Public Policy
Day 2006:
Nonprofits as a Force for Change
Advancing
Public Policies through Advocacy, Organizing, Media
Thursday,
January 26
Overview
of the Conference
Schedule
at a Glance
Policies
and Details
Detailed
Conference Schedule
Public
Allies Awards
Handouts:
Daniel Smith's Policy Thrash Slide Show
Direct Democracy: The Battle over Citizen Lawmaking
Overview
of the Conference
Throughout the
full-day conference, we’ll address strategies for nonprofit
advocacy in the upcoming legislative session. In plenary sessions
and interactive breakout sessions, we’ll engage in dialogue
with advocates and organizers with national and local experience,
legislators, and media representatives.
On this day, nonprofit advocates, policy analysts, lobbyists, board
members, funders, and leaders will come together to get ready for
the 2006 session and beyond with a day to focus on building skills
and understanding key issues.
The plenary
and breakout sessions will emphasize on effective strategies for
advancing your issues through advocacy. By the end of the day, you’ll
be better prepared to advocate for your organization, constituents,
and community.
Who
should attend?
This event is designed for nonprofit advocates, policy analysts,
lobbyists, executives, board members, funders, and leaders –
both experienced and new. There’s something for everyone who
is interested in being a force for change in their organization
and their community through advocacy.
Schedule
at a Glance
8:00
a.m.- Registration Opens
9:00
a.m.- Opening Plenary: Working for the
Democracy and Government We Need and Deserve, Miles Rapoport and
Michael Lipsky, Demos
10:30
a.m.- Morning Breakouts
- Basic Advocacy
and Training
- l Frameworks
and Message Development
- l Immediate
and Long-Term Considerations for Energy Policy and Assistance
in Minnesota
- l Current
Developments in Federal Regulation of Nonprofits
12:00
p.m.-Luncheon and Presentation of the Nonprofit
Allies Awards
1:30
p.m.- Afternoon Breakouts
- l Organizing
to Build Power
- l Connecting
the Dots: Advancing Your Issues Through Civic Participation
- l Starving
the State: The Truth about TABOR
3:00
p.m.- Policy Thrash
How we Govern: Representative vs. Participatory Democracy
4:00
p.m.- Adjourn
Policies
and Details
Date:
Thursday, January 26
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Location: Four Points by Sheraton, 1330 Industrial
Blvd., Minneapolis
Map: For a map to the Four Points by Sheraton,
click
here
Fee: $100 for MCN members/$150 for nonmembers
To Register:
1. Register
online
2. By fax - to register by fax, download and complete the
registration
form (including credit card information) and
fax the form to 651-642-1517
3. By mail - to register by mail, download and complete the
registration
form, include payment (either a check payable
to MCN or credit card information) and mail to: Minnesota Council
of Nonprofits; 2314 University Ave. West, Suite 20; St. Paul; MN;
55114-1068
Registration
Policies
Please register as early as possible to ensure materials and refreshments
are available for all participants. Registrations are accepted via
mail, fax and online. Payment is required at the time of submission.
Fees are not transferable to other MCN events or products. Registrants
who are unable to attend may send a substitute. Refunds are available,
minus a $20 administration fee, if requested in writing by Thursday,
January 19.
Scholarships
A limited number of full and partial scholarships are available.
To apply, send a written request for a scholarship with a completed
registration form to MCN by Thursday, January 19. One scholarship
application per organization, please.
Not a Member Yet?
Join MCN and take advantage of the reduced workshop rate! You can
join at the same time you register by including your organization’s
dues with your registration fee. For other membership benefits and
information, please visit www.mncn.org or call MCN at 651-642-1904
or 800-289-1904. Not sure if you are a member? See a full list of
members at www.mncn.org/mem_links.htm.
Detailed
Schedule
Opening
Plenary Panel: 9
– 10:15 a.m.
Working for the Democracy and Government We Need and
Deserve
We need
and deserve a government capable of providing for the common good,
able to protect us from threats we can’t confront by ourselves,
and able to plan for the future. Yet for more than two decades,
the United States has witnessed an organized assault on the public
perception of government effectiveness and integrity.
Years of denigration and disinvestments have weakened state government’s
capacity to fulfill basic responsibilities and stripped them of
needed public supports, even as expectations of state government
continue to expand. Attacks on the potential of government to respond
to critical social problems also undermine broad and continuing
efforts to fulfill the democratic promises of an engaged, representative
electorate and an electoral system which eliminates participation
barriers.
Miles Rapoport,
President of Demos: A Network for Ideas and Action, and Michael
Lipsky, Senior Program Director of Demos, will address how states
like Minnesota can develop a new vision of state governance that
empowers citizens while restoring respect for public service and
support for government’s protective and supportive capacities.
Morning
Breakouts: 10:30 – 11:45 a.m.
Basic
Skills: Basic Advocacy and Training
Nonprofit advocacy and lobbying are legal and responsible ways to
serve your constituencies. Lobbying laws, planning for advocacy,
and basic advocacy skills will be introduced in this session. This
is a basic workshop for nonprofit staff, volunteers and board members
who are thinking about increasing their capacity to do policy work
at the state Capitol. Definitions of public policy, advocacy, lobbying
and the arenas of influence will be discussed as well as a basic
description of the legislative process and how bills become laws.
An effective example of nonprofit advocacy efforts by an MCN member
organization will be highlighted.
