural nonprofits, like any organization, succeed when the conditions are right. So what does it take? Heavy pockets and an army of do-gooders? Not quite. Based on learning from 13 interviews with Blandin Foundation Rural Quick Start grantees (grants up […]

Yesterday more than 160 economic developers, educators, providers, legislators, co-ops, and community leaders came together to tackle the tough issues related to Internet access and use. The day kicked off with an uplifting introduction by Blandin Foundation Director of Public Policy and Development Bernadine Joselyn.

Did you know that 51 million hours of school time is lost each year due to dental illness? That’s a staggering number! “A lot of people don’t realize dental disease is the most common disease in kids and it’s completely preventable,” says Sarah Wovcha, executive director of Children’s Dental Services (CDS), a nonprofit organization dedicated […]

As intricate, iridescent snowflakes start to fall, the smell of pine needles, the sight of twinkling lights, the taste of peppermint treats, and feeling the holiday cheer is palpable. The warmth of family, friends and community envelopes us like a weighty, woven blanket. The magic of the holidays was in full-swing last week when students […]

A recent Lake County News Chronicle story featured a Blandin Community Broadband Program that partnered seniors (older folks) with seniors (from Two Harbors high school) to “help get them online, offering training and support.” Chris Langenbrunner, Community Education Director, said, “We had heartwarming interactions and personalized learning occurring in our media center all night. It […]

Last month MinnCAN spotlighted four rural Minnesota schools in their recent report, Starting Strong: Pre-K through 3rd grade success stories from across Minnesota. Vision, collaboration and leadership were three key elements in each featured school. With alignment as the goal, read how each school rallied their resources to make lasting positive change.

By Tim Marema Here are the words you don’t want to hear at the beginning of rural policy meetings: “Before we get into our topic, let’s take a quick look at how we are going to define rural.” There’s never anything quick about it. Hours later, after the last statistician, artist, organizer, or demographer has […]

In Minnesota, 826,000 jobs, $18.3 billion in wages and 16 percent of our GDP comes from manufacturing. Last week rural communities across Minnesota celebrated Manufacturers Week, “a statewide celebration that puts the spotlight on a crucial sector of the state’s economy.” From Red Wing to Sauk Centre, Bemidji to Pequot Lakes, Warroad to Aitkin, Minnesotans toured […]

First, a staggering statistic: “Eighty-two percent of U.S. counties experienced job losses as a result of the recession.” WOW! But, there’s more… “Some places were hit much harder than others, and some have recovered more rapidly,” says a recent USDA report. Surprisingly, the Plains states in the Midwest seem to have made it out relatively […]

Energized and hopeful, Blandin Foundation staffers Kyle Erickson and Becky LaPlant returned from “Learning and Teaching with Fire: Lessons from Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Tribal Colleges (TCU)” bubbling with new ideas for the future of equitable education in Minnesota. Kyle reflected on his experience in a guest blog for the Minnesota Council on […]

5 seconds. That’s how long your eyes leave the road for every text message you send or receive. Traveling at 55mph, you cover the length of a football field during that time – blindfolded. Scary, right? Now trade that 5 seconds in for 2N2 – 2 Eyes on the Road. 2 Hands on the Wheel. […]

If access to, and use of, high-speed Internet is important to your rural community, consider attending the Border to Border Broadband Conference. Read more about what you will learn below… Earlier this fall, over the course of three weeks, three national organizations working on driving Internet access, adoption and use came to Minnesota for major […]

On the surface, Warroad, Minnesota, seems like countless rural Minnesota places: a small town (population 1,781), near a big lake (Lake of the Woods), in one of the state’s sparsely populated areas (northwestern Minnesota). With vital stats like these, you might assume Warroad is clinging to survival, struggling with a decimated economy and discouraged residents. […]

Common perception holds that millennials no longer value newspapers as a key source for information. Well, as a millennial, I beg to differ and in observation of National Newspaper Week, I would like to thank newspapers for playing a vital role in the health of rural communities. It’s morning. I pad to the front door, swing […]

Hope springs eternal. These uplifting words were spoken by our president, Kathy Annette, in a recent MNSights article. While this message pertained to a specific instance in Kathy’s life, it could be said that MNSights, a publication of the Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, showcases stories that spring eternal hope – stories about energizing kids’ creativity to stimulate […]

