CATALYST CONVERSATIONS
Changing aging at the crossroads of equity and workforce development
Welcome!
This free series of one-hour virtual discussions explores big questions about how we can improve equity in Minnesota's aging sector and spark your thinking about leadership opportunities to improve your organization's culture, competency, systems and workforce.
Audience
MN Leadership Council on Aging Delegates, member organization staff (e.g. team members responsible for human resources, culture, DEI initiatives, etc.), MN Diverse Elders Coalition members, and invited guests.
Questions
Our Approach
What can you expect as the standing agenda for each one-hour session?
Act I
Grounded by a set of group norms, we begin as a large group with a welcoming question and by inviting a guest expert to help us frame up a compelling discussion topic.
Act II
We leverage the experience of each leader in the room, inviting vulnerability and encouraging growth though small group discussions that explore a generative question or a case scenario.
Act III
Closing as a large group, we help clarify emerging questions, explore themes and ideas, as well as identify ways to implement key concepts or champion an equity lens to both our individual and shared work.
Group Norms
We collectively understand this is a learning experience and we seek to create a space that explores a diversity of experiences and perspectives. We commit to the following norms:
Sharing Content
- We will record only the brief presentations made by our guests with their permission; small and large group dialogue will not be shared.
Respecting Time
- We will start and end sessions on time, even if the discussion feels incomplete.
Stay Engaged
- We will all try to stay present and involved throughout the discussion.
Lean Into Discomfort
- We will accept that discomfort is going to happen and will be open to it, acknowledge it, and lean into it.
Speaking Our Truth
- We will commit to being open and honest, speaking our truth from our own positions, using “I” statements.
Step Up + Step Back
- We will step into the space to share ideas, encourage others to do the same, and resisting the urge to interrupt - realizing we may not get a chance to say everything we'd like to.
Expect and Accept Non-Closure
- We will hang out in uncertainty, recognizing the goal isn’t to finish the conversation by the end of our time together, but to start it for you.
We Always Ask...
Ongoing Growth
- What questions emerged from your discussion that you want to continue exploring?
Taking Action
- What from today can you share with your team or take back to your organization?
Hosts
Meet your team guiding the discussions
Chao Yang
Director of Equity
MN Leadership Council on Aging
Adam Suomala
Executive Director
MN Leadership Council on Aging
RECORDED SESSIONS
March 12, 2024
10 - 11 a.m.
How might we better-serve culturally diverse populations?
Andrew Savitz
CEO
SpirituWell
Andrew Savitz is a healthcare entrepreneur, nonprofit board member, and serves as the CEO of SpirituWell, a telehealth chaplain service providing spiritual care across the care continuum. He serves on the Board of Jewish Family and Children's Service of Minneapolis, the Community Health Committee of Neighborhood HealthSource, and the Diversity Advisory Council of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.
Andrew began his career at the Minnesota Hospital Association and most recently served as a strategy and technology consultant to healthcare providers and insurance companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies to small community-based organizations. He holds a BS in Nutrition from the University of Minnesota.
In this session, we explored the research, barriers, and solutions to meeting a diversity of person-directed needs, including discussions about cultural, religious, and spiritual diversity across Minnesota.
September 12, 2023
10 - 11 a.m.
What are our opportunities to improve diversity in the workforce?
Sonya Lewis
Consultant
Workforce Development and Training
Sonya Lewis is a Minneapolis native with over 15 years of experience spanning government and nonprofit settings. She specializes in workforce development, federal grants management, and project management.
Lewis is an experienced community facilitator, and a training and development consultant.
Her professional passions are integrating human-centered design of programs and services, and leveraging government resources to achieve equity and reduce disparities in historically marginalized communities.
Lewis is an M.Ed candidate in Human Resource Development at the University of Minnesota, where she has a BS in Business and Marketing Education and Human Resource Development.
In this session, we explored the meaningful steps that leaders in aging can take to diversify our organizations through 1) employer engagement efforts, 2) tapping into non-traditional talent pools, and 3) skills-based hiring practices.
October 10, 2023
10 - 11 a.m.
How could wage transparency change the aging sector?
Anne M. Barry
Adjunct Faulty, School of Public Health
University of Minnesota
Anne M. Barry is widely respected for her work teaching, researching, and learning with the community at the intersections of racial justice, policy and practice. She is a passionate Minnesotan who builds partnerships across governmental systems to create change grounded in community leadership.
With more than three decades in cabinet level positions across state health, human services, and finance agencies, Barry's leadership also spans local government and higher education. She continuously seeks a government that is responsive and connected to a diversity of communities and tribal governments.
Barry has a JD from Mitchell Hamline School of Law, an MPH from the University of Minnesota and a BA in OT from St. Catherine University.
In this session, we explored how recently passed legislation in a number of states has placed a spotlight on wage transparency. Together, we discussed what it means to have wage transparency and other related practices important for leaders in the aging sector.
November 14, 2023
10 - 11 a.m.
Why is building an inclusive economy critical for our competitiveness?
Ling Becker
Director of Workforce Solutions and
Executive Director, Ramsey County Workforce Innovation Board
Ling Becker leads a department of 80 staff in delivering $20 million annually in workforce services and programs in partnership with dozens of community-based organizations. Since the pandemic, she has also overseen millions in federal funding to help build a more equitable recovery.
Prior to this, Becker was the Executive Director of an economic development corporation serving the NE metro connecting businesses and local governments with school districts, community colleges, and employer partners in award-winning workforce partnerships
Becker holds a MA in Public Administration from Syracuse University where she was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow.
In this session, we explored how an economy of the future works for all, led by investments in our most critical assets - our people. Join us to discuss strategies and investments for building a more inclusive workforce across the aging sector. Our case study looked closer at skills-based hiring in the aging sector.
About the Organization
Minnesota Leadership Council on Aging is a nonpartisan, statewide 501(c)3 coalition of 33 non-profit organizations in the field of aging. Our mission is to create communities and systems that support aging with dignity and a spirit of well-being in Minnesota.
Working together, our delegates champion:
- diverse, equitable and inclusive communities in which to age;
- a Minnesota free of ageism;
- coordinated Age-Friendly systems; and
- people who provide care for older Minnesotans.
We want to hear from you!
If you have ideas for future questions or guests that you'd like us to explore, submit a suggestion in the box below.
Questions