Podcast Episodes

Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner and University of Minnesota School of Medicine Assistant Professor Dr. Brooke Cunningham is putting her research on strategies to reduce racial health disparities to work in her role as Minnesota chief medical officer. 

Financial gurus University of Minnesota Extension Educator Sharon Powell and Extension Health and Wellness Coordinator and SLAP Financial Consulting Founder Tonia Brinston work to help individuals and families gain control over their lives by budgeting and paying down debt. 

University of Minnesota School of Nursing Associate Professor and UROC Affiliated Researcher Lauren Martin has received national and international attention for her breakthrough and ongoing research in understanding the market structure behind sex trading and trafficking. 

North Minneapolis’s Liberty Community Church has been a steadfast partner of UROC’s for more than a decade. Hear from Liberty Community Church Co-Pastor Alika Galloway about how the Minneapolis faith community is working with the University of Minnesota to help heal historical trauma. 

University of Minnesota School of Public Health Professor and UROC Affiliated Researcher Rachel Hardeman and Roots Community Birth Center director Rebecca Polston explore the roots of structural racism and its impact on Black birthing people before, during, and after pregnancy.  

A UROC signature project, the Northside Job Creation Team—or NJCT—brings together stakeholders from across the Twin Cities with the goal of creating sustainable wage jobs in North Minneapolis. Learn about the scope and impact of the project with Tashitaa Tufaa, CEO, Metropolitan Transportation Network and William English, NJCT Community Director.

Black Storytellers Alliance Co-Founder Vusumuzi Zulu and University of Minnesota Extension Center for Family Development Educator Janice Rasmussen share ways the University and the Black Storytellers Alliance are working to engage communities in the battle to combat diabetes.

University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs Assistant Professor and UROC Affiliated Researcher Fernando Burga and R. Root Garden Co-Founder Queen Frye are working to empower Minneapolis residents to advocate for a healthier and more culturally relevant foodscape.

Hedy Walls, Executive Vice President for Social Responsibility for the YMCA of the North, and Doug Kennedy, Assistant Professor with the Integrative Health and Wellbeing Research Program at the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, discuss what they’ve learned through University- community engaged partnerships.

University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs Dean Nisha Botchwey discusses how her nationally recognized school is engaging communities in innovative and mutually beneficial projects.

Minneapolis-based Slow Roll Founder and BIKEFY Consulting Development and Engagement Strategist Anthony Taylor works to promote health, wellness, and infrastructure inclusivity through urban bicycling in North Minneapolis and beyond.

Corenia Smith, project manager with the Collective Action Lab, discusses the Birth Justice Collaborative which aims to improve maternal health outcomes through partnerships and surfacing community knowledge.

University of Minnesota Office for Public Engagement Faculty Director of Academic Planning and Programs David Weerts discusses the theory and practices behind University-community public engagement and the mutual benefits it offers.