With books stacked sky high in the back seat and a trunk that’s bungee corded shut, many young Minnesotans hit the road last month, putt-putting to their futures. The Minnesota Office of Higher Education recently reported that 77 percent of the state’s high school graduates attended college in 2012, up from 56 percent in 1996. At […]

                              Itasca County educators, government, artists, law enforcement, business owners, environmentalists, social services providers and more gathered together on Tuesday to answer the question: What is the future we want to live in to? Participating in three 20-minute conversations, some over-arching […]

A small rural clinic closes. A home buyer chooses to look elsewhere. A teacher can’t teach. While these situations seem unrelated and strangely paired, they all have one common denominator — broadband. Not what you expected? Here’s the skinny behind the stories: The Bigfork, Minnesota clinic, a satellite of Essentia, can’t upload patient files because […]

What kind of conversations need to happen in your community right now? Who would be at the table? Would it be the right people? What do people need to know before they can fully participate in the conversation? How would the conversation start? These are tough questions that are often times overlooked by organizers, but […]

Stories have connecting power. They give us a behind-the-scenes look into people’s lives. They invite us to relate to people on a human level and have the potential to inspire action. That might be why video is expected to be the dominant form of online content by 2017. In today’s Daily Yonder, TechSoup blogger Jim […]

Sometimes innovation springs from the strangest places – like a palace housing over 275,000 ears of intricately designed corn. Mitchell, South Dakota is home to the nation’s only Corn Palace and as Northern Minnesota author Aaron Brown says in his recent Daily Yonder article, While some might only know Mitchell as a tourist trap on […]

Watergate. 9/11. JFK assassination. WWI. WWII. Y2K. What major events shaped the way you view the world? Chances are it depends when you were born. Similarly, the way you communicate was probably influenced by the technological advances that occurred as you were growing up. These influences, along with parenting trends, media, education, location, and general philosophy, shape […]

Colorful, dancing feathered figures and the hum of ancestral melodies filled the room as Fond du Lac (FDL) students arranged themselves in such a way that they created a cornucopia of technology. Brandishing iPads, they celebrated their Ojibwe culture, together with community members, through the creation of mobile applications. Held at the end of July, […]

What does poverty look like to you? For many, it looks like a crumpled-clothed, weathered-looking man holding flimsy cardboard sign with chicken-scratch writing. BUSTED MYTH #1: Not all poverty looks like this! In fact, poverty might look like your next door neighbor, the woman you say hi to in the grocery store or the child with […]

If you threw a dart at a map of the United States, it might get stuck in a canyon in the Southwest, perch on the peak of a prodigious mountain in the Northwest or skim swaying wheat fields of the Midwest. Regardless of where you land, it’s likely to be in rural territory. An astounding 72 […]

Problems do not exist in isolation. They are entwined in complex ecosystems. Changemakers must be mindful of the ecosystem, and whenever possible, put the ecosystem to work for them. Herein lies the roots of effective philanthropy. Bush Foundation President Jen Ford Reedy hit these key points in her recent TEDx talk on ecosystem philanthropy. Her […]

This year, we’ve written quite a bit on the misconceptions surrounding brain drain – the outmigration of young people after high school graduation – in rural communities. Outposts guest blogger Aaron Brown recently discussed brain gain and the promise it holds for the future of healthy rural communities. He started by saying “Our future rests […]

In the Midwest, 41-45 percent of people move throughout their lifetime – but it’s not just people that migrate. So does money. In fact, we know that in the next twenty years, $47.9 billion will transfer from one generation to the next in Minnesota. This could mean big things for small, rural communities. But if […]

Are your volunteer meetings loosing their zest? Have strategic planning sessions got you in a funk? Mix it up! Art of Hosting is a training for all those who aspire to learn how to work with groups in more interactive, engaging and effective ways. Meadowlark Institute is offering a September training, at no cost, to community members […]

For a few years now, Blandin Foundation has been interested in the concept of brain gain and the promise it holds for the future of healthy rural communities. Recently, we were surprised when our broadband partners at Intelligent Community Forum published a book entitled Brain Gain that seemed to echo the brain gain research of […]

