Minnesota Voices

At sixty, Dr. Steven Miles has spent a lifetime helping people. Whether it be improving end of life care, criticizing the use of restraints in nursing homes, improving refugee camp medicine, or researching the human rights violations performed by doctors at Abu Ghraib and other prisons during the war on terror, Miles has been drawn to help those who are otherwise neglected. 

For more than 35 years, Don Fraser worked as a member of the Minnesota Senate, the U.S. House of Representatives, and Mayor of Minneapolis. Born in Minneapolis, Fraser was educated in the public school system and later at the University of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Law School.  Today, Fraser works with the Committee of the Achievement Gap, a project of the DFL Education Foundation, which was organized to study the educational achievement gap experienced by children from high-poverty areas, with a focus on the Twin Cities metropolitan area. 

As the executive director for St. Paul's Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation (ASANDC), which runs social, economic housing and commercial development programs, Nieeta Presley strives to empower people to effect social change. Her work, which ranges from helping people find economic independence through home ownership to rallying for additional light rail stops in the neighborhood, happens mainly behind-the-scenes. Presley, 59, is accomplished in her field, but her greatest priority remains her family. Balancing both is a challenge, she admits, but her faith carries her through it all. Below, Presley, whose life has taken some unexpected twists, discusses how she got to where she is today, her values and future ambitions.    

Growing up at the height of the Civil Rights Movement inspired Syd Beane, 68, to become a community organizer/community developer and fight for Native Americans. For nearly 40 years he traversed the country advocating for Indians and others invisible to those in power. In 1993, Beane moved to Minnesota, ending an exile imposed on the Dakota 150 years ago. From his charming, rustic home in Plymouth, MN, Beane talked about his career, his beliefs and the struggles Native Americans face.

Here is his distinctive Minnesota voice: (Scroll to bottom for audio and video)