Community Engagement Sessions: What Did We Learn? What’s Next?

As DEED’s newly appointed Deputy Commissioner of Workforce Development, I started my new leadership role travelling across the state, meeting with people and organizations working to build an economy that works for all Minnesotans.

I believe that leadership starts with listening, that’s why I travelled more than 1,300 miles visiting Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, St. Cloud, Duluth and Detroit Lakes. For many of these stops, it was my first visit. I was amazed by how each corner of our state is working to address their specific workforce challenges.

Community engagement is a two-way exchange of information, ideas and resources. Oftentimes, community engagement meetings offer opportunities for communities to express their views and have a meaningful role and contribution in decision-making.  

My goal was to get a pulse of the priorities of each community, introduce myself, share information about our upcoming competitive grant opportunities and to seek feedback about our grantmaking process, in which we recently announced some meaningful improvements.

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