Today we welcome Bernadine Joselyn, Director of Public Policy and Engagement, as she reflects her on experience at a cross-cultural event discussing the future of education. Yesterday I had the chance to attend Day One of the “Educating for the 21st Century” forum held at the Carlson School of Business as part of this year’s […]

“Knowing the realities of others around us helps to form stronger communities. The Why Treaties Matter exhibit gives us a better sense of who we’re living among and the land we’re living on.” – David O’Fallon, president of the Minnesota Humanities Center. Take a minute to travel back in time to your history lessons in […]

“Knowing the realities of others around us helps to form stronger communities. The Why Treaties Matter exhibit gives us a better sense of who we’re living among and the land we’re living on.” – David O’Fallon, president of the Minnesota Humanities Center. Take a minute to travel back in time to your history lessons in […]

As the Minnesota River surges south to join the Mississippi River, it dances between the bluffs of Renville and Redwood counties. Standing atop a lush emerald hill, you can see how the swirling stream of water stitches the shores together –connecting the two counties. Beyond the whooshing waters, for years the two counties remained detached, […]

The North Shore is a destination for many Minnesotans who want to unplug from everyday life — figuratively, not literally of course! Even in times of relaxation, we still want to be able to stream our favorite television show, search the address of that delicious cafe, or YouTube a tutorial on how to set the […]

Leaders are at their strongest when they’re connected. We’ve learned, by engaging with our network of over 6,000 leadership alumni, how great things happen when people take the time to share knowledge, expertise and plans. This is especially true for rural nonprofit leaders. Every nonprofit brings a unique understanding of the challenges facing today’s rural […]

Minnesota is blessed with an abundance of awe-inspiring bodies of water, and while we boast about our 10,000 lakes, there is nothing more magnificent than the mighty Mississippi River. Once the nucleus of trade and commerce, the Mississippi River now functions as a beautiful reminder of the health and vitality of our state. To preserve […]

Blandin Foundation trustees approved during their June quarterly meeting 52 grants totaling $4.4 million that strengthen rural Minnesota communities.   Trustees also chose to extend by another 10 years and $21 million the Foundation’s decade-long investment in local early childhood programming for at-risk children and their families through the Invest Early™ initiative. Invest Early braids initiatives […]

In the words of rural Minnesota native Bob Dylan,  times they are a-changin’ at Blandin Foundation. In just a few short months, we’ve said goodbye to cherished, long-time colleagues and we’ve also welcomed new talent. Here’s an update on who’s in rural’s corner at the Blandin Foundation. Mary Kosak retires After 18 years of commitment […]

In a move that brings Minnesota’s largest newspaper back under homegrown ownership, businessman Glen Taylor finalized his purchase of the StarTribune last week. Taylor, who is originally from Comfrey, Minn. (population 382), already has displayed his rural roots, stating that he would like to see the StarTribune increase their statewide coverage. In last Monday’s paper he […]

So you got the grant. Congratulations! After a round of back slaps and high fives, get to work. Fast forward a handful of months and it’s time for a grant report. Let’s be honest, it’s about number 1,398,482 on today’s to-do list, but it’s got to get done. To make the writing process as trouble-free […]

As alumni of the Blandin Community Leadership Programs well know, social capital is a cornerstone of community work. But what does rural Minnesota’s social capital look like on a larger scale? A team of rural Minnesota experts decided to find out. Researchers from the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality along with Jane […]

Ducks migrate for a reason. The Earth spins and triggers their “biological clock,” alerting them that it’s time to go. Global forces shape their movement. Though human and duck migration patterns look very different and are driven by very different forces, according to geographer Jim Russell, one conclusion can be drawn – migration is a […]

Blandin Foundation trustees made history last week when they voted to double-down on early childhood programming for at-risk children and their families. Making its largest grant commitment ever, Blandin Foundation has extended support for the Invest Early initiative by 10 years and $21 million.

