2017: Legacy Project is Launched

With "With an Eye to the Past" as its history, the Minnesota Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities launches itself forward with an online Legacy Project entitled "With an Eye to the Future."

"With an Eye to the Future" was announced as part of the Grand Opening of the State Capitol in August, 2017. The launching ceremony began with Dr. Colleen Wieck, Executive Director of the MNDDC, providing a history of developmental disabilities, with a brief review of the online archive entitled "With An Eye to the Past."

See "With an Eye to the Past - Preserving Minnesota's History about Developmental Disabilities"

Her impactful comments were followed by presentations from Class 34 Partners in Policymaking® Graduate Justin Smith and former U.S. Senator David F. Durenberger. These segments would be among the first added to "With An Eye to the Future."

The Council's newly-funded project will chronicle all the significant developments in the advancement of disability rights since the Olmstead case came down in 1999, right up to the present, and with predictions for beyond. "With an Eye to the Future" will build on the success and formatting of "With an Eye to the Past," which included an index of government and legal documents, videos, photographs, articles, reports, and events, all documenting how far the state has come from deinstitutionalization to inclusion.

The Legacy Project is all part of the Council's mission to provide information that will change attitudes and lead to increased independence, self-determination, productivity, integration and inclusion of people with developmental disabilities.

The Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities thanks the Minnesota Legislature, the Minnesota Humanities Center and the Minnesota Department of Administration for assistance on this Legacy Project feature.