APM Research Lab and MPR present on the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Project

MNEA is excited to create space for the APM Research Lab, MPR News and the MPR|APM Community Engagement Team, who will share what they learned using quantitative and qualitative methods to engage community.

We invite you to join us for this event on April 22 from 12-1pm over Zoom to learn about the context within which they are working!

What do Indigenous Minnesotans think about access to food? What do Hmong Minnesotans think about policing? What Latinx Minnesotans think of public schools? How do Black Minnesotans finances have changed over the pandemic? Come and learn about how the APM Research Lab, MPR News and the MPR|APM Community Engagement Team worked to understand Minnesota’s BIPOC communities.

Over the past two years, the Community Engagement Team held over a dozen listening sessions in Minnesota, while the APM Research Lab conducted the statewide Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey. The goal was to learn as much as possible about the beliefs and attitudes of groups that haven't gotten a lot of focus in the past. A broad array of racial and ethnic groups were asked about their beliefs and attitudes about the institutions and infrastructure in our communities with topics ranging from health care, access to food, schools and policing. MPR News has already reported on some of the survey results, but there are many more stories to be told!

We hope the survey results can serve as a jumping-off point for broader and deeper conversations about the experiences of different racial and ethnic groups in Minnesota. This session will include opportunities for self-reflection, dialoguing and a deep dive into the survey process and results.

Presenter bios:

Craig Helmstetter leads the Research Lab, directing the overall agenda and developing new projects, as well as providing hands-on analysis and reporting. Craig joined American Public Media from Wilder Research. His 16 years there included helping to establish and then lead the Minnesota Compass initiative. Craig also has experience as an evaluator with Minnesota’s Legislative Auditor’s Office, a project manager with a survey research center, is the past President of the Community Indicators Consortium, and currently serves on the Transparency Initiative Coordinating Committee of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. Craig is a graduate of Luther College, and received both a master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Oregon, where he focused on quantitative methods, survey research, public opinion, political psychology, and social stratification. Craig lives outside of Minneapolis where he enjoys running, skiing, and spending time with his family.

Ka Vang is the community impact director for Minnesota Public Radio & American Public Media. A proud Hmong-American, Vang was born on a CIA military base, Long Cheng, Laos, at the end of the Vietnam War, and immigrated to the United States in 1980. She has a BA from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and a master’s in education from Minnesota State, Mankato. She has spent the last 20 years working in media and education. She was of the first Hmong reporters in the US working in the late 90s for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. For 10 years she had a columnist for the Minnesota’s Women Press. In 2009, Ka Vang was featured in the book, “Hmong History Makers,” published by Holt DcDougal for her work collecting and preserving Hmong folklore from the Hmong people across the globe from Australia to Germany.

About the APM Research Lab: The APM Research Lab is home to a team of researchers who inform the public with both original and curated research, facts and analysis. This work equips journalists, civic and business leaders and anyone else who want to know what the best research says about challenges and opportunities facing families, communities and organizations throughout the nation.