JULY
CULTIVATING ACTIVE HOPE: A TOOL FOR BUILDING RESILIENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND IN OURSELVES
DATE
July 8, 2025
TIME
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOST
Dancing Sky Area Agency on Aging
SUMMARY
The challenges in our lives and in our world are daunting. In this session, we will explore the concept of Active Hope as a framework to help us get unstuck and ready to tackle challenges head on. Through personal reflection and conversation, we’ll engage together in a practice that cultivates our inner strength and fuels our desires to take meaningful action.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
AUGUST
REFRAME AGING MINNESOTA -
GENDER AND AGING
DATE
August 1, 2025
TIME
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOSTS
MN Leadership Council on Aging and UMN Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation
SUMMARY
Reframe Aging Minnesota is a free, virtual series of one-hour conversations where you can expand your thinking and build the capacity of fellow Framers from around the state. We collectively understand this is a learning experience and seek to create a space that explores a diverity of experiences and perspectives.
In this session, we will uncover the unique experiences faced by older Minnesotans across the gender spectrum. Together, we will discuss the strategies and opportunities for creating inclusive and equitable spaces.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
TELLING YOUR STORY WITH DATA
DATE
August 11, 2025
TIME
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOST
Central Minnesota Council on Aging
SUMMARY
Explore ways for community leaders to share their stories with data:
- Discuss the ways you use your numbers
- Showcase different ways to portray your data
- Highlight essential components of quality tables and charts
- Using stories to complement the numerical data
Presenters will interactively share how to showcase data accurately. Discussion will include ways to incorporate how to use quantitative (numbers) and qualitative (narratives) to tell your story.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
CATALYST CONVERSATIONS - REAL CONNECTIONS, REAL IMPACT: PARTNERING WITH BIPOC COMMUNITIES
DATE
August 12, 2025
TIME
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOST
MN Leadership Council on Aging
SUMMARY
This workshop is all about building real, meaningful relationships with BIPOC professionals, small businesses, and organizations. We’ll talk about how to create welcoming spaces where people feel seen and valued, not just included. You’ll learn how to plan networking events that help people connect in genuine ways, and how to share tools and resources so they actually make a difference. If you work with communities, give out funding, or want to build stronger partnerships, this session will give you the tools to work better, together.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
SEPTEMBER
CATALYST CONVERSATIONS -
THE COURAGE TO LEAD: ADVANCING EQUITY IN TIMES OF BACKLASH
DATE
September 9, 2025
TIME
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOST
MN Leadership Council on Aging
SUMMARY
In this session, Allison Johnson Heist will explore what it means to lead with courage when the political and legal climate is working against equity. As public commitments to racial justice face backlash, nonprofit and public sector leaders are left wondering if they should back down, stay the course, or find brave new ways forward. Allison will share insights from her recent work supporting organizations navigating legal and political threats to race-conscious programming in her role with the MN LEAD Initiative. Allison will offer reflections on what it takes to lead in a time of fear and uncertainty, and invite participants to consider how they, too, might lead with clarity, courage, and their values at the center.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
OCTOBER
REFRAME AGING MINNESOTA -
SUCCESSFUL COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
DATE
October 3, 2025
TIME
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOSTS
MN Leadership Council on Aging and UMN Center for Healthy Aging and Innovation
SUMMARY
Reframe Aging Minnesota is a free, virtual series of one-hour conversations where you can expand your thinking and build the capacity of fellow Framers from around the state. We collectively understand this is a learning experience and seek to create a space that explores a diverity of experiences and perspectives.
In this session, we will explore three powerful communications frames that can be used to enhance your messaging: 1) collective responsibility, 2) what surrounds us shapes us, and 3) problems can be solved.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
CATALYST CONVERSATIONS -
BEYOND SURVEYS: PSYCHOLOGICAL INDICATORS OF EQUITABLE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
DATE
October 14, 2025
TIME
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOST
MN Leadership Council on Aging
SUMMARY
This workshop with Dr. Alvin P. Akibar will transform how you see your workplace by teaching you to read the psychological signals that reveal whether equity truly exists beyond what surveys capture. You'll learn to decode the subtle patterns of communication, energy, and behavior that indicate whether people feel genuinely safe to be authentic, take risks, and bring their full selves to work. Through practical observation techniques, you'll discover how to spot the invisible signs of stress, code-switching, and emotional labor that marginalized employees often carry silently. By the end of this session, you'll have a new lens for assessing organizational climate. We'll go beyond demographic data to reveal the lived psychological experiences that either foster belonging or perpetuate exclusion. Armed with these insights, you'll be equipped to create more targeted, effective interventions that address the root causes of inequity rather than just its surface symptoms.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
NOVEMBER
CATALYST CONVERSATIONS - BEYOND BELONGING: HOW EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS CAN DRIVE EQUITY AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
DATE
November 18, 2025
TIME
10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
LOCATION
Virtual
COST
FREE
HOST
MN Leadership Council on Aging
SUMMARY
This workshop with Der Yang recognizes that Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are often seen as spaces for community and connection, but their potential goes far beyond that. In this Catalyst Conversation, we’ll explore how ERGs can be powerful drivers of equity, inclusion, and structural change within aging organizations. Through real-world examples and candid dialogue, we’ll examine strategies for aligning ERG efforts with broader organizational goals, including securing leadership support, and measuring impact. Whether you're a senior leader, ERG member, or ally, join us for this conversation about how the aging sector can transform ERGs from affinity spaces into engines of equity.
AUDIENCE
All are welcome
CONTACT
Do you have an Age-Friendly event to add to the calendar? Share the details in our event submission form and we'll post it!
Do you have questions about Age-Friendly technical assistance events? Contact Lydia Morken.
To learn more about the Age-Friendly Minnesota Council's work, including our grants and priorities, visit our full website.
