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State Representative Paul Thissen
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-5375
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
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THISSEN LEGISLATION SUPPORTS INNOVATION AND MULTI-SECTOR COLLABORATION
ST. PAUL, MN – Legislation introduced next week by State Rep. Paul Thissen (DFL – Minneapolis) will aim at maximizing the partnership between not-for-profit, public and private sectors to address high-priority community needs.
Based on the recommendations of the Grants Innovations Advisory Group, on which Thissen serves, the new legislation would create the Minnesota Coalition for Innovation and Collaboration (MCIC), a collaborative that will bring state agencies, not-for-profits and community foundations together to focus on coordinating efforts for better results.
“The recession has not only created unprecedented budget challenges for our state, but community needs are more pressing than ever," said Thissen. “We need to be much more strategic about investing our limited resources and improving social outcomes. Streamlining the efforts of dozens of state agencies and coordinating with parallel efforts by not-for-profits and foundations is a good place to start.”
The MCIC would be a multi-agency collaborative that would be responsible for generating ideas, promoting best practices across agencies, and identifying key policy initiatives and opportunities for partnerships to maximize private and public resources, among others.
"We have a strong tradition of innovation that solves community problems in Minnesota,” said Jodi Sandfort, Director of the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center at the University of Minnesota’s Hubert. H. Humphrey Institute. “This proposal is about assuring the state government can be a good faith partner, and even a leader, in helping to bolster and support such capacity throughout our state in ways that lead to sustainable results."
The legislation will also initiate competitive Innovation Challenge Grants to be awarded to provide seed funding for ideas for program or service improvements across state government. Ideas may come from state employees, local governments, not-for-profit organizations and individual citizens. Grants will be awarded to the best proposals that focus on high-priority community needs, foster coalitions and collaboration across agencies and with the not-for-profit sector, are designed to become self-sustaining in a short period, and will save money. The grants will be funded by the state and private foundations on a one-to-one basis.
“The MCIC would bring Minnesota into the fold of a cutting edge group of states who are developing 21st Century styles of governing in partnership with the nonprofit and business sectors,” said Colleen Ebinger of Root Cause, a national research and consulting firm on social innovation. “These state-based efforts are addressing critical social needs in our communities while simultaneously saving taxpayer money.”
News Items
- DFL Leaders Eager to Confront Minnesota’s Challenges with Focus on Economy and Middle Class - (Posted: Jan 9 2013 2:21PM)
- State Representative John Persell appointed Majority Whip - (Posted: Dec 21 2012 1:11PM)
- Speaker-designate Thissen to Establish Select Committee on Living Wage Jobs - (Posted: 2012-12-19 00:00:00)
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