As I read Lori Sturdevant’s comments about Minnesota statesman Elmer Andersen in the Strib yesterday, I was reminded of the conversation about public policy that the MCF Board had with her last week.
At the board’s June meeting, Sturdevant challenged the philanthropic community to step up: Foundations can and should play a significant, substantive role in raising the level of public discourse in our community . . . and leading Minnesota out of the mess we’re in.
But, at an association like MCF, active public policy engagement presents some challenges. We represent members who fall on both ends of the political spectrum — and everywhere in between, so partisan activity is a no-no.
That doesn’t mean, though, that we can shrug our shoulders and walk away. We — collectively and individually — can turn the challenges into opportunities. (As I heard The Minneapolis Foundation’s Sandy Vargas say recently, “No excuses!”) MCF can give our members the tools they need to make their individual voices heard and fully engage on the issues they care about most.
A recent example of member engagement was the publishing this spring of the Minnesota Bottom Line report, which offered up some innovative ways to get better results from government dollars spent. Several major local foundations funded and led that initiative, in hopes of reframing state budget discussions during this and future legislative sessions.
Although the report has not received the play that some hoped, Sturdevant complimented the effort, citing it as an example of ways to advance ideas collaboratively and to engage the larger citizenry in these complicated budget decisions.
MCF is starting to do more public policy work these days, too. Our Humphrey Institute fellow compiled new public policy resources on the web, and we recently hosted a forum for members with speaker David Dodson of MDC (more on that to come in a future post).
I imagine Elmer Andersen would approve of the steps we’re taking, but he would also spur us to pick up the pace. In her column yesterday Sturdevant noted Andersen’s many roles — entrepreneur, lawmaker, journalist, farmer, etc. In addition, he was a dedicated philanthropist, and the foundation established by him and his wife, Eleanor, continues as an MCF member.
Sturdevant concluded that Andersen’s true legacy was his stewardship of “the whole.” Let’s hope his fellow philanthropists follow his fine example.
- Wendy Wehr, MCF V.P. of Communications and Information Services