“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinem At the 2014 Center for Small Towns Symposium, rural sociologist Randy Cantrell said that, more than anything, people who make the move to rural want to see that their community has a […]

Kids are leaving. Schools are closing. Jobs are being lost. Rural is dying. This is the dominant narrative of rural today. Doom and gloom and more doom. What we aren’t hearing is the rest of the story. Yes, young adults are leaving after they graduate high school, but they’re coming back. Schools are consolidating but […]

Last week, more than 150 rural dwellers drove dozens of miles to the Center on Small Towns Symposium. The topic this year: the rural narrative. The objective: change it! University of Minnesota Extension Researcher Ben Winchester opened with a positive message: people DO want to live in rural communities. Migration patterns show that rural Minnesota […]

If life is like a box of chocolates, is leadership like a delicious pie? Well, let’s think about this…to make a pie you need all the right ingredients, the right equipment and talented people to pull off the recipe. A lot goes into the making of a pie. If all the parts aren’t working in […]

During the next two minutes, one more person in the U.S. will have been sexually assaulted.  In northern Minnesota, sexual violence is as pervasive as it is nationwide. In Itasca County alone, Support Within Reach (SWR) – an organization that serves those impacted by sexual violence in Aitkin, Itasca and, most recently, Beltrami, Cass, Hubbard […]

Atlanta. Pittsburgh. New Orleans. Grand Rapids. These are just a few stops on the 2014 Trampled by Turtles tour. The first three cities reflect a certain pattern – large and metro. Grand Rapids, Minnesota (yes Minnesota, not Michigan), however, is a bit of an outlier. Nestled between white pine forests and clear blue lakes, Grand […]

  The room crackled with energy – it was that electric, with the current carrying creative, innovative ideas about possibilities for the future. Last week, leaders from all corners of Minnesota met at a crossroads called bushConnect. Here, I gathered with new friends and reconnected with old acquaintances to talk about leadership.

Today we welcome Wade Fauth, vice president of the Blandin Foundation. As vice president of the Foundation, Wade is responsible for organizational assessment and planning as well as coordination of the Foundation’s leadership, policy, grants, communications, and information services activities. The Blandin Foundation, like many foundations and nonprofits, is a complex organization that engages in […]

  Blandin Foundation Program Officer Mary Kosak received recognition for her work in early childhood education at  the recent Northeastern Minnesota Early Childhood Summit. Presented by Northland Foundation president Tom Renier, and vice president Lynn Haglin, Mary was honored for her partnership as a champion for young children. Congratulations Mary!

This week more than 600 ninth graders from seven Itasca County schools traded their sneakers in for a comfy set of loafers, putting themselves in the shoes of local business men and women for a day. As part of the Grand Rapids Chamber of Commerce Future Workers program, students were paired with over 57 organizations […]

Today we welcome Tom Sippola, Multi-Media Leadership Assistant at Blandin Foundation. For over 25 years the Blandin Foundation has worked with rural leaders across the state of Minnesota to help build and sustain healthy communities. With over 6,000 Blandin Community Leadership Program (BCLP) alumni, nearly 500 Blandin Reservation Community Leadership Program (BRCLP) alumni, and countless community […]

What if you had to drive an hour to turn in a homework assignment. Would you make the trip? Maybe, maybe not. It’s a lose-lose situation really. You either miss out on time to do other things, like other homework or extra-curricular activities, or you risk getting a zero on an assignment. Imagine having make […]

Today we welcome Dane Smith, president of Growth & Justice, a research an advocacy organization that develops innovative public policy proposals based on independent research and civic engagement. For Minnesotans with roots  in country life or smaller towns,  there are certain treasured historic images that reflect the values and advantages of rural communities:  the communal […]

Dear Mr. Future Boss, Thx 4 the email. im excited for this gr8 opportunity and can’t wait 2 meet u. TTYL. Sincerely, Today’s Youth Lower case i, numbers in place of words (4/for), and unidentified acronyms (TTYL) – these are only a few of the common grammar gaffes found in emails from today’s youth. Teens […]

“It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place.” – Andrew Carnegie In a December 2013 Wall Street Journal article, philanthropy scholar Lucy Bernholz offers big data as an to answer Carnegie’s implied question: how can we be intentional, and intelligent, when awarding grants? But what is […]

In a recent Star Tribune editorial, Growth & Justice president Dane Smith challenges us to think about how we perceive competitiveness. He argues that the focus has been narrow for far too long, emphasizing “cheap labor and lower taxes.” Smith says that, instead, competitiveness  should be defined by what is done to increase human potential. […]

Through our work, we want to inspire rural communities to claim their futures by reaching out into the world of possibilities and grabbing the solution to their community challenge. Last week, Blandin Foundation trustees approved 93 grants, totaling $3.4 million, to leaders who are doing just that kind of work. Some examples of the work […]

