Take a dive into some of our prior initiatives below.
Access
Community engagement initiatives that are inclusive, generative, and joyful for all.
Winona Pints and Policy (2017 - 2018)
Winona Pints and Policy launched in summer 2017 as a living room-style conversation series with decision-makers, community leaders and others discussing civic issues related to Winona’s future. The events were designed to allow all folks to feel comfortable engaging with those who hold power in government, politics and other arenas.
Minnesota Marine Art Museum - Art is for Everyone! (2018)
The Minnesota Marine Art Museum turned to Engage Winona in early 2018 to help them address a big challenge: A large majority of its visitors came from outside of Winona. Engage Winona hosted dozens of listening sessions across the community with diverse groups of folks that revealed a range of needs and ideas. Then, Engage Winona collaborated closely with the museum to develop specific strategies to get local folks through the museum’s doors – and then, once inside, keep them engaged and wanting to come back. The work was hugely successful, resulting in attendance records for the museum.
Elementary Reuse Engagement (2018-2019)
Engage Winona worked with the City of Winona in fall 2018 and early 2019 to engage neighbors of Madison and Central elementary schools on ideas, visions and concerns for redeveloping the buildings and sites. Their voices were collected into reports on each building that provided the foundation for the city’s reuse planning, and strongly influenced the outcomes of the buildings, which are now both apartment buildings.
Read the report for Madison or Central elementary.
Hopes and dreams for a sustainable future (2021)
In spring 2021, Engage Winona led community-wide engagement for the City of Winona’s first-ever sustainability plan. A draft plan is being developed, and we’ll have additional opportunities to contribute in early 2022. For more, visit cityofwinona.com/sustainability.
This plan will help the community achieve equitable sustainability, economic resilience, and climate adaptability in the coming years and decades.
Engagement throughout spring 2021 included a survey completed by more than 500 individuals, a creative contest, Covid-safe pop-up engagement events, focus group conversations with a wide variety of stakeholders, and more.
Winona County justice programs engagement (2021)
Engage Winona worked with Winona County from March to May 2021 to gather public input and ideas on its justice programs, share information about current programs, and explore ways the public can engage collaboratively with the county.
Our presence in this project was to hear and amplify community voices, collect and present input and requests from the community, and identify potential paths for the county and community to work on together.
Winona County Community Needs Survey (2021)
In July and August 2021, Engage Winona conducted a Community Needs Survey for Winona County to inform the county’s use of American Rescue Plan Act funding over the next few years. This survey was open to individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and anyone else with a connection to Winona County. We shared it widely, especially with those who were impacted most by the pandemic, via social and print media. A paper survey was available by mail.
The full project report and analysis is available as a PDF here.
More than 590 unique individuals filled out parts of the survey, and 420 of them fully completed the survey between July 22 and August 11. We provided a small incentive for participation – one lucky winner received a $100 grand prize gift card to the local business of their choice.
Broadly, a few themes emerged. First, the survey responses reflect the unequal impact of the pandemic across communities, families, and individuals in Winona County. Some of us emerged from the pandemic facing more instability and greater needs for housing, mental health care, and community, while some of us saw little to no change. Again, this reflects what we already know about the pandemic’s impact, and reinforces the need to direct assistance to those who need it most, both to address disparities related to this pandemic, and to reduce disparities for the future.
Second, respondents brought up a variety of infrastructure improvements, from broadband internet access to public transportation to road repair and maintenance. These are the things that connect us, both in-person and online, and respondents wanted to see these networks strengthened.
Finally, responses reflected a pattern of increased feelings of isolation and loss of connection to community, and Winona County residents had lots of ideas for how to address this. From shade structures at parks to community events that celebrate small businesses to improvements to the fairgrounds, respondents suggested a variety of investments that would make it easier to meet one another and build connections. Respondents expressed a desire to see improvements to public places they have enjoyed in Winona County, including Farmers Park, bike trails, libraries, playgrounds, and centers that serve older adults.
Voice
Storytelling that reflects the voices and ideas of the community.
Youth Mental Health Initiative and Youth Listening Sessions (2017-2018)
The Youth Mental Health initiative built a community around compassionate, proactive and holistic approaches to mental health that serve and include all Winona-area youth and families in all possible ways.
The work was supported by a series of youth listening sessions in 2018 that connected with nearly 250 youth in grades 7-12 in more than 20 conversations held in schools, community spaces, churches and other locations across Winona.
Conversations for a New Winona (2016)
Engage Winona’s roots date back to this project, when a group of community leaders from across a wide variety of sectors, industries, and perspectives came together with a single goal: To create, for the first time in the community’s history, a benchmark document that set a comprehensive vision for Winona’s future, and to create that document not in isolation, but by convening, using focused and intentional dialogues, a diverse cross-section of community members and asking them what they wanted as a desirable future for Winona.
In early winter and spring 2016, Engage Winona led a series of conversations that collectively drew more than 4,500 responses from nearly 500 unique participants. Those responses were studied, organized and curated into a comprehensive report on Winona’s future that was widely and deeply celebrated as building the foundation for Winona’s future.
East End+Side Neighborhood Project (2019)
The East End-Side Neighborhood Project, a collaboration with the City of Winona and Art of the Rural, with substantial support provided by the Winona Foundation, brought together a full neighborhood to celebrate its history and imagine its future. Across 2019, we connected with diverse cross-sections of the community, built and strengthened relationships and networks, collected rich stories of the neighborhood’s history and culture, and heard a wide array of ideas for change.
Power
Building capacity in local leaders, groups, and networks.
Complete Count Winona County (2020)
Engage Winona, along with Winona County and the City of Winona, coordinated the Census 2020 Complete Count Winona County Committee. The committee was a volunteer group of individuals and organizations across the city and county who connected with hard-to-reach populations and encouraged them to participate in the Census.
Connect, Engage, Thrive (2017-2018)
Connect, Engage, Thrive was an innovative community systems thinking project that brought together top organizational leaders from across Winona to create and build collaborative and inclusive partnerships, programs and services.
Next Ones Up (2017-2018)
The Next Ones Up was a group convened in 2017 to nurture and support changemakers, entrepreneurs, and all others committed to respecting Winona’s rich heritage while creating a thriving, interconnected future, and deepening the pool of community-engaged residents in a way that’s welcoming to and inclusive of all residents’ desires to create community change.