CRC staff and board members were fortunate to work with several University of Minnesota students in the summer of 2018 to assess CRC’s board governance, mission and priorities, and public engagement in order to provide a set of recommendations. The students produced the following report, “CapitolRiver Council: Mapping the Future to Everyone’s Downtown,” as their capstone project to earn a Master in Public Affairs degree at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs. This research question served as a guide to the students’ project: How can the CapitolRiver Council most effectively deploy its limited resources to maximize their influence and stakeholder engagement in the political and planning processes of Downtown Saint Paul?

The beginning of the report (pages 1-20) contains the research methodology, findings and recommendations.  The remaining pages contain information from other sources, including some information about neighborhood councils generally,  and about CRC in particular. Starting on page 27, the students present information about the fiduciary responsibilities of nonprofit board members, including the roles of board members as chief stewards of the organization’s resources and mission.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the students’ requests for information. Go to page 41 for survey results and other data based on the personal interviews that were conducted by the students.

Read the full report, Mapping the Future to Everyone’s Downtown.