Thanks to a sort of American Idol for ideas, a Twin Cities woman gets $15,000 to implement her concept, and a Minnesota foundation gets an experience that could help change the way local institutions make decisions in the future.
Christine Tubbs of Stillwater was named winner Tuesday of the inaugural
Minnesota Idea Open challenge. Her idea was culled from more that 400 submissions in an online contest that asked Minnesotans to submit their best ideas to encourage healthier eating and more active lifestyles.
All submissions were posted on the contest's website, where they could be viewed and comment on by other participants. Judges picked three finalists, which were then put to an Idol-style vote.
Tubbs' proposal, to put on a series of youth-led activity field days, was selected as the winner by the nearly 5,000 Minnesotans who cast their votes on the website since early April.
The
Minnesota Community Foundation had the web application built through a partnership with
Ashoka Changemakers, which organizes similar international contests for social entrepreneurs. Major funding came from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The two-month contest showed how the Web can be used to get more people involved in public dialogue.
"We have been able to have conversations and get ideas from people from all walks of life, all across the state," said Jennifer Ford Reedy, the foundation's vice president for strategy and knowledge management. "We didn't reach everybody, but we reached people who were not usually a part of the conversation."
The local foundation now owns the web application and plans to make it available for other organizations in the state, as well as to sponsor one or two statewide contests per year.
Up next, though: helping Tubbs turn her idea into reality.
Source: Jennifer Ford Reedy, Minnesota Community Foundation
Author:
Dan Haugen