Creative Leadership : Featured Stories
Brendan Crain Wednesday, February 13, 2013
"Placemaking" is a powerful buzzword in 21st-century urbanism. Do we know what it actually means and whom it's supposed to serve? For Brendan Crain of New York's Project for Public Spaces, the idea that it's all about attracting talent to town and building the new economy is wrongheaded. Placemaking, Crain insists, should be rooted in the immediate needs of the people who already live here.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The bars and restaurants in this uber-trendy corner of downtown Minneapolis draw national attention. Meanwhile, developers, community groups, and residents are turning the surrounding neighborhood into a pleasantly dense, lively, and livable urban village.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 23, 2013
For executive-search professional Lars Leafblad, recently named head of the Bush Foundation's leadership program, the top-down leadership paradigm is dying. Despite political gridlock, a new ethic of connectivity, consensus, and compromise is struggling to be born--and he has some ideas on how we can all help it happen.
Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Despite some women-led startups, high tech here, as elsewhere, is still more or less drowning in testosterone. But some strong local initiatives are pointing the way toward more opportunities for women to get their geek on.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, January 16, 2013
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: Thanks to the cooks-with-a-conscience at Eat for Equity, you've got a chance to share a meal, and a cause, with famed activist (and Green Party vice-presidential candidate) Winona La Duke.
Jay Walljasper Wednesday, January 16, 2013
A pair of determined nonprofits, Minneapolis' Urban Homeworks and Dayton’s Bluff Neighborhood Housing Services in Saint Paul, begin by fixing up damaged, foreclosed, and derelict houses--and then go on to help strengthen the surrounding neighborhoods in many other ways.
Julie Kendrick Wednesday, January 09, 2013
As a college student, Emily Torgrimson wanted to help with Hurricane Katrina relief. She cooked dinner for friends and collected donations. Seven years later, she's got a national nonprofit on her hands, with coverage on the Today show and plans for a nationwide trailer tour.
Anna Pratt Wednesday, December 19, 2012
What is an art gallery? What should it do, not just for the artists it shows and the patrons who view and buy the art, but for the community as a whole? These are some of the questions Tricia Khutoretsky and her colleagues are asking as they prepare to debut a new, and rather oddly named, art space in Northeast Minneapolis.
Jay Walljasper Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Jay Walljasper checks in with British urbanist Charles Landry, who recaps his experience touring the Twin Cities, meeting a wide array of local urban changemakers, and applying his principles of city vitality to our reality. And Landry draws some conclusions about how our towns can thrive in the coming decades.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, December 12, 2012
In this first of an occasional series of interviews with young movers and shakers in the Twin Cities, we talk with John Larsen, an architect whose personal giving, and family foundation, support deeply held personal values rooted in personal experiences. For Larsen, philanthropy needs to explore options beyond writing checks--like new partnerships with government.
Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Saint Paul's WomenVenture helps woman-run startups get off the ground with a potent mix of feminist spirit, microlending, and business incubation. But as its clients testify, it's the group's commitment to ongoing support that sets it apart.
Tom Niemisto, MN 2020 Wednesday, December 05, 2012
The Theater of Public Policy, cofounded by the improbably named improv guy Tane Danger, uses comedy to probe public issues. Call it improvisational democracy, with real situations, serious intentions, and plenty of laughs.
Elizabeth Millard Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The education innovators behind this charter school are hoping to create a 21st-century fusion of classroom and digital space, where kids' fascination with technology helps them learn--at their own pace.
Jon Spayde Wednesday, November 28, 2012
In A Line or Two, I share some of my enthusiasms and discoveries as I make my way around the Twin Cities. Call it an editor's note as blog entry. This week: a venturesome group of artists and poets have created a pop-up gallery in a vacant storefront at 38th and Chicago. This weekend, you're invited to join the Joyface Poetry and Arts Collective as they fill the space with experimental beauty--and plan the future of their project.
Michelle Bruch Wednesday, November 14, 2012
He's an up-and-coming rapper who divides his time between Ghana and the Twin Cities. She's a globetrotting business consultant who trained as a classical musician and an engineer. Together they created Giant Steps, a sort of Startup Weekend for creative types. The idea: business and art can (and should) find common ground.