MISSION
Engage Winona drives equitable civic action and social change by working to ensure everyone has access, voice and power in community planning, decision-making and changemaking.
VISION
Our vision is of a community where everyone is welcomed, heard and included; sees themselves as community leaders and changemakers; and has the tools and resources to create change that supports a resilient, inclusive community.
OUR STORY
Engage Winona began in early 2016 as a project created by a group of Winona volunteer leaders and residents seeking to learn what a representative cross-section of community members wanted as a desirable future for Winona. We led nearly 20 targeted group conversations with marginalized populations, many of whom had never been asked to imagine their community’s future. We then held a daylong public event, bringing together hundreds of residents in dialogue about Winona’s future.
Collectively, the events provided more than 4,500 unique responses from nearly 500 residents speaking to needs, hopes and dreams on a variety of issues, ranging from transportation to education, from downtown to the bluffs. After we presented our findings, we were deluged with requests for help — from individuals, volunteer groups, nonprofits, companies, and major institutions across the community. Folks knew they had good ideas, priorities, and projects for the community. They were passionate, organized, and ready. But what they didn’t quite know how to do was how to work together, and how to get from start to finish.
Prior to Engage Winona, no one had ever created a comprehensive, inclusive, community-wide vision for the city’s future. No one had a single place to turn to to learn what the community really valued, really believed in, really wanted. And despite the best efforts of employees and volunteers alike, the reality of creating community change is difficult and almost always done at a marathon pace.
The community was asking for a guiding light, a centralized resource, an expert, advocate, mentor and champion together to cultivate and lead every step of community change. They spoke clearly by saying that without such a support system, it has been just too hard to get good work done. Throughout our initial Engage Winona conversations we heard, time and time again: “We want more of this.” More opportunities to have inclusive community conversations, to come together to talk about what matters, and then to stay together to pursue shared passions and to be led through how we, together as a community, can create the change we seek.
Today, Engage Winona is a thriving independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with dozens of successful projects to its credit, from consulting for institutions and governments to empowering individuals and groups.
Current Offerings
The Winona Area Kitchen Table is a cohort of local community members who have faced housing instability or homelessness. The team brings their own lived experience and invites cross-sector stakeholders to work together on solutions to housing issues that will truly work in our community.
This cohort leadership program is designed to deepen and diversify Winona's pool of community leaders. Participants with diverse lived experiences receive resources, support, and mentorship to work on community change projects over a year.
Starting in fall 2021, Engage Winona embarked on an 18-month community engagement effort to involve Winonans in creating the City of Winona's new Comprehensive Plan. This program offers a variety of creative, approachable, and empowering engagement opportunities working toward a community vision for Winona's future.
Engage Winona facilitates this collaborative coalition of more than 40 organizations and 200 individuals working to build a resilient, trauma-informed community. The group’s work is focused on healing and addressing the causes of individual and community trauma through education, advocacy, and elevating voices.
The Lab is a collaboration with the Winona State social work department to address community challenges affecting marginalized populations through research, advocacy, and direct collaboration with diverse populations.
Free workshops and trainings from pop-up booths to half-day workshops to get folks engaged in creating and advocating for change. Workshops are designed to meet diverse populations where they’re at and address barriers to access.
