The Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship is pleased to join with the Strommen Center for Meaningful Work and Learning to welcome to campus a new partner in 2020: Urban Investors.
Twenty-two years ago Urban Adventure was created by Peter Heegaard to provide educational experiences for emerging leaders in business and financial professions. The program seeks to make urban issues understandable and to catalyze investment and community development that moves families out of poverty, revitalizes neighborhoods, improves schools, and builds employment. Throughout its history, Urban Adventure has engaged more than 400 local leaders from financial institutions in its programming. Participants in the program engage in simulations, problem-based learning, and site visits in order to learn about the positive outcomes of investing in under-resourced communities. Emerging leaders participating in Urban Adventure are exposed to the strategies that have transformed many St. Paul and Minneapolis neighborhoods, learning strategies for connecting financial institutions with the community in order to affect positive change through investment, employment, and economic vitality.
With the move to Augsburg University next year, Urban Adventure will change its name to “Urban Investors” which better reflects the depth and significance of the experiences students have with the program.
The banks and financial professionals who have taken part in Urban Adventure over the last 22 years have remained committed to the urban core. Augsburg’s commitment to being an anchor institution in the region, and the Sabo Center’s commitment to stewarding the University’s many community-based partnerships, make it a natural home for the program in this new phase. Urban Investors will continue to be influenced by program founder Peter Heegaard, who is also the author of Heroes Among Us and More Bang for Your Buck. Mike Christenson will be the 2020 program director and has held executive positions with Allina, Minneapolis Community Technical College, the City of Minneapolis, and most recently Hennepin County, where he directed workforce programs for the region.
Please join us in welcoming Urban Investors to campus! We are excited to see what community partnerships and opportunities for students may emerge from this new connection.