Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation partnered with Research in Action to connect with directly impacted residents to understand how its East Metro Pulse survey reflects their experiences. Community members also identified how they would like to see the data used in ways that are equitable, transparent, and accountable to community. 

Partners

Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

The Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation (SPMF) is a statewide community philanthropic foundation committed to investing in Minnesota communities to build equity and opportunities that work to create a more equitable and just Minnesota for people and communities to thrive.

East Metro Residents

Fifteen community members living in Dakota, Ramsey, and Washington counties contributed their lived expertise to this work. Their knowledge of the East Metro community shaped actionable recommendations for the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.

Problem

First developed by SPMF and Wilder Foundation in collaboration with 18 community members in 2016, the East Metro Pulse survey gauges community members' feelings about opportunity and belonging in the East Metro area (Dakota, Ramsey, and Washington counties). Following its initial release, it was distributed in 2018, 2021, and 2024, with the 2024 report still under development at Wilder. 

However, while the survey aims to measure community vitality in the Twin Cities East Metro and aims to improve conditions for current and future residents, there had been no community engagement around the survey’s design since its initial release, or any feedback sessions with community members regarding the survey findings. In addition, the core content of the survey had remained consistent over the years, including the demographic questions, limiting the accuracy in reflecting the true identities of current community members.

Process

A Data Walk is more than simply a report-back on research findings. In our projects, the Data Walk is an opportunity for community members to: 

  • Review findings and analysis 

  • Provide additional context and framing around the findings and analysis

  • Reflect together on the data and stories shared

  • Narrow in on priorities for recommendations 

This event aimed to assess how well the survey reflects East Metro residents’ lived experiences. It also served as a test to determine whether the Data Walk format is an effective way to gather insights from residents and whether it would be a valuable community engagement tool in future survey iterations.

The RIA team developed an outreach strategy targeting key demographic groups represented in the East Metro Pulse data and those who may have been underrepresented. These groups included parents with children at home, single heads of households, and Black, Latine, and Asian community members. We collaborated with community organizations within East Metro to distribute information about the Data Walk. A total of 15 attendees and two interpreters participated in the Data Walk. 

The Data Walk agenda included three core activities with participants: learning about participants’ knowledge of the East Metro Pulse Survey through dinner conversations, presenting key 2024 East Metro Pulse Survey findings, then collecting feedback from participants, and a final activity inviting participants to share their vision for future East Metro Pulse surveys and to discuss how funding could best support the East Metro community. 

Solutions

Based on the insights gained from members of the East Metro community during this project, RIA provided eight key recommendations to serve as a roadmap for SPMF in guiding future investments and continuing to evolve the East Metro Pulse survey to be responsive to the community it measures.

Recommendations for the Survey: 

  1. Make the survey items representative of the community members via updated demographic questions.

  2. Investigate the ‘why’ within East Metro Pulse via qualitative data collection.

  3. Tap into more survey recruitment and distribution strategies to diversify respondents, such as bus stops, community centers, workforce development centers, and schools. 

Recommendations for The Foundation as a funder:

  1. Intentionally fund grassroots organizations and culturally specific opportunities. 

  2. Implement accountability tracking processes for East Metro Pulse data and funding decisions.

Recommendations for Further Community Engagement: 

  1. Develop partnerships with trusted grassroots community organizations. 

  2. Host community engagement within more accessible East Metro community environments. 

  3. Bring East Metro Pulse findings back to the community for ground findings and subsequent reports.

Resources