Good Work Group

03/14/2022

Good Work Group worked alongside the excellent humans at
Minnesota Education Equity Partnership (and their many excellent race equity advocacy partners) to create this essential advocacy toolkit for building a more racially just higher-ed system in Minnesota.

It's a resource for undoing systems of harm in higher ed and advancing policies & practices that honor Minnesota's students of color. Join us! https://toolkits.mneep.org

01/15/2021

Minnesota's current higher-ed financial-aid model doesn't serve the needs of BIPOC students. Instead, it places a higher financial burden on them. We need to create a new model now if we want to build a more racially just and financially robust Minnesota.

Call on your lawmakers to support the MnEEP Higher Ed Race Equity Compact.

TO: Minnesota lawmakers FROM: MnEEP’s College Race Equity Advocacy Advisory Council (CREAAC), a state-wide, multi-racial...

01/12/2021

Excellent Twitter thread about language, and why the words we use to describe current events/white supremacy matters. We should always reflect on the power of language and words that become common parlance in conversation and in the media, and use it as an opportunity to reflect on history, truth, and ourselves—and how we can be better.

From the thread:

"Oxford defines an insurrection as "a violent uprising against an authority or government." What we're witnessing is more like a violent uprising within an already violent government, utilizing the ideology, logics and tactics upon which that government was established."

12/10/2020

If you're feeling down this week (and who isn't?), MnEEP's "Racing to Justice" event tomorrow promises lots of hope, inspiration, and healing. Register now and join us at 10am tomorrow!

Join us online for our Annual Meeting on December 11th!  You have played an essential...

11/20/2020

This , give to advancing racial justice in Minnesota!

MnEEP’s mission to make race equity in education a national and local imperative is unquestionably more needed now than ever.

MnEEP equips educators, schools, and districts with essential tools and knowledge to address and dismantle racist practices in education and build reparative, racially just learning environments where every student has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

Together, we can build a more racially just Minnesota where POCI students have the liberation and power to build the future they deserve!

We believe every student deserves to achieve full academic success. We envision a just society where an equitable educational ecosystem supports the gifts of students of color and American Indian students and allows them to prosper.

10/22/2020

Good Work Group has a new website! Check it out and let us know what you think!

For more than 10 years, Good Work Group has helped nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and social justice campaigns become stronger and more powerful through strategic impact communications and narrative power campaigns.

I work directly with mission-driven clients to build trusting, collaborative relationships and develop campaigns and strategies that shift public narratives, build advocates, change world views, and drive real, meaningful change.

This year, I got to work with fantastic folks like Minnesota Education Equity Partnership, Minnesota Nurses Association, Better Futures Minnesota, and a handful other folks doing really essential work to drive systems change in Minnesota.
I am also super grateful for the kind testimonials from clients (and now friends!)like Leiataua Jon Peterson, Michael Anderson, and Lanise Block.

And thank you to the amazing Karen Kopacz at Design for the Arts for her work in building me a new, beautiful website and helping me envision my work in a new way.
Do you work for an organization that would benefit from strategic consulting in narrative-shift campaigns or training in developing a narrative-shift campaign?

Get in touch!

I would love to connect with you and advance this work in new ways!

Stay strong, my friends. ❤️
www.goodworkgroup.com

Turn your mission Into a movement. Together, we can shift perceptions, practices, and policies and build a better world. Good Work Group offers communications development and planning, strategic consulting, and workshops.

09/09/2020

As students in Minnesota head back to school and families are dealing with a whole new set of circumstances, it's important we continue to work to support one another in advancing race equity and justice in education.

MnEEP Associate Executive Director Jennifer Godinez shares an essential message of hope for our students, families, and each other.

Schools and school communities have long been the places in this country where we begin...

02/12/2020

Mpls: We can pass an ordinance to reduce waste & greenhouse gas emissions and ensure cleaner, safer water for our communities.

Contact your city council member and tell them you support a deconstruction ordinance!

Minneapolis is growing, livable city because it’s a forward-thinking city on issues of climate and justice. But as Minneapolis grows, so does our landfill.

New development and construction debris contributes to nearly 40 PERCENT of total waste in our landfills.

Minneapolis is a leader because it invests in ordinances that support the environment, from bag fees to laws on cars idling. Let's also invest in ordinances that require recycling and reuse of buildings instead of demolition that sends waste to the landfills!

Tell your Minneapolis city council member you want a DECONSTRUCTION ORDINANCE to reduce waste and support cleaner air and water!

12/03/2019

For , support an organization working to disrupt systems and support people and the environment!

Make a one-time or monthly donation to Better Futures Minnesota, and help support the men we serve, the environment, and our communities!

11/05/2019

Better Futures Minnesota is a second-chance organization that supports healthy communities by serving men who have had a history of incarceration, homelessness, and po...

10/08/2019

Please support this fundraiser for a GREAT cause, if you have some extra money to spare!

90 percent of men at Better Futures don't return to prison—because they have the stable, safe housing; healthcare and wellness support; mentorship and relationship building; and job training and job access they need to succeed.

Reintegration support is essential for healing and rebuilding lives.

Help Better Futures grow this model program--and support people who are dedicated to rebuilding a better future for themselves, their families, and their community.

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/network-for-better-futures/better-futures-minnesota-transforming-lives-supporting-healing-healthy-communities?fbclid=IwAR3KRaamK4Ch-Wn6r1POKxQlKuKTHaH5D2vyqVZ0mA0HlCB8auXcI_n3cVg

Better Futures Minnesota is a second-chance organization that supports healthy communities by serving men who have had a history of incarceration, homelessness, and po...

09/05/2019

An important and inspiring message from MnEEP at the start of the school year:

"Our student learners and especially our POCI student learners and their families, need to know that they belong in our schools and in our communities.

We educators must remain steadfast in our purpose in creating communities of belonging where all students, from all backgrounds and walks of life, are validated and affirmed, both in the language that we use and the relational practices that we in engage in with them and each other."

At this start of this school year, we know we couldn’t approach our “Back to...

08/20/2019

Important day for our client Better Futures Minnesota and their work to reduce recidivism and support men in building their own success stories.

Elizabeth Warren visited Better Futures Minnesota today to talk about criminal justice reform and ending systemic barriers that keep people of color locked out of opportunities.

She highlighted Better Futures as a model that could be replicated nationwide for its unique trauma-informed integrated-care model focused on supporting health and wellness, community and relationships, and hope and resilience for men being released from incarceration.

The senator was the latest candidate to offer criminal justice system changes.

08/05/2019

From Better Futures Minnesota: We need innovative solutions, not expanding landfills. We can and must do better.

A July 11th article in the Star Tribune reported on the proposed 362-foot landfill expansion in Burnsville by Waste Management; a mountain of waste looming more than 30 stories over the Minnesota River. Along with creating an ugly eyesore along an essential waterway, this expansion will pollute our....

06/05/2019

From our client Minnesota Education Equity Partnership:

A proposal to ban expulsions and suspensions for preschool students failed to get through the Legislature this year.

05/15/2019

Tell your lawmakers: Don't let the sun set on health care for more than a million Minnesotans!

As nurses, we advocate for our patients at the bedside, in our communities, and at the Capitol, where Republican lawmakers are threatening to end healthcare for 1.2 million Minnesotans who need it most. The provider tax is essential for a healthier Minnesota.

Minnesota nurses support the health care provider tax because it means more Minnesotans get the health care they need. It means our patients are healthier. It means our communities are healthier. And it means our state is healthier.