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The MAPL Program

GUEST SPEAKERS > Fall 2006

The MAPL program contacts a number of outstanding leaders in advocacy and politics to ask them to agree to be part of MAPL's pool of community faculty. The guest speakers who were involved in the fall 2006 Semester are listed below:

U.S. Congressman-Elect Keith Ellison presented to our MAPL students, faculty, and the community on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006, from noon to 1pm at UMD in Bohannon Hall.

Announcing the Fall 2006 Public Affairs Debate Series (tapes of the debates can be found on the KUMD website, www.kumd.org)

Rachel Johnson, Writer and Producer, and her performance crew put on a production of Habitat in Montague Hall 70 for the students of MAPL 5308 Impact of Art on Social Change and the Duluth Community at 6pm on Friday, November 17. This production is based on Rachel's interviews of people homeless in the Northland.

Lori Sturdevant of the Star Tribune, joined our MAPL Political Organizing and Communications class as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 11/18/06.

Since 1992, Lori has been working with the Star Tribune. She is the editorial writer and columnist specializing in coverage of state government and politics, higher education and rural development. From 1995 to 2001, she had been the moderator of the Minnesota Citizens’ Forum. Prior to these experiences, Lori had been an assistant city editor covering city, county, and state government, and a lead State Capitol reporter. Her editorial resume include, "A Man’s Reach: the Autobiography of Elmer L. Andersen” (August 2000, University of Minnesota Press), “I Trust to Be Believed: Speeches and Reflections by Elmer L. Andersen” (spring 2004, Nodin Press), “Overcoming: the Autobiography of W. Harry Davis” (October 2002, Afton Historical Society Press), and "Changemaker: the Harry Davis story for young readers" (September 2003, Afton Historical Society Press). Lori has a B.A. in science journalism from Coe College. Awards won include the 2001 Premack Award and the 2005 “Friend of the Humanities” award of the Minnesota Humanities Commission.

Dr. Judi Jennings joined our MAPL 5308 course, The Impact of Art on Social Change, as a community faculty team member on Friday, 10/06/06.

Judi Jennings entered this world as a “baby boomer,” born November 2, 1947, in Lexington, Kentucky. Her father worked as a used car salesman, and her mother, hailed from the Appalachian mountains of eastern Kentucky. Her parents divorced early, so, growing up, Judi witnessed the struggles of her single Mom from Appalachia striving to support the two of them. From this experience, Judi learned to respect all mothers, work hard, value education, and fight anyone who said anything bad about eastern Kentucky.

With the encouragement of her Mom, who never had a chance to go to college, Judi earned her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in British History from the University of Kentucky. Her grandmother always believed that since Judi stayed in college so long she must have been a very slow learner.

Judi taught for six years at Union College, a liberal arts college in Barbourville, in the Appalachian part of Kentucky. During this time, Judi learned that her great grandmother came from Emmanuel Hollow, nearby. Seeking to connect with her own roots and those of her students, Judi developed new courses in Appalachian History and Culture, as well as teaching American and European History. She left Union College in 1981, the year she received tenure, when both her parents died while still in their 50s.

After taking some time off to think about what really matters in life, Judi worked for four years at the Kentucky Humanities Council, a state agency of the National Endowment for the Humanities. KHC supports public programs for out of school adults in history and other humanities areas.

In 1987, Judi went to work at Appalshop, a media arts and education center in eastern Kentucky dedicated to combating stereotypes about Appalachians and advancing social justice for rural people. Judi served as the chief fundraiser for a $1.2 million dollar endowment campaign and traveled extensively to raise funds across the U.S. She also served as a humanities advisor on several Appalshop films and videos.

Having successfully completed the fundraising campaign at Appalshop, in 1991 Judi moved to Louisville, Kentucky, to become the founding director of the Women’s Center at the University of Louisville. Under her leadership, the Women’s Center developed a mission statement embracing education, advocacy, and equality and expanded its staff and budget. Judi resumed her academic research, and in 1998 published her first full-length historical study, The Business of Abolishing the British Slave Trade, 1783-1807.

That same year Judi became the Director of the Kentucky Foundation for Women, a private fund which supports feminist artists living in the state whose work furthers positive social change. This is the position she still holds today.

During this time, too, Judi served as co-producer for an award-winning Appalshop film, directed by Elizabeth Barret, called Stranger With A Camera, exploring the murder of a Canadian filmmaker in eastern Kentucky in 1967. Working on this film brought Judi faced to face with historic and contemporary stereotypes about Appalachians and the long lasting consequences of this murder.

Judi remained active as a historical researcher and writer and recently published her second book entitled Gender, Religion, and Radicalism in the Long Eighteenth Century.

Jeffrey Anderson, a Citizen representative on the Duluth CDBG board, joined our MAPL Nonprofits and Government class as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 10/07/06.

Jeff spoke about how the Community Development Block Grant process works, the types of nonprofits supported via this government funding, and present/future funding trends. Jeff serves as a Citizen representative on the Duluth CDBG board.

Darla Benoit of Eikell and Schilling in Duluth joined our MAPL Nonprofits and Government class as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 10/07/06.

Darla specializes in non-profit work at the accounting firm of Eikell and Schilling in Duluth. Darla joined the class to discuss such issues as c(3) versus c(4) status and financial audits.

Robbie LaFleur joined our MAPL Political Process class as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 9/16/06.

Robbie LaFleur is the Director of the Legislature Reference Library and has been with the Library for almost twenty years. She remembers the days when researching a current bill meant walking over to the Capitol and getting a print copy, and a fax machine was considered cutting-edge. Ms. LaFleur has long been an advocate of the early adoption of new technologies to improve the Library's services to the Legislature and the public; the Library's Web page now includes an RSS feed, and the Library delivers many of its current awareness services via e-mail. She is a past Chair of the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Research Librarians Staff Section. Her undergraduate degree in Scandinavian Studies and graduate degree in Library Science are both from the University of Minnesota.

Pamela Kramer, Program Director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), joined our MAPL 5202 Nonprofits and Government Course on September 16 as a community faculty member.

Steve O'Neill, St. Louis County Commissioner, joined our MAPL 5202 Nonprofits and Government Course on September 16 as a community faculty member.

Eliot Seide of AFSCME Minnesota Council 5 joined our MAPL 5307 course, Leadership, as a community faculty team member on Friday, 10/20/06.

Eliot is the Executive Director of AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, AFL-CIO, in South St. Paul, MN. He has a BA in Political Science, MA in Political Theory, and is near completion of his PhD in Political Theory. Prior to his employment with AFSCME Minnesota Council 5, Eliot has worked with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFL-CIO) in D.C. as the Special Assistant to the late Pres. Jerry Wurf, for Minnesota and the Dakotas and for New York as International Area Director, for Minnesota as Staff Representative (Council 14) and Legislative Director (Council 6), as well as being Minnesota State Director and Executive Director for Councils 5 and 14.

Eliot has many other affiliations including being a member of the Minnesota AFL-CIO Executive Board and a HealthPartners Board of Directors. Mr. Seide is a proud father of two sons, Alex and Ben.

Congressman Jim Oberstar, U.S. House of Representatives, was a Community Faculty member Saturday, October 21, for MAPL 6001, Political Process course.

Chelle Bakke of the Northeast Entrepreneur Fund joined our MAPL 5202 Nonprofits and Government Course on October 21 as a community faculty member.

Bob Tracy joined our MAPL 5308 course, Impact of Art on Social Change, as a community faculty team member on Friday, 10/27/06.

Bob Tracy is a program and organizational development consultant for nonprofit and government agencies. He works with agencies to improve community involvement in shaping and developing services and policies through planning and evaluation, education and training, and civic engagement. He draws upon experiences directing advocacy, legal services, education and fundraising services for the Minnesota AIDS Project, working in philanthropy as program staff for The Saint Paul Foundation, providing leadership in arts and community development for both the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and promoting civic engagement through elections and lobbying. His work has been recognized by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, and Minnesota AIDS Project Paul and Sheila Wellstone Lifetime Achievement Award. He currently serves on the board of the National Association of People with AIDS.

Dr. Reid Zimmerman joined our MAPL 6002 course, Policy Analysis as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 10/28/06.

Reid has been actively involved in social sector leadership for over twenty-five years, serving as an Executive Director, Board Member and Development Officer for a number of organizations, including the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Hazelden Foundation. He currently works as an educator and nonprofit consultant, specializing in organizational leadership, strategic planning, program evaluation and fundraising. Reid holds a PhD in Organizational Development emphasizing Nonprofit Organizational Change and Effectiveness from Union Institute and University in Cincinnati. He is also credentialed as a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE) with the Association of Fundraising Professionals and is a member of the Board of Evaluators for the MN Council for Quality. Reid has authored Grantwriting 101: It’s Not a Mission Impossible!! (2001), numerous articles on fundraising and evaluation and served as a member of the editorial committee for MCN’s Principles and Practices of Nonprofit Excellence (1994 & 2005).

