Tapping the Potential of Community Engagement registration is currently CLOSED. We encourage you to sign up to the Nexus newsletter to learn when registration opens again next year!
Tapping the Potential of Community Engagement
A Five-Part Introduction to the Field of Community Engagement
The annual Tapping the Potential of Community Engagement workshop series is designed to deepen your knowledge and self-awareness, broaden your perspective, and sharpen your skills as you explore the potential for community engagement to create equitable, healthy, and sustainable communities. The sessions are for anyone who is interested in learning more about community engagement, or for those who wish to deepen their work with community.
Dates: September 7, September 21, October 5, October 19, November 2
Time: 9:30 am – 12:30 pm CST
Where: Mills City Museum (704 South Second Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401)
*Mill City Museum is accessible from the Blue and Green Lines via the U.S. Bank Stadium Station, Metro Transit Bus #22. There are biking racks and lanes near the building as well as parking ramps like the Mill Quarter Ramp located across from Mill City Museum. We will validate parking.
Session Topics:
- Session 1: What is Community Engagement?
- Session 2: Shifting Power: Moving from Service to Engagement
- Session 3: Healing through Community Engagement
- Session 4: Creating a Culture of Community Engagement
- Session 5: Moving Forward: Integrating Community Engagement Practices
Learning Goals:
- Understand the principles and values of community engagement and how it differs from other practices, such as outreach and the traditional social service model
- Learn how community engagement can make your work more effective
- Utilize community engagement tools for building relationships and hosting conversations
- Explore how community engagement leads to equity and how understanding equity is essential for effective community engagement
- Explore opportunities for healing and antidotes to white supremacy culture through community engagement
- Assess your organization’s readiness and capacity to advance racial equity through community engagement
PLEASE NOTE:
- Attendance at all five in-person sessions is required, as this is a cohort experience and each session builds upon previous sessions. *This year is exclusively in person but we are working on offering a hybrid and online options for 2024.
- Registration is first come, first served up to 30 participants.
- Expect to spend 1-2 hours doing homework between sessions.
**Please do not register for more than 5 participants from one organization** this is to ensure a mix of participants from various sectors and backgrounds for a rich, dynamic experience. Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns about this requirement.
Sliding Scale Rates:
Thank you, AORTA, for the template used in their Public Program Rates page that helped us adapt our sliding scale rates.
NCEI offers a sliding scale for registration based on an individual’s or organization’s access to wealth, money and resources so that we can support folks doing movement-building and liberation work while also honoring our staff and partners’ labor and time. The cost of the training covers staff time, tech host support, development of participant materials, as well as honoraria for community leaders to co-facilitate and share stories of impact at the sessions.
If you need more guidance or help deciding how much to pay, please see below.
Suggested Rates Per Person (scroll down for more details):
- Individual Rate: $0-500
- Disrupter Rate: $750
- Full Cost Rate: $1000
- Seeds of Change Rate: $2500
Individual Rate: $0-500
Please consider these questions when determining how much you can pay as an individual out of pocket:
- Are you and your family homeowners or landowners?
- Do you have access to affordable healthcare or health insurance for you or your family members?
- Do you have zero to no debt and/or do you have disposable income?
- Does your income only support you, and not other loved ones?
- Have you or do you expect to inherit money or property?
- Have you (or could you have) attended college and/or graduate school?
If you answered yes to most of the above questions –> $500
If you answered some yes and some no –> $250
If you answered all no –> $0

Disrupter Rate: $750
For individuals who are sponsored by organizations that:
- Have a budget between $250k-$500K
- Have access to no, or small amounts of, professional development dollars
- The highest paid staff has a salary between $60k-$100K
Full Cost Rate: $1000
For individuals sponsored by organizations that:
- Have an annual budget of $500k – $1 million
- Have access to professional development dollars that can cover this training series
- The highest paid staff has a salary of $100k-$150K per year
Seeds of Change Rate: $2500
For individuals sponsored by philanthropy, for-profit entities or organizations that:
- Have an annual budget of over $1 million
- Have access to significant professional development dollars for staff/members
- The highest paid staff has a salary over $150k per year

About Nexus Community Engagement Institute: Nexus Community Engagement Institute (NCEI) advances and strengthens communities through equity-based community engagement, both locally and nationally. NCEI is continuing the work of the Building the Field of Community Engagement collaborative (BTF).
Facilitators and Presenters: The presenters and facilitators are staff and partners of Nexus Community Partners and Nexus Community Engagement Institute.
Please contact NCEI@nexuscp.org for more information.