Politics, the economy, the pundits, the dark clouds gathering outside my window…they all had me discouraged until I read a recent article in the Capital Journal (Pierre, SD) about how elementary schools are using peace tables to help students talk through their conflicts.  As with most things, there’s a lot we can learn from kids. ... more

A few weeks ago Catherine Jordan wrote about a collaboration between Montevideo, MN and students from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). Then this week the Grand Rapids Herald-Review reported on a similar partnership going on in that community with MCAD students (Forget San Francisco, Grand Rapids is it for artists). ... more

Failure is popping up all for me over these days.

I was running errands recently, listening to the radio between stops, when Ira Glass, the host of This American Life, said something about failure in the context of creativity that has really stuck with me. ... more

The Bush Foundation staff spent a big part of 2011 learning about courageous leadership—from our partners, our critics, and the communities and people we serve...and from each other.

I learned every bold step plants a seed. Something may grow from it, or it may become compost that nurtures something else. Either way, the act of courage is worth it because it creates (messy, horrible, wonderful, necessary) change.

Here are the reflections of some of my coworkers: ... more

Kudos to Brooke Hanson, recipient of the 2011 Catalytic Leader Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MNCN), whose recent guest article in the MNCN Nonprofit News caught my attention. ... more

We want to know what you think, which is why we've enabled commenting on our blog. All commenters must log in, using either a Bush Foundation account or Facebook Connect. ... more

While people in most communities in the three states the Foundation serves are in the midst of tough economic times, in some oil-rich areas of northwest North Dakota, the challenges and problems they face are different. A 2008 oil boom has brought wealth to some, threatened the livelihood of farmers and ranchers who own the land but not the minerals beneath it, damaged the ecology, wrecked havoc on roads and created tent towns of oil workers too numerous for the existing available housing. ... more

Last week several of us from the Foundation were in Rapid City, SD, at the invitation of the Oglala Lakota people to observe the inner workings of their two-day Governance Analysis for Native Nations (GANN) gathering. Besides Jaime Pinkham and June Noronha, we were also joined by our partners at the Native Nations Institute, the folks who developed and present the GANN. ... more