2007-08 Common Grounds Members

Congratulations and welcome to the 2007-08 participants in Common Grounds!

Carlson School of Management:
Katy Sullivan
Chris Kindler
Ben Schein
Dan Kaskubar
Erin Hubbard
Anil Asrani
James Kahl
Vijay Nangia
Holly Kellar
Ryan Breisach
Elizabeth Neils
Jennifer Frenzel

Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs:
Graham Arntzen
Lily Moua
Kate Kingery
Santiago Merea
Sue Halverson
Samantha Evans
Carly Waldon
Naima Bashir
Mahri Monson
Ben Marcy
Julie Warner
Wendy Wustenberg

U of MN Law School:
Kate Dyson
Camille Beshera
Yaffa Epstein
Justin Grensing
Sara Bergan
Barbara Wold
Britta Orr
Venroa Hung
Stephanie Travis
Josh Kenny
Mark Torma
James McClean

Anna Lloyd - inaugural 2007-08 speaker

We are pleased to welcome Anna Lloyd, executive director of the U of MN' s Center for Integrative Leadership, as our first speaker on October 29.

Her biography is below:

Anna Lloyd manages all of the center’s non-academic activities and supporting the center’s academic activities. She supports the efforts of the center’s two academic co-directors and is guided by 20 steering committee members from throughout the University of Minnesota.

As president of TheLloydGroup, a Chicago-based consulting and training organization for non-profit organizations, Lloyd has spent a decade specializing in board governance and working with such clients as the Ignatia Foundation and City of Chicago Green Campaign.

Lloyd previously was president and executive director of The Committee of 200 (C200), a professional organization of pre-eminent businesswomen that promotes entrepreneurship and corporate leadership among women. Lloyd also led her own public affairs firm that specialized in public-private sector partnerships.

Lloyd has served in a variety of leadership roles for a number of nonprofit organizations, including Ms. Foundation for Women, The New York Aids Coalition, the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, and many others.

She also served on the advisory board of the Center for Women and Aging, Brandeis University. Lloyd holds a master’s degree in urban affairs and public policy from Hunter College in New York City and a bachelor’s degree in urban affairs from Boston University.

Deadline extension and first speaker of the year...

In the last week, Common Grounds has made a number of changes to its application and meeting schedule in order to accommodate the busy schedules of law, business and policy students and Common Grounds' guest speakers.

The good news is that we've pushed our application deadline back a week! That gives you even more time to procrastinate! Also, please note the date change of our first official meeting, etc.

Specifically, the schedule changes are:

* Common Grounds is extending its deadline for applications until Thursday, October 11 at 7:00, not October 4 as originally scheduled.

* The first Common Grounds meeting will be held Monday, October 29 from 7:30 to 9:00 in the morning, not October 22 as originally planned.

* Common Grounds meetings will be held on one of the last two Mondays of each month, not the last Monday of the month as originally planned.

Our first speaker this year is Anna Lloyd, director of the university's new Center for Integrative Leadership.

We're looking forward to a year full of great conversations with local leaders grappling with tough issues.

Please visit the Common Grounds blog at http://common-grounds.blogspot.com/ for more information and a link to our application.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6baSTTSb856TYXMXJ_2bthmA_3d_3d

Thanks much!

The Common Grounds Steering Committee

Common Grounds is accepting applications for its 2007-8 season!

Common Grounds provides a forum for graduate students at the University of Minnesota’s law, business and policy schools to meet with each other and with local leaders to discuss current issues that cut across private, nonprofit, and government sectors.

How do I apply to Common Grounds?

Click on the following link to Common Grounds application.
Applications will be accepted until 7:00 p.m. Thursday, October 4.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=6baSTTSb856TYXMXJ_2bthmA_3d_3d

Note: Applicants must commit to attending all but one of the monthly meetings. Monthly meetings are held on the fourth Monday of each month.

Why join Common Grounds?

Law, business, and policy do not exist in a vacuum, and students who know how to collaborate cross-sectorally will reap benefits in their future careers. Common Grounds provides a space for students to try this unique and important type of collaboration. Common Grounds also offers a great opportunity allows students to network with students from other schools and get to know community leaders.

How are meetings structured?

Through Common Grounds, students contribute to the solutions of pressing local issues. Meetings are structured to provide feedback for community leaders on a cross-sectoral issue that impacts their organization.

Each issue is covered in two Common Grounds meetings; one meeting is held per month. In the first meeting, the speaker/guest presents his or her issue. Then assigned student groups of approximately six people -- including members of each of the three schools -- meet independently to research and brainstorm cross-sectoral solutions, additional resources, and suggestions for the speaker.

In the second meeting, held the following month, students present their recommendations to the speaker/guest and other Common Grounds members. Student group recommendations are brief: no more than two typed pages and presentations should not last longer than seven minutes. The first meeting of each two-meeting series is held at the Humphrey Institute; the second meeting is held at the Carlson School.

