Communities of Practice and Workgroups
A community of practice (CoPs) is a group of people with similar job functions who come together to share their knowledge and learn from each other. CoPs are a way for employees to exchange ideas, collaborate and connect, share experiences and tools, and address common problems.
Below is a list of CoPs open to people across the enterprise. To join a CoP, email the contact person listed.
If you lead a CoP that’s open to employees across state service, please complete the State of Minnesota CoP form.
Join a Community of Practice
| Name | Purpose | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility Advocates | This CoP meets monthly to help create a more inclusive digital experience for all Minnesotans. It's a network of multi-functional professionals looking to solve real-world digital accessibility problems together. The community is open to anyone looking to support more inclusive digital experiences across Minnesota agencies, build their practical skills and knowledge, and strengthen their role as a trusted accessibility resource. | Michelle Engstrom |
| Accounts Receivable Workgroup | This workgroup meets quarterly to discuss best practices regarding Accounts Receivable. | Michael Hietpas |
| Art of Hosting (AoH) | This CoP is open to enterprise employees who have completed the three-day AoH training (through the state or elsewhere). The AoH is a way of bringing people together that harnesses the collective wisdom and self‑organizing capacity of groups by using powerful conversational practices that help people step in, take ownership, and respond effectively to complex challenges. | Katie Boone, Michele Kvikstad, Andrea Steen and Julie Zaruba-Fountaine |
| Change Management | This CoP meets monthly to leverage their collective best practices to help each member grow in their profession and commitment to helping people thrive. It's open to professionals with a passion for helping people, organizations and systems manage change. | Matt Menke and Julie Zaruba-Fountaine |
| Community Engagement | This CoP meets monthly as a gathering space for staff who practice community engagement to deepen their skills and contribute to agency-wide engagement efforts. | Robby Schreiber |
| iCAN (Internal Control and Accountability Network) | This network provides internal control, audit, finance and compliance professionals a place to share best practices and learn from subject‑matter experts. The sessions cover timely topics, such as fraud reporting, cybersecurity, plain language, data practices, managing federal funds, and internal control standards. The goal is to help agencies strengthen and improve their internal control systems through these informative sessions. | Tara DeCrow |
| Internal Communications | This CoP meets quarterly to create a space for communicators across state agencies to connect, learn and support one another. It's open to anyone who works in state government that provides internal (employee-facing) communications as part of their role. | Stephanie McGuire and Brooke Wallington |
| Learning and Development | This CoP meets monthly to share best practices, tools, and resources, and to foster a culture of continuous learning. By embracing innovative technologies and diverse perspectives, they aim to enhance the effectiveness of training programs and ensure that advancements benefit of their agencies or community. It's open to any state employee who is a learning and development professional in their role. The position could be full-time or part of their work. Individuals do not need to have a title that specifies learning and development. State agencies can include both executive and non-executive branches. | Deb Gramza |
| R Users Group (TidyTuesdays) | This group meets weekly to hang out with other data folks, celebrate each other's successes, and puzzle together to solve challenges and bring data dreams to life. It's open to all data topics, but most often focuses on using the friendly statistical language "R" to streamline and automate data and reporting work. | Dorian Kvale and Barbara Monaco |
| Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) Steering Committee | This committee meets quarterly to strategically network and cross share with state agency divisions and teams that intersect with K-12 schools to support the whole child framework (cdc.gov/whole-school-community-child/about). It's open to anyone who intersects with the K-12 school population or young people, early childhood and adult learners. | Terri Swartout |