2021 Draft Priorities - Using an overarching diversity, equity and inclusion lens for policy consideration HUMAN CAPITAL Top Priorities: o Improve access to affordable health care, including a MinnesotaCare buy-in and pursuing other pathways to universal coverage. o Improve the economic security of households through successful safety net programs and ensure that pay and benefits for workers provide a route out of poverty. o Increase inves... Read More
Last call for Blastoff registration & prioritizing Blueprint policies! Our second and final Minnesota Equity Blueprint Blastoff is happening next Wednesday, Dec. 16 from 12-1 p.m., so make sure to register if you’d like to provide your input for our 2021-22 legislative agenda! This meeting, which will be over Zoom, will build off the priorities ranked during the first Blastoff and create a masterlist of Blueprint ... Read More
The Minnesota Solution to close the $287 billion racial economic gap One of our partners in the Minnesota Equity Blueprint work, Dr. Bruce Corrie, co-founder of OneMN.org, testified recently at the Minnesota House Select Committee on Racial Justice, presenting The Minnesota Solution, a set of policy recommendations to address the racial economic gaps of the ALANA (African Latino Asian and Native American) comm... Read More
Reflections on Veterans Day & Public Policy Activism In lieu of regular e-news this week, I share some reflections on two related events: Veterans Day and our upcoming MN Equity Blueprint Blast-Off sessions to prioritize a legislative policy agenda for the 2021-22 session (Nov. 18 and Dec. 16, both noon to 1 p.m. via Zoom). These events are related in my heart and mind because of my Dad, Rod Leonard, a Korean War veteran ... Read More
Our MinnPost Op-Ed Points Way to Equitable Recovery Our latest commentary, published this week in MinnPost, describes how the COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the disparities and inequalities we’ve been warning Minnesota about in recent years. The op-ed, headlined “Equity is Rising as an Imperative for Minnesota’s Recovery’’ summarized dozens of major news stories that reveal how racial and re... Read More