The power of community leadership took center stage in President Obama’s preview of his appearance yesterday in Cedar Falls, IA, where he talked about his plan to increase access to affordable, high-speed broadband in rural and urban communities across the country. The President featured Cedar Falls, or Iowa’s first “Gigabit City,” in the preview, comparing […]

The average rural Minnesotan currently wears six (and often more!) leadership hats and as the rural population ages, the leadership demand is only increasing. Leadership capacity is maxed out, said University of Minnesota Extension sociologist Ben Winchester during a fall 2014 webinar. With demand increasing faster than supply, it’s important to understand, and plan, for […]

[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. […]

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, […]

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]