During their spring meeting March 20 and 21, Blandin Foundation trustees voted to extend the organization’s decade of work in rural broadband another two years (through 2016) and allocate $1.5 million more for community broadband grants. “We see every day what local leaders can do to address very significant and complex challenges,” said Dr. Kathleen […]

Invest Early is in its ninth year of providing wrap-around early childhood services for Itasca County children and their families. They recently released their Year 7 results in a report compiled by Wilder Research. Highlights include: Home learning environments, which are associated with higher school readiness scores, improved significantly for Invest Early families during their […]

Blandin Foundation seeks a full-time Grants Program Officer. Candidates should have: passion for vibrant rural Minnesota communities engagement in inclusive community leadership, desire to work toward helping communities catalyze their ability to expand opportunity for all of its residents. knowledge of education systems and/or economic and community development practices. demonstrated skills in financial and grant […]

In one week, the World Wide Web will turn 25, and boy does it have a lot to celebrate! From 1995 – 2014, the number of Americans who use the internet has shot up from 14 to 87 percent. That’s huge!

In recognition of the Web’s 25th birthday, Pew Research Internet Project released a new report looking at the rapid growth of the internet and how it has impacted the “way people get, share, and create news; the way they take care of their health; the way they learn; the nature of their political activity; their interactions with government; the style and scope of their communications with friends and family; and the way they organize in communities.”

Here are a few noteworthy findings:

More than 10,000 rural Minnesota middle and high schoolers are celebrating National FFA Week this week, with activities that range from meeting with government officials to hosting community meals and the Jackson County area’s annual barnyard for kids. FFA may be more familiar by its former name – Future Farmers of America – but FFA’s […]

When Pipestone community leaders rallied together to apply for the Blandin Community Leadership Program (BCLP), one thing stood in their way – 318 miles of pavement. “When we talked about the expense of it because of the distance (BCLP retreats are held in Grand Rapids, Minn.), we weren’t sure if we could pull it off,” […]

The Editors & Publishers Program was founded in 2005 and modeled after the Blandin Community Leadership Program. It is a program of the Minnesota Newspaper Foundation, supported in part through Blandin Foundation grants. More than 65 editor-publisher teams have gone through the program and have emerged with a deeper understanding of how to build social […]

Dancing taste buds and a singing server – this year’s Second Harvest North Central Food Bank Chef’s Gala surprised all the senses. The annual benefit to raise money for hunger relief in northern Minnesota featured our own Sonja Merrild as a celebrity server. As part of the event’s entertainment, celebrity servers were auctioned off to […]

If you were asked to give $1 and, in return, you would receive $10, would you do it? Before you opened up your pocketbook, you’d probably gauge whether or not you trusted the possibility of return on your investment. Is the risk worth the reward? Much the same, broadband investments were akin to a game […]

Buzz continues to build for next week’s Border to Border Broadband Conference. With Senator Matt Schmit’s Listening Tour wrapping, rural Minnesotans have broadband on the brain. On top of that, today Blandin Foundation announced their latest round of broadband grants. Projects like GIS mapping of broadband availability in Mille Lacs County, equipping a tele-work center […]

Invest in people. That was the pervasive message at yesterday’s Economic Competitiveness Summit held by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. As the number of retirement-ready folks climbs, Minnesota’s workforce will struggle to replenish itself if we’re not investing in the skills and knowledge of our young people. At the Summit, Blandin Foundation […]

Looking for a job? Go to the Internet. Setting up an e-commerce site for your business? Better be connected to the Internet. Want to tele-commute? You guessed it, you need the Internet. At the risk of sounding repetitive, it’s clear that broadband infrastructure is a necessary tool in toolbox of today’s economic developer. Competitive rural […]

What are your dreams for your future? Doctor or engineer? Filmmaker, gamer, salon owner? Plumber? Millwright? Whatever your dream, Blandin Foundation believes in your success. Success, though, is a product of hard work and perseverance. Blandin Foundation gives Education Grants — $1,000 to $4,000 each year — so you can get the training you need […]

You’ve heard it before, the routine interview question: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” As you think about that question today, if the title “college graduate” is bouncing around in your head, then listen up! This is for you! Whether you’re just about to graduate or took a few years off to work, […]