National Conference to Feature Community Successes to Reduce Poverty- And Create Prosperity - Long Term
St. Paul, Minn., June 14, 2006 – “News stories immediately following Hurricane Katrina tended to focus on a few themes: that government turns a blind eye to people who are poor, that poverty and race are closely linked, and that communities appear passive in the face of entrenched poverty,” said Karl Stauber, president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation. “Over the last several months, the people of New Orleans have shown us their struggles, resilience and strength, but we believe the story is really bigger,” said Stauber. “The facts are that poverty is pervasive throughout America, but that there is also hope and action. Communities are showing us they can, and they are, working to reduce poverty long term,” said Stauber. “We are committed to gathering lessons learned from these communities and organizations – the proven, practical strategies and tools – and sharing them with others.”
This fall, the Northwest Area Foundation will host its second national conference to do just that. Grassroots & Groundwork: What Communities are Doing to Get Out and Stay Out of Poverty will be held Sept. 16-19, 2006, at the Crowne Plaza Riverfront Hotel, St. Paul, Minnesota. Its purpose is to provide a place for attendees to examine tested models – the work communities are doing, and the successes they are achieving, to reduce poverty long term.
The event kicks of with a new half-day Community-Building Institute offering two workshops: Building Economic Engines and Opportunities; and, Building Community Capacity to Design, Lead and Implement Lasting Change. The conference will showcase 20 break-out sessions presented by community members from rural, urban and American Indian communities from Bangor, Maine to Bothell, Washington, and from St. Paul, Minnesota to San Juan, Texas.
Keynote speakers will include former Labor Secretary Robert Reich; Beth Shulman, author of The Betrayal of Work: How Low Wage Jobs Fail 30 Million Americans; Elouise Cobell, member of the Blackfeet Indian Tribe of Montana, executive director of the Native American Community Development Corporation, and widely recognized for her work on the Individual Indian Monies Trust Correction and Recovery Act; and Dr. Mae Jamison, our nation’s first African-American woman astronaut.
The event is designed to promote networking. Five hundred people traveled from 30+ states and four countries to attend the first conference in 2004, and gave the event high marks for relevance, interest, and practical approaches that cut across sectors and silos. Attendees included community members and organizers, civic and business leaders, policy makers, foundation and nonprofit management and staff, educators and researchers, and community organizers.
Go to www.grassrootsandgroundwork.nwaf.org for conference details and to register online. Early-bird registration is available until June 30th. A special hotel rate of $115/night is available only until August 17th.
The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to helping communities reduce poverty for the long term. The Foundation works on strategic efforts with a small number of rural, urban, and American Indian reservation communities, and the organizations supporting these efforts, in its eight-state region: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill established the foundation.
Since 1999, the Foundation has invested approximately $150 million in community-based poverty-reduction programs. It expects to invest at least an additional $50 million within the next three years. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests. For additional information, visit www.nwaf.org, or call 651-224-9635.
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