Engage Winona Celebrates Lived Experience Leaders
Engage Winona is proud to announce that our latest graduates from the Lived Experience Leaders program finished their training in April.
Congratulations to Lauren Gyss, Joy Davis Ripley, Jeremy Polus, Jennifer Hansen, Carrie Frederich, Cierra Walker, Courage Universe, Amber Buysman, Eldridge McClatchey and Rachel Minnick!
This group of visionaries are working in Winona on issues ranging from substance abuse recovery and mental health to racial and disability justice, to youth mentorship and building equitable and generative creative communities, and more. Each of them brings to their community not only their personal experiences and passion for these topics, but also skills, confidence and connections that they developed through the Lived Experience Leaders program.
Engage Winona will be celebrating the Lived Experience Leaders graduates on Tuesday, July 19, at Peter’s Biergarten, starting at 5:30 pm. The event is free and open to the public and will have food, music, games, art and more. All are welcome to come and meet these insightful leaders and learn about their innovative ideas for the community.
Also in July, we are opening up applications for our third cohort of Lived Experience Leaders. If you have a vision for community change and a commitment to making that change happen, and also have lived experience that has shown you how critical this community change is — we encourage you to apply. Many different experiences are relevant to transforming Winona, including: race, ethnicity, gender, age, poverty, childhood trauma, loss, addiction/recovery and more.
The Lived Experience Leaders program is designed to deepen and diversify Winona’s pool of community leaders. It provides training, resources and support to folks across Winona who may not traditionally be considered or given opportunities for community leadership roles, and whose diverse lived experiences have given them powerful expertise to create change for Winona to be more welcoming and inclusive.
The cohort participates in 25-30 hours of immersive gatherings and workshops over 6-7 months, starting in the fall. Along the way, each member creates a plan for their community change project or idea (something they’re working on and want to grow, or something new).
Participants are supported with guidance, mentorship, materials, small financial support and connections, while continuing monthly group gatherings and check-ins through May 2023. Participants are paid a stipend and provided financial and other resources to participate in the program.
We are excited for you to join us in July for our summer Lived Experience Leaders celebration. And stay tuned for our announcement about open applications for the next cohort. If you’d like to learn more about the program or sign up to be notified when applications open, visit engagewinona.org/portfolio/lived-experience-leaders.
Originally published in Winona Daily News