Marcia Avner, Public
Policy Director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Issues:
Immediate and Long-Term Considerations for Energy Policy and
Assistance in Minnesota
In this session, presenters will address the immediate need for
ensuring that Minnesotans have adequate energy assistance in the
winter of 2006. The presenters’ overarching focus will be
on long-term energy policy and ways in which Minnesota can provide
adequate energy resources, maximizing conservation and alternative
sources. Given the immediacy of the issues, this promises to be
a “heated” discussion.
Senator Ellen Anderson,
Minnesota State Senator, District 66; Ron Kroese, Program Officer,
Environment, The McKnight Foundation; and Mike
Noble, Executive Director, Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient
Economy
Advanced
Skills: Frameworks and Message Development
Make your public messages more effective! During this session, the
presenter will introduce exciting research and techniques for how
your organization can better convey messages through advocacy and
education efforts. Participants will gain a basic understanding
of the principles of successful message framing, see real-life examples
of communication successes and failures, and learn how to apply
these to their own communications.
Diane Benjamin,
Director, KIDS COUNT, Children’s Defense Fund of Minnesota
Issues:
Current Developments in Federal Regulation of Nonprofits
The IRS, the Senate Finance Committee, and the House Ways
and Means Committee are all considering changes to regulations governing
nonprofit organizations, responding to various media reports of
political activity, financial impropriety and tax avoidance involving
nonprofit organizations. The National Panel on the Nonprofit Sector
provided extensive input into the legislative process, part of which
was included in Senate Finance Committee pending legislation. This
session will address the outlook for Congressional action as well
as current IRS treatment of lobbying, electioneering, reporting
and disclosure requirements, executive compensation, and other regulatory
issues raised by participants.
Eve Borenstein,
Borenstein and McVeigh Law Office; and Jon
Pratt, Executive Director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Luncheon
and Awards Presentation: noon – 1:15 p.m.
The Minnesota
Council of Nonprofits presents the Public Allies Awards
each year to individuals in public service who have demonstrated
extraordinary work to support the nonprofit sector and the communities
nonprofits serve. This year’s awards, presented by Sarah
Stoesz, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North
Dakota South Dakota, will be presented to:
U.S.
Representative Jim Ramstad for his specific leadership
in opposing restrictions on nonprofits’ ability to conduct
voter registration activities as well as support in protecting and
serving the needs of low-income families, children, seniors, people
with disabilities and others.
State
Senator Dean Johnson for his leadership in holding
the line during the 2005 legislative session against proposed severe
cuts to services upon which people in Minnesota’s communities
depend and for his efforts to make progressive revenue options a
part of the solution.
John
Gunyou and P.
Jay Kiedrowski for their ongoing efforts to engage
and educate the public on fiscal policy issues and for advocating
for fair and responsible ways to raise revenues to fund Minnesota’s
priorities.
Afternoon
Breakouts: 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Basic
Skills: Organizing to Build Power
This session will highlight two examples of true homegrown grassroots
efforts developed by persons experiencing homelessness. A panel
of peer advocacy groups will describe how they organized their own
constituency to become a formidable voice in local and state policy
arenas as well as at the polls. Participants will hear how they
can use basic organizing strategies to result in identifiable policy
successes and how advocacy and direct service organizations can
lend support to members and clients to bring about desired social
change.
This dynamic panel will include representatives from Homeless
Against Homelessness in Minneapolis, staff from St. Stephen’s
Human Services, representatives from the X Committee in St. Paul,
and staff from the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless. The Panel
will be moderated by Jeannie
Fox, Deputy Public Policy Director, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.
Skills:
Connecting the Dots: Advancing Your Issues through Civic Participation
Civic participation is becoming an increasingly important focus
to nonprofits who wish to engage their communities around the issues
that matter most to them. One crucial component of civic participation
is engagement in the electoral process. For nonprofits, the question
becomes how and why to engage citizens in an active and thoughtful
dialogue about politics, who we elect for public office, and why
we elect them. This workshop will address the fundamental connection
between civic participation and the mission of nonprofit organizations.
Participants will leave
this workshop with an understanding of how and why to build voter
engagement into their existing activities, tips for integrating
electoral and voter engagement activities in innovative ways, how
to manage and track your nonprofits relationships, and resources
for maintaining and expanding civic participation work.
Joshua Schenck Winters,
Public Policy Associate, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits; Lindsay
Hanson, Director of Marketing, Grassroots Solutions
Issues:
Starving the State: The Truth about TABOR
The Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) is a constitutional
amendment to limit state spending that has been proposed in the
last few Minnesota legislative sessions. Although support for TABOR
has been slow to develop in Minnesota, advocates concerned about
funding at the state and local levels should be informed about the
serious implications of this amendment. This session will discuss
the national push to pass TABOR amendments in the states, explain
the impact TABOR would have on the quality of life in Minnesota,
and inform participants about opportunities to get involved in the
campaign against TABOR.
Christina Macklin,
Policy Analyst, Minnesota Budget Project, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits;
and Kristina Wilfore, Executive
Director, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, Washington, D.C.
Policy
Thrash: 3:00
a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
How
We Govern: Representative vs. Participatory Democracy
This end-of-the-day Policy Thrash tackles a critical question underlying
many of the discussions we will have had during the conference –
how should we govern? We’ll ask two experts to debate the
tough issues we may see at the legislature next session: What are
the philosophical underpinnings and practical implications of initiative
and referendum? What are the benefits and drawbacks of governing
through constitutional amendments? And, ultimately, can we strike
a balance between representative and participatory democracy?
Debaters: Kristina
Wilfore, Executive Director, Ballot Initiative Strategy Center,
Washington, D.C. (second debater TBA)
Handouts:
Daniel Smith's Policy Thrash Slide Show
Direct Democracy: The Battle over Citizen Lawmaking
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