The Leading for the Future Series (LeaF) provides an exceptional opportunity for personal and professional development that is geared specifically for Minnesota school board members. This cohort group meets regularly to explore futures thinking and its impact on current work of school boards. Members of this group will also become policy advocates to make change for the future of learning in Minnesota.

Members of the future leaders cohort will:

Learn Together

• Learn tools and mindsets of futures thinking (e.g. Implication Wheel, Cone of Plausibility, Futures Triangle, Scenario Development)
• Learn ways to incorporate futures thinking tools and mindsets to daily work, strategic planning and change making
• Learn about policies that might affect or enable decisions made with an eye toward the future

Take Action

• Create a personal “thought network” to share learning with other stakeholders in their local communities
• Explore opportunities to apply foresight in change efforts in current local and state contexts (for example, the future of high school sports, the proposed constitutional amendment, letter grades)
• Become active in policy work to implement change

Build Relationships

• Build relationships with local and state governing bodies
• Establish trusted relationships with cohort colleagues and share ideas and considerations among the group
• Build an individual cadre of trusted thought partners to deeply explore issues in local context

View the Leading for the Future Series FAQ for more information.

Staff from KnowledgeWorks and the University of St. Thomas will be facilitating the sessions. Applicants should be interested in making change, connecting with other board members and deepening local relationships while supporting policies for student centered learning. With the help of futures thinking, we can find ways to pursue our visions while grappling with the inherent uncertainty of the future. Ultimately, exploring the future is an act of stewardship to our future communities and to the young people who will live in them.

For questions about the content of the series, please contact Katie King, Director of Strategic Foresight Engagement at KnowledgeWorks at kingk@knowledgeworks.org. For questions about the application process or more detail on how the series can benefit school board members, please contact Lucy Payne, Associate Professor at University of St. Thomas and Mahtomedi School Board member, at llpayne@stthomas.edu.

Steve Adams, Hopkins Public Schools

Erica Allenburg, Edina Public Schools

Todd Anderson, Roseville Area Schools

Sarah Grovender, North Branch Area Public Schools

Suzy Guthmueller, Centennial School District

Erin Heers-McArdle, Anoka-Hennepin Schools

Cory Johnson, Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District

Sara Rose, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial School District

Kathleen Undeland, Mesabi East School District

Ann Long Voelkner, Bemidji Area Schools

Monica Weber, South St. Paul Public Schools

Holly Wright, Laporte Public School

Kelsey Dawson Walton, Osseo Area Public Schools

Tiffany Barnard, Hutchinson Public Schools

Helen Bassett, Robbinsdale Area Schools

Linda Diaz, South St. Paul Public Schools

Julie Domogalla, East Central Schools

Zuki Ellis, St. Paul Public Schools

Kitty Gogins, Roseville Area Schools

Matthew Goldade, New Prague Area Schools

Amanda Groebner, New Ulm Public Schools

Nicole Hayes, Anoka-Hennepin Schools

Jackie Horsman, Kingsland Public Schools

Nelly Korman, Bloomington Public Schools

David Marty, Independent School District 318 (Grand Rapids/Bigfork)

Megan Morrison, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City Public Schools

Jerry Robicheau, Faribault Public Schools

Lynne Penke Valdes, St. Anthony-New Brighton School District

Vicki White, Walker Hackensack Akeley School District