GETTING INVOLVED
A Bold Community Agenda for Change
If the Bemidji community is going to make progress on this most important issue, then it will have to address it from many fronts. Education and economic opportunity have to be expanded, cultural understanding will have to be improved, and civic engagement will need to be encouraged. The following community agenda shows the initiatives that are proposed for the community.
Those initiatives in red are underway right now. Each of these has one or two people identified as champions for this effort. Want to be a part of the movement? Click on one of these individuals and you’ll get their e-mail. If you contact them, they’ll find a way to take advantage of your gifts!
Shared Vision: Community Success Through Working Together
Goals and Strategies – July, 2009
Cultural Understanding and Respect
The Bemidji community has greater cultural understanding and respect for Native American people, and discrimination decreases in all aspects of community life.
- Within a year, 100 establishments of buildings in Bemidji will have signs in both Ojibwe and English. (Michael Meuers, Rachelle Houle)
- Within a year, twenty-five “Dispel the Myth” presentations will be given to key groups in the Bemidji community and a speaker’s bureau will be established and available to the community for this purpose. (Karen Bedeau, Don Day)
- Within three years, flags from the three surrounding Ojibwe Nations will be added to at least two prominent locations in the Bemidji community and will fly next to the state and US flag.
- Within three years, a “We Embrace Diversity” business campaign will be developed and implemented in the Bemidji community. (Carolyn Jacobs)
- Within five years, an annual Cultural Connections Music Festival will become one of the signature festivals in the Bemidji community. (Barb Houg, Audrey Thayer)
- Within five years, an educational DVD, highlighting local Native American History and Culture will be produced and made available to area schools, businesses, governmental units, and community groups.
Educational Attainment and Skill Development
Native American children in the Bemidji community will graduate from high school in the same proportion as the entire student population, and enrollment of Native American students in post-secondary institutions will increase annually by 50%.
- Within two years, every student with need will have an education coach, an individualized academic achievement plan, and tutors available to support education success. (Rebecca Snyder, Nancy Vyscocil)
- Within three years, a bold Native American co-curricular initiative will be created that doubles Native American student participation in co-curricular activities.
- Within three years, an “Adopt-a-School” program is created to turn each Bemidji are school into a culturally welcoming place.
- Within five years, a BSU/Tribal College/High School “Native American Teacher Initiative” will double the number of Native American teachers teaching in the Bemidji community; this initiative will be identified as the best cultural diversity training program in the upper Midwest for education majors.
Civic Engagement and Leadership
Bemidji’s Native American residents are active in every facet of community life, including community betterment activities, and holding leadership roles on boards and commissions in public, non-profit, and service organizations.
- Within a year, the Blandin Founding will implement its “Leadership in Ethnically Diverse Communities” program in the Bemidji area. (Carol Bennet, Audrey Thayer)
- Within a year, the Bemidji community will have an online community involvement directory that identifies civic engagement opportunities and methods to become engaged. (Ruth Sherman)
- Within two years, ten Native American residents will have completed Northwest Minnesota Foundation’s Leader Impact program.
- Within two years, the Bemidji community will implement an “Organizational Diversity Initiative” that doubles Native American participation in civic and community organizations; this number will double again within another two years. (Sally Fineday)
- Within three years, the Bemidji community will develop and implement a “New Neighbor Initiative” that intentionally welcomes and encourages new residents to become engaged in Bemidji community life.
Economic Opportunities
Economic indicators of median income, unemployment, and entrepreneurship are steadily improving for the Native American population.
- Within a year, ten new internships will be created for Native American post-secondary students; this number will increase annually. (Ryan Zemek, Don Day)
- Within two years, the Bemidji community providers of job skill training will increase the quality and quantity of work readiness programs and participants.
- Within two years, an “Entrepreneurial Support Package” will be available to Native American entrepreneurs.
- Within two years, the Bemidji community will host a Native American Economic Summit in collaboration with surrounding tribes, focusing on entrepreneur development and other economic issues.
- Within three years, an “Entrepreneurship Education Initiative” will be developed as part of the high school curriculum.
- Within five years, the Bemidji community will develop a “Second Chance Job Skills Training Program” for individuals without high school education and those recently released from prison.
