Contacts:
Wanda Sommers Wall, Ph. 507-389-1076
Joyce Swenson, Ph. 507-389-2461
Barb Bergseth, Ph. 612-419-3619
Mary Hillmann, Ph. 952-715-8745
News
“Speak Your Peace: The Civility Project” Receives the First Minnesota Ethical Citizens Award On May 19, as part of the Minnesota Schools of Character and Promising Practices Awards Ceremony, Laura Bloomberg, Executive Director of the Center for Integrative Leadership at the University of Minnesota and co-chair of the Ethical Citizens for Minnesota’s Future, presented the first Minnesota Ethical Citizens Award to Speak Your Peace: The Civility Project. Senator Roger Reinert accepted the award on behalf of the Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation and the Millennium group. This award recognizes work that exhibits evidence of community-wide collaboration, can be replicated, and demonstrates impact on the development of good character and ethical leadership.
Mission: Develop Minnesotans to be good citizens and ethical leaders.
Vision: Good character and ethical leadership are the cultural norms in Minnesota where citizens make decisions that positively affect themselves and others
Why support this initiative?
An ethics crisis has swept across our state and nation. Fraud, divisiveness and disrespectful behavior have tarnished the culture of our businesses, government, schools, families and communities. Empowered by the cloak of anonymity, cyber-bullying is on the rise and has had devastating consequences. In addition, a Josephson Institute national survey reveals one in three high school students stealing in the past year, eight out of ten lying to their parents and rampant cheating in schools. The magnitude of this crisis points to the enormous need to support programs that develop Minnesotans into responsible, principled citizens and ethical leaders.
What are we currently doing?
Ethical Citizens for Minnesota’s Future, under the leadership of co-chairs Stephen B. Young (Caux Roundtable) and Laura Bloomberg (Center for Integrative Leadership, U of M) recognizes the importance of building ethical communities and is collaborating with partners across the state to develop, support and celebrate efforts for good character in our citizens. We do not believe in a “one size fits all” approach and are committed to providing multiple tools and resources for families, educators, businesses and communities to find solutions to this ethical challenge.
Goals:
- 1. Ensure that ethical citizenship and good character are embedded in the culture of all Minnesota communities.
- Develop active partnerships between businesses, educators, community organizations and youth in support of the mission.
- Identify tools and resources to bring the language of ethics and responsibility into education and community conversations.
- Document cost to society for unethical decisions linked to the lack of good character. 5. Provide evidence of the effect of character education on academic, civic and workplace achievement.
What can you do to help?
You can partner with the Ethical Citizens for Minnesota’s Future to help support good character and ethics initiatives in Minnesota. By focusing on civility, utilizing ethical decision making and modeling principled leadership, together we can build a better future for our citizens, communities and state. Contact us today to become involved and make a difference!
If you were unable to attend prior events and would like to be a part of advancing ethical citizenship in Minnesota, please contact us.
“Instilling an ethical culture with the future leaders of Minnesota should be one of our core values. Integrity and social responsibility raises the bar and provides opportunities that will move Minnesota forward in our global economy.”
- Carl G. Peterson, CPA, Past Chair - MN Society of CPAs,
Co-Chair - MN Business Ethics Award
“Minnesota’s ‘brand’ in the world is centered on ethical behavior by our citizens, our businesses and our government officials. We have inherited this reputation and we must work hard as stewards of high standards.”
- Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State
“The ethics of our state will be determined by the ethics of each individual citizen. We must reach out across the many lines that separate us and build a statewide community worthy of our dear children.”
– Karen Rusthoven, Ed.D., founder, principal and executive director, Community of Peace Academy (2003 National School of Character)
Initiative Detail:
Initiative Summary
Phase III: Leading the Call to Action
Phase II: From Vision to Action
Phase I: A Vision for Our Time
Reference Documentation: