The Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities
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Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

Professor John McKnight: Capacity Building Beyond Community Services

Video Interview

Introduction by Ed Preneta, Retired Director, Connecticut Council on Developmental Disabilities

Anyone interested in successfully including people on the margins into neighborhood and community life needs to listen to John McKnight and study asset based community development. John is a community organizer, an academic and a brilliant story-teller. He is deeply committed to promoting the ability and capacity of people, their neighbors and their associations. He believes every community has welcoming places and people and that every person has a gift, ability or skill to share…
John McKnight (continued)

John McKnight
Videotaped Interview: August 3, 2011     Posted: September 15, 2011

Interview Segments:

About John McKnight and the Asset-Based Community Development Institute
Five basic resources people use to make things better
How did you become interested in neighborhoods?
Defining "community" and "neighborhood"
What were the findings of the study program and what was your reaction to them?
Describe what you mean by "Services cannot deliver well-being?"
What is your advice for people with disabilities on becoming part of the community, as you have defined it?
Do you have anything to say to parents who have a child who has been diagnosed and labeled as having disabilities?
About the Web Site ABCDInstitute.org
Conclusion

Professor John McKnight: Community Building

There are many approaches to community organizing. The heart and soul of John McKnight's approach are all of the people who live in a community, and the wealth of their combined gifts, abilities, and skills that create a welcoming and wholly inclusive environment.

Here he brings this concept to life and talks about the key elements of asset based community development through his wit and the art of storytelling.

Presentation conducted: February 17, 2012   Posted: May 25, 2012

John McKnight

Presentation Segments:

John McKnight, a community organizer and gifted story teller, is committed to the concepts and principles of asset based community development – discovering and enhancing the abilities, capacities, gifts and skills of every member of every neighborhood and community.  In a conversation with Cormac Russell, Managing Director of the UK based consulting and research organization, Nurture Development, John McKnight and Peter Block speak about the renewal of communities, local living, and cooperation. (7-25-17)

Play Conversation:

Abundantcommunity.com Audio Recordings Page     Transcript

John McKnight Resources and Documents:

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The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center, the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.

This project was supported, in part by grant number 2401MNSCDD, from the U.S. Administration for Community Living, Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. 20201. Grantees undertaking projects with government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their findings and conclusions. Points of view or opinions do not, therefore, necessarily represent official ACL policy.

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