Rural & Urban Bridging for Impact: In-Person Meeting

Minnesota’s communities are experiencing change at a pace and a depth we haven’t experienced before. Our urban and rural communities are increasingly diverse with more people of different racial, ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds living alongside each other. We recognize our lives and livelihoods are deeply interconnected. We believe experiences of “bridging” and “belonging” help to strengthen our connections within and across our communities. This led to the creation of the Rural Urban Bridging for Impact (RUBI) at MCF.

At the September 29 meeting, we will provide updates and discuss RUBI’s long-term vision and the work being done on our primary goals, specifically:

• finding and funding approaches to bridging and belonging that work, and
• telling powerful, compelling stories that shatter preconceived understandings of urban and rural communities, and celebrate our geographies, identities, and cultural histories.

Agenda

10:00 a.m. Welcome, Icebreaker & Team Building

10:30 a.m. Learning from Place: Bridging Through Various Lenses

• Ellen Wolter, Assistant Extension Professor at the University of Minnesota    

• Panel on Political, Cultural, and Economic Bridging

  • Sabrin Ali, Workforce and Partnership Coordinator, Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization (CAIRO)
  • NeTia Baumann, Executive Director, St. Cloud Development Corporation
  • Minnesota State Representative Bernie Perryman

12:00 p.m. Lunch & Large Group Reflections

12:45 p.m. Proposed Actions as a Network

• Framing the Vision

• Bridging & Belonging (creating a new pooled fund)

• Changing the Narrative (PressFoward)

• Synthesis and Call to Action         

2:55 p.m. Wrap Up & Next Steps as a Network

3:00 p.m. Adjourn

RUBI Background

Beginning in mid-2023, MCF convened a group of 19 MCF members as a steering committee to launch the Rural Urban Bridging for Impact (RUBI) initiative to explore philanthropy's role in bridging the rural and urban contexts.

RUBI network events are open to all MCF members who are interested in topics of rural and urban bridging. If you are interested in learning more about the Rural Urban Bridging for Impact network, please check out the RUBI Resources page on the MCF website.