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Registration Opens for Grassroots and Groundwork Conference

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Conference spotlights opportunities for prosperity for low-income families.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (February 15, 2012) The latest in job training, access to financial services, building rural economies, shaping public policy, and developing youth leaders will be the focus of a national conference sharing new and proven prosperity-building models. Grassroots & Groundwork: Working Together to Reduce Poverty and Build Prosperity will take place June 6 – 8, 2012 at Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in suburban Minneapolis, Minn. The conference features:
• Thirty break-out sessions that highlight emerging wealth creation, public policy, and leadership models.
• A chance to experience emerging asset-building work through site visits.
• Networking opportunities.
• Two half-day Community Builder Institute workshops on creating food processing businesses and promoting nonprofit advocacy.
• Keynote speakers who will be announced shortly.

“We believe all communities can prosper,” said Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation, conference sponsor. “We’re learning that every community – including those that are struggling and have deep needs – bring important ideas and energy to efforts that help people get out and stay out of poverty. This conference invites attendees to examine and share what’s working to build sustainable prosperity in all types of communities.”

Held every other year, this fifth national conference will be on Native American lands for the first time.

“Native communities are a vital part of the economic, social and cultural fabric of our region,” said Walker. “The cultural values, ideas and perspective they bring to anti-poverty work is opening our eyes to approaches that may benefit everyone.”

What past attendees have said about Grassroots & Groundwork:

“I’ve come from this conference with some ideas about projects that are successful in other communities, and I can share those very specific examples,” said Julie Keown-Bomar, a family living educator from the University of Wisconsin Extension service.

“The opportunity to address policies as they impact not only local communities, but at the state and national level in a coordinated fashion is unbelievable,” said Elona Street-Stewart, a policy maker in St. Paul, Minn.

Online registration with special early-bird rates is now open. A limited number of conference scholarships will be available.

For more information, visit www.grassrootsandgroundwork.org. To hear past attendees’ comments, listen to our podcast from Grassroots and Groundwork: Seizing Opportunities to Reduce Poverty and Build Community Prosperity, held May 2010 in Portland, Ore.

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to supporting efforts by people, organizations and communities to reduce poverty and achieve sustainable prosperity. The Foundation’s service region includes urban, rural and American Indian reservation communities in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. The Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill, served these states. Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill, established the Foundation in 1934. For more information, please visit www.nwaf.org.