Common Grounds meetings are held on the fourth Monday of the month from 7:30 until 9:00 in the morning. Coffee and baked goods are provided. The kick-off meeting is October 22.

Membership requirements

Common Grounds’ aim is to recruit interested, committed members. Common Grounds steering committee members select ten motivated students from each school – law, business and policy -- based on student responses in the Common Grounds application. In order to get the most out of Common Grounds, students must commit to attending all but one of the monthly sessions. Students should also be comfortable working in groups and be able to make time for a few hours each month to meet with their assigned working group.

Common Grounds History

Common Grounds’ founder is Lars Leafblad, Vice President at KeyStone Search, and former director of development at the Humphrey Institute. In the fall of 2004, while Lars was employed at the Humphrey Institute and pursuing his MBA through the Carlson School, he realized just how little integration existed between the two schools. While the schools were next door to one another and covered similar topics, students had little chance to get to know one another and share perspectives.

Lars created Common Grounds, with the support of Nate Garvis and Target Corporation, to provide that interaction. The mission of the group is especially salient today as the business, legal and policy communities continue to become more integrated in order to solve tough local, national and global issues.

Past Common Grounds speakers include:

Nate Garvis, vice president of government affairs at Target Corp

Peter Bell, chair of the Met Council

Duane Benson, executive director of the Minnesota Early Learning Foundation

Dan McElroy, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development

Kate Menendez, assistant federal defender

Questions?

Please contact Carlson student Elizabeth Neils with questions at neil0048@umn.edu

Common Grounds Steering Committee Members:

Stephanie Travis (Law)
Julie Warner (Humphrey)
Wendy Wustenberg (Humphrey)
Ben Marcy (Humphrey)
Mahri Monson (Humphrey)
Elizabeth Neils (Carlson)
Jennifer Frenzel (Carlson)

April 26 program with Peter Bell

Our final meeting for the 2007 program is Thursday, April 26 from 7:30 – 9:00a.m. in the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs’ Freeman Commons, followed by the Wilkins Room.

Metropolitan Council Chair, Peter Bell (bio below),will share his perspective on the role of collaboration and balancing competing interests within the Metropolitan Council, as well as his personal leadership journey.

It's a must-attend event; we look forward to seeing all of you there.

CALLING ALL LEADERS
If you are interested in becoming a member of the Common Grounds Steering Committee, please provide your contact information on an interest form at the next meeting or e-mail Katy Friesz at mailto:atfrie0198@umn.edu.

Thursday’s AGENDA
7:30 a.m. Networking and continental breakfast(Freeman Commons)

8:00 a.m. Program introduction (Wilkins Room)
Group Introductions

8:15 a.m. Featured guest: Peter Bell, Metropolitan Council Chair

8:30 a.m. Questions & Answers

9:00 a.m. Meeting close

See you Thursday, April 26!

ABOUT PETER BELL

Peter Bell is the Chair of the Metropolitan Council,a regional agency that runs the regional bus system, collects and treats wastewater, plans regional parks and administers funds that provide affordable housing opportunities. In partnership with local governments in the seven-county area, the Council also conducts long-range planning to ensure that growth is orderly, environmentally sound and cost-effective to preserve and enhance the region's cherished quality of life and ability to complete.

The Council is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the governor. “I’ve often said that 90 percent of the people of the Twin Cities metroarea don’t know what the Council does, and the other 10 percent go to bed at night worrying about our every move,” said Bell. “So we have a dual challenge. To inform the first group about the value of regional solutions to regional problems. And to reassure the other group that the Council can be trusted to focus on our core mission, work collaboratively and be accountable.”

From 2001 to 2002, Bell was executive vice president for publishing andeducational services at Hazelden, in Center City,Minn. Hazelden is aninternationally renowned nonprofit providing a wide range of alcohol and drug-abuse services including treatment, prevention, research andpublishing. He was executive vice president for new ventures development at Hazelden from 1999 to 2001.

Bell served as executive vice president for corporate community relations for TCF Bank, Minneapolis, from 1994 to 1999. Under his leadership, the bank earned an "outstanding" rating for its community reinvestment activities by federal regulators.

From 1990 to 1994, Bell was a human services consultant in the field ofalcohol/drug abuse. He was the keynote speaker at the White House Conference on a Drug-Free America in 1990. He was the co-founding andexecutive director of the Institute on Black Chemical Abuse from 1975 to 1990. In addition, he has written numerous books on chemical dependence.

Bell was a member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents from 2002 to 2007 and has served on the board of directors for many local and national social and civic organizations, including the Citizens League, Center of the American Experiment, the Center for New Black Leadership, the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund and the Family Housing Fund.

He also has served on the transition teams for both Gov. Jesse Ventura and Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Bell has a B.A. degree in social service administration from Metropolitan State University. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Sharon and has two children.