Ken Buehler was visited at The Depot by our MAPL students on Saturday, October 28, for his presentation for our MAPL 5202 Nonprofits and Government Course. Ken is the Executive Director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

Barb Kucera joined our MAPL 5308, The Impact of Art on Social Change, as a community faculty team member on Friday, 11/10/06.

For the past six years, Barb Kucera has edited workdayminnesota.org, a pioneering effort to put workers' news and views on the web. Workday Minnesota is housed at the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, where Barb also assists on video projects and participates in training programs for workers and unions. Previously, Barb edited the St. Paul Trades & Labor Assembly newspaper, The Union Advocate. She is a strong believer in the power of workers' stories and providing vehicles that give voice to these struggles. Her favorite quote comes from the writer Meridel LeSueur, "You are history. You live it. You make it. You write it."

Tom Gillaspy joined our MAPL 6001 course, The Political Process, with Marcia Avner as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 11/11/06.

Tom Gillaspy has served as the Minnesota State Demographer since 1979. During that time, he has been involved with a wide-ranging set of issue, applying an understanding of demographic trends in such areas as the state’s economy, health care for an aging population, education, higher education, welfare reform, rural population change, labor shortages, immigration, housing, government spending, and the aging state workforce. The demographer is in the Minnesota Department of Administration.

Prior to moving to Minnesota, Tom held the position of demographer at the Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the Pennsylvania State University, specializing in economic demography. He also holds a Masters Degree in agricultural economics. Born and raised in Texas, he received his undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Richard Hudelson, UWS Professor, Department of History, Politics, and Society, presented to our MAPL 5111 Labor Organizing course as a Community Faculty member on Saturday, November 11.

Dick Hudelson grew up in New Castle, Indiana, a factory town set in the middle of corn and soybean country. He graduated from DePauw University with a BA in Philosophy in 1968 and completed his PhD in Philosophy at the University of Michigan in 1977. He has authored five books and various articles and reviews in the areas of social and political philosophy, philosophy of the social sciences, and history of socialist thought. Having lived in the Superior area for twenty-five years, he has developed interests in cross-country skiing and local history. His wife, Eileen Zeitz, teaches Spanish at UM-Duluth, specializing in the literature of the Southern Cone. She is the author of four books including original fiction, poetry, and critical studies. He and Eileen have two daughters, Rachel and Alicia.

Sample publication:

By the Ore Docks: A Working People’s History of Duluth

By the Ore Docks

Bill Moore, Chief of Staff, MN AFL-CIO, presented to our MAPL 5111 Labor Organizing course as a Community Faculty member on Saturday, November 11.

Bill Moore is chief of staff of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, the state's largest federation of labor unions. He was the federation's communications director from 1993 to 2000. Prior to his employment with the Minnesota AFL-CIO, Mr. Moore taught high school in rural Lesotho, worked as a staff representative for Council 65 of the American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees (AFSCME), and served on the staff of the Urban Affairs Commission of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Jim Mischner-Philbin of Northern Communities LandTrust will join our MAPL 5202 Nonprofits and Government course as a community faculty member on Saturday, November 11.

Dan McElroy, Governor Pawlenty's Senior Advisor on Innovation, joined our MAPL Political Process class as a community faculty team member on Saturday, 12/02/06.

Dan McElroy serves as Governor Tim Pawlenty’s Senior Advisor on Innovation. He was appointed to this position in September 2005 after serving almost two years as the Governor’s Chief of Staff. Mr. McElroy served as Commissioner of Finance from January 2003 until February 1, 2004. In that capacity he was the State’s Chief Financial Officer. He was the architect of the budget which addressed a $4.56 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. Mr. McElroy is also a Trustee of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU.)

Mr. McElroy served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. During that time he was an Assistant Majority Leader, Chair of the Committee on Jobs and Economic Development Finance, and Chair of the Legislative Audit Commission. Prior to his election to the House he was Mayor of Burnsville (1987-1994) and a member of the Burnsville City Council (1983-1986.) In the private sector he was active in the travel agency business from 1979 to 1994 and in the travel agency software and consulting business from 1994 until 2003. He was a director of American Bank Burnsville, a member of the Burnsville Rotary, the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce, the Minnesota Taxpayers Association, the Citizen’s League of the Twin Cities, and the Center of the American Experiment. He and his wife Mary have lived in Burnsville for more than 25 years.

Mary Streufert of the Twin Ports Area Minnesota Council of Nonprofits joined our MAPL 5202 Nonprofits and Government course as a community faculty member on December 2.

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