Volunteers build understanding and deep relationships through learning community events.
Volunteers get to know one another, learn from nationally renowned speakers, engage in interfaith dialogue, and develop strategies to engage others in the work of creating real, systemic change in Greater Saint Paul.
2023 – 2024 Learning Community Events
Greater St. Paul is home to practitioners of multiple religious traditions. What stories, values, and practices from our traditions compel us to engage in volunteer and social justice work in our community?
This year, Interfaith Action’s learning community events will invite dialogue among religious practitioners about why and how they volunteer in their community. Each event will put a spotlight on leaders from two different traditions, inviting people from all religious backgrounds (and none) to connect more deeply around our shared value of providing stability and economic mobility in our community.
Speaker and location details for this fall’s learning community events are coming soon! For now, save the following dates/times:
Thursday, October 26, 6-7:30 pm
Thursday, December 14, 6-7:30 pm
2022 – 2023 Learning Community Events
This past year, Interfaith Action put a spotlight on individuals who’ve dedicated their lives to creating opportunities for people around (and often beyond) St. Paul. They represent the ordinary and the extraordinary potential for all of us to create a more just community.
Mary Mackbee
VIEW THE EVENT RECORDING
Mary Morrell Mackbee was born and raised in segregated New Orleans. After graduating from Xavier University, she accepted a teaching position in Minnesota where over the course of a distinguished 50-year career she changed the face of public education in Saint Paul Public Schools. She was the first female appointed as a high school assistant principal and the first African-American female appointed as a high school principal.
LaVon Lee
VIEW THE EVENT RECORDING
LaVon is the executive director/head of school at the Montessori American Indian Childcare Center. She served as executive director of the American Indian Family Center for ten years and program director at the Grotto Foundation. She also founded the Tiwahe Foundation and served as its administrator.
Otis Zanders
VIEW THE EVENT RECORDING
Otis Zanders is the recently retired CEO of Ujamaa Place, a St. Paul-based non-profit that provides holistic transformation opportunities for young Black men experiencing inequity at the intersection of race and poverty, helping them achieve brotherhood, stability, and personal success.
Contact
Contact Phil Romine
Director, Opportunity Saint Paul, 651-661-9350
promine@interfaithaction.org
2021–2022 Learning Community Events
How are the Children? Impacts on Child Wellbeing and Mental Health in COVID
May 26, 2022
With Dr. Razaan Byrne, a pediatrics specialist on the pediatrics team at Children’s Minnesota, and, Dr. Sheldon Berkowitz, president of the Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Watch the webinar
Navigating an Inhumane Human Services System
March 10, 2022
Author, poet, singer-songwriter, and poverty abolitionist Julia Dinsmore shared her story of navigating poverty in the Twin Cities and her experience with human services system.
Environmental Justice
November 11, 2021
Whitney Terrill from MN Interfaith Power and Light discussed the interconnectedness of environmental and racial justice and the impact it has on our communities.
Disparities in Mental Health
June 3, 2021
MayKao Y. Hang, D.P.A., Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Founding Dean, Morrison Family College of Health, University of St. Thomas, discussed how to address complex community issues and promote equity for underserved communities.
Acknowledging and Celebrating Earth Day Interconnections for Environmental Justice with Michael Quinn Patton
April 22, 2021
Michael Quinn Patton, one of the leaders in the field of evaluation studies, discussed how environmental and climate issues have a disproportionate negative impact on communities of color. Watch the webinar
American Indian Land Issues: Obstacles and Strategies with Cris Stainbrook
March 4, 2021
The session continued a deep dive into rural racial justice issues. Cris Stainbrook, president of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation, explained the history and current issues surrounding American Indian land ownership. Watch the webinar
Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul
Contact Us
New mailing address:
1041 Grand Avenue, #312
Saint Paul, MN 55105
info@interfaithaction.org
651.364.7294