Community Connections Conference
Save the date
When
Where |
Save the date! The 2020 Community Connections Conference will be on February 1 in the lower level of the Minneapolis Convention Center, Hall A. Sign up to receive email updates about the Community Connections Conference by clicking here and entering your email address.
About the conference
The Community Connections Conference is an annual free event that fosters connections between the residents of Minneapolis, community groups, neighborhoods and local government. In 2019, 885 people participated.
In 2019, the conference featured interactive workshops, speakers, an immigration, family and housing legal clinic, free food, panel discussions and over 119 exhibitors.
Get involved
You can sign up to get involved with next year's conference now.
Add your email address here to receive a notice once exhibitor registration opens for the 2020 Community Connections Conference, once workshop presenter recruitment starts or when Neighborhood and Community Relations seeks community partners or volunteers to help with the conference.
Community partners
Community Partners will advise organizers about important conference features to ensure it serves the needs of all Minneapolis residents. Some of the decisions community partners advise on include:
- conference format
- topics of interest
- workshop presenters and keynote speakers
- outreach plan
We also ask our community partners to share the conference with their networks and communities.
Volunteering
You can sign up to volunteer at the conference by selecting "I would like to volunteer" on your registration form once registration opens in January 2020.
Exhibitors
NCR brings in City of Minneapolis departments, other local government agencies and nonprofit organizations to answer questions about regulations and ordinances and share resources. Each year, exhibitors use the conference as an opportunity to ask for the public's opinion on important initiatives or proposals.
Last year's exhibit hall featured information and resources from 119 different community groups and public agencies. Read more on the exhibitor page.
Highlights from last conference
The 2019 conference theme was "Together: mobilizing for a better Minneapolis."
Programming
- Immigration, housing and family law legal clinic.
- Neighborhoods 2020 open house and public comment session.
- Transportation Action Plan & Vision Zero open house and public comment collection.
Round table discussion about the City’s Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan (SREAP) with the mayor and City Council.
2019 opening panel
The last conference included a robust conversation about connecting community activism to systemic change. Facilitated by Keno Evol of Black Table Arts, panelists included Jen Arnold of Inquilinxs Unidxs por Justicia (United Renters for Justice), artist Rory Wakemup of Wakemup Productions, and Me’Lea Connelly of Village Financial Cooperative.
2019 workshops
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In 2019, workshops covered topics including:
- unaccompanied minors, human trafficking, the new Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs and how to obtain US citizenship.
- City programs related to lead abatement and buying, building or rehabilitating housing through Minneapolis Homes.
- housing policy, eviction, homelessness and tenant rights.
- religious, racial and ethnic discrimination and environmental racism.
- the 2020 census.
- success stories in renter engagement, neighborhood crime reduction, youth leadership development and neighborhood organizing.
- how to get involved in the City's budgeting process and advisory boards.
Sponsors & community partners
Thank you to the 2019 conference sponsors CenterPoint Energy and Metro Transit.
Our community partners in 2019 were Minneapolis American Indian Center, Comunidades Latinas Unidas en Servicio (CLUES), Turning Point, Lao Assistance Center of Minnesota and the Lao Advancement Organization of America.
The legal clinic was made possible by the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota, The Advocates for Human Rights, the Volunteer Lawyers Network and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.
Last updated Aug 22, 2019
