Rules of Engagement

Host Makeda Zulu explores how storytelling, culture, and public health intersect to promote healing in community. Learn how the University of Minnesota Extension is teaming up with the Black Storytellers Alliance and UROC to engage local communities in the fight against cardiovascular disease. The University of Minnesota Extension has been recognized nationally by the CDC for its effectiveness in combating diabetes. Tune in to hear real stories, community-driven strategies, and how you can support this meaningful work.

UROC welcomed Adriano Udani as the new Director of Community-Engaged Research. In this episode learn more about Adriano as he reflects on his journey leading up to his new role, and his plans to continue impactful work in research, community, and leadership.

The legalization of cannabis has opened doors for change and growth. In this episode, Makeda Zulu chats with Anthony Newby, Max Zappi, and Professor Rhonda Jones-Webb from the University of Minnesota about the financial and social impacts of marijuana legalization in Minnesota, and how communities that have historically been the most impacted can benefit economically from the growing cannabis industry.

The University of Minnesota’s Office for Public Engagement (OPE) is widely considered a national leader in advancing community-engaged research, teaching, and outreach that addresses the most pressing issues of our time. Together UROC and OPE work to make their vision of public engagement a reality. Discover how OPE builds and supports infrastructure throughout the University’s five-campus system that promotes deep, mutually beneficial partnerships for scholars, students, and communities throughout Minnesota and beyond. 

As Minnesota's Commissioner of Health, Dr. Brooke Cunningham is responsible for directing the work of the Minnesota Department of Health, the state's lead public health agency, responsible for protecting, maintaining, and improving the health of all Minnesotans. Dr. Cunningham is a general internist, sociologist, and assistant professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and a primary care provider at the University’s Community-University Health Care Clinic.  Her research focused on developing strategies to reduce racial disparities in health, including addressing the adverse impacts of exposure to racism. Dr. Cunningham and podcast host UROC Executive Director Makeda Zulu will discuss how the state’s health priorities dovetail with UROC’s mission and how partnerships are a way to move forward.

Tonia Brinston and Sharon Powell are widely recognized financial educators who help individuals and families gain control over their lives by creating a budget, improving their credit scores, and paying down debt. Their UROC supported “Voices of the Future: Linking Historical Trauma, Ambiguous Loss, and Financial Decision Making Among African American Families” project helps families understand how systemic racism has affected their current financial well-being and equips participants with information and tools so they can make better financial decisions going forward. 

Disrupting sex trafficking networks in Minnesota and beyondDescription: Lauren Martin and her work with UROC in researching and disrupting the sex trafficking industry has received national and international attention. Her breakthrough Mapping the Demand: Sex Buyers in the State of Minnesota and her team’s work serve as a national model understanding the market structure behind trafficking.

North Minneapolis’s Liberty Community Church has been a steadfast partner and loyal advocate of UROC’s for more than a decade. Hear how the University of Minnesota through UROC works with the local faith community and its leaders and learn about Liberty’s Northside Healing, a community-driven solution to healing the trauma of North Minneapolis residents. 

UROC Research Agenda awardee and nationally recognized community-engaged scholar Rachel Hardeman is leading a major research project titled Multidimensional Measures of Structural Racism. The project explores the measurement of the impact of structural racism in urban communities and documents the ways that Black communities have been and are currently systemically disenfranchised. In particular, structural racism disadvantages Black birthing people before, during, and after pregnancy, leading to heartbreaking health inequities for them and their babies. 

Since opening its doors in 2009, UROC has worked to build thriving, innovative, and respectful collaborations while creating new models of urban and community development. UROC’s hallmark project addressing economic development is the Northside Job Creation Team (NJCT).  Founded in 2012 with the goal of attracting sustainable-wage jobs to North Minneapolis by 2019, the NJCT is a collaboration representing major stakeholders across the University, the government sector, non-profits, local business owners and the faith community.

The University of Minnesota Extension has been recognized nationally by the CDC for its effectiveness in combating diabetes. Learn about the innovative ways the University and the Black Storytellers Alliance are working with UROC to engage communities in the battle to combat the disease. 

Healthy eating plays a key role in people’s ability to thrive. UROC Research Agenda awardee Professor Fernando Burga digs deeply into the history and policymaking of food systems in Minneapolis. His works includes his community partner Queen Frye, co-founder of R. Roots Garden, a Minnesota non-profit helping underserved Minneapolis communities by growing fresh produce on four privately owned lots in North Minneapolis. The team works with Northside residents and to gather data and empower them to advocate for a healthier and more culturally relevant foodscape.

Since opening its doors in 2009, UROC has worked to build thriving, innovative, and respectful collaborations and create new models of urban and community development through University/community partnership. UROC community partner Hedy Walls, executive vice president, social responsibility, YMCA of the North, and Doug Kennedy, assistant  professor with the Integrative Health and Wellbeing Research Program at the University of Minnesota Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing, talk about their experience with UROC affiliation and learning and growing through University-community engaged partnerships. 

Engaging community can be demonstrated in many ways.  In this one-on-one with Dean Nisha Botchwey, learn how the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs has engaged communities in meaningful, unique, and mutually beneficial ways.

UROC addresses its health and wellness impact in many ways.  Slow Roll gets people biking in their city. Infrastructure has been a way to exclude communities and this is a practice in inclusion. Learn about Anthony Taylor’s  work in the community and partnerships with UROC. Slow and Steady

UROC has joined the Collective Action Lab and community partners in improving material health outcomes by surfacing community knowledge.

The Robert J. Jones University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC)  reports to the University’s Office for Public Engagement (OPE), widely considered a national leader in advancing community-engaged research, teaching, and outreach that address the most pressing issues of our time. OPE builds and supports infrastructure throughout the University’s five-campus system that promotes deep, mutually beneficial partnerships for scholars, students, and communities throughout Minnesota and beyond. 

Rules of Engagement is a monthly podcast showcasing the projects and partners of the University of Minnesota’s North Minneapolis-based Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC). Conversation topics center on UROC’s research mission of working in scholarly-based partnership with urban communities to advance learning, improve quality of life, and discover breakthrough solutions to critical problems. The series is hosted by UROC Executive Director Makeda Zulu with production assistance from Blackbird Revolt.