Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)

Across the United States, there is a crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) where Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people in North America suffer disproportionately high rates of disappearance and homicide. The roots of this crisis are intertwined with colonization, forced assimilation, and the erosion of Indigenous sovereignty. This has led to increased systemic risk factors for experiencing violence and abuse among Indigenous women and girls, including poverty and lack of housing, involvement in the child welfare system and criminal justice system, being a victim of domestic violence, and sex trafficking.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Indigenous women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average in some communities. Indigenous women and girls are also disproportionately affected by violence, abduction, and disappearance. In Minnesota, as many as 54 Indigenous women and girls were reported missing in any given month from 2012 to 2020. Despite making up just 1% of the state's population, Indigenous people accounted for 8% of all murdered girls and women in Minnesota from 2010 to 2019.

There is an urgent need to address systemic issues and advocate for greater awareness and action to prevent further injustices. You can get involved in the following ways:

• Acknowledge the Historical Context: Recognize the historical injustices and systemic oppression that have contributed to the crisis of MMIW. Learn more about the U’s land grant legacy and displacement of Dakota and Ojibwe tribes.
• Support Indigenous-Led Initiatives: Amplify Indigenous women's and communities' voices leading efforts to address MMIW.
• Organizations like the National Indigenous Women's Resource Center (NIWRC) and Native Hope elevate grassroots advocates' voices to combat violence against Indigenous women.
• Educate and Raise Awareness: Foster education and awareness.
• Read the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force report to the Minnesota Legislature.
• May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls, which aims to raise awareness about the alarming rates of violence against Indigenous women and girls. It also is a day to honor and remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
• Read Unveiling the ongoing Tragedy of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (Law Journal for Social Justice)
• Take Action: Learn how to get involved through the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.

ASR Staff Engagement April 4 Survey

This week’s ASR Staff Engagement Survey asks about virtual meetings. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.

According to the last survey, respondents feel the most productive in the morning (74.1%). When asked about whether you usually have enough time and energy in a workday to complete everything you want to accomplish, about half say they do usually have enough time and energy but it depends on the time of the year (51.9%). In addition, when planning what to do first during a workday, most say that they start with the task that is most time sensitive (44.4%).

Finally we asked about your favorite flower, plant, or tree. Lilacs were mentioned most frequently, followed by orchids and willow trees. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated. Results from the last survey are available below.

March 21 survey results

When do you typically feel most productive in a workday?

• In the morning (74.1%)
• Midday (14.8%)
• Mid-Afternoon (7.4%)
• Late Afternoon (3.7%)

Do you typically have enough time and energy in a workday to complete everything that you want to accomplish?

• Yes, most of the time (29.6%)
• Yes, but it depends on the time of year (51.9%)
• Not usually (18.5%)

When planning what to do first at the start of the day, I typically...

• Start with an “easier” task (14.8%)
• Start with the most time sensitive task (44.4%)
• Start with the task that is causing the most stress (11.1%)
• I’m not sure, it depends on the day (29.6%)

Do you have a favorite flower/plant/tree? If so, what is it?

• Lilacs! I love when the bushes bloom in the spring.
• Willow Tree
• The MN native wildflower columbine
• Hibiscus
• Snapdragons!

Tony's tech terms: Full-stack developer

On the AppDev team, we sometimes refer to ourselves as full-stack developers. In short, that means we work with many parts of an application "stack." Larger teams often break responsibilities down by which part of the stack developers work on. We work on all parts of the application stack and share our expertise with each other. But what is included in our stack?

Let's start with programming languages. We’ve mentioned Ruby and JavaScript, but we have some other languages in our portfolio. For example, our WorkflowGen processes are written in a language called C#, and Drupal sites are written in a language called PHP. We also have to know HTML and how to use it in an accessible way. We also have to know Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) so our sites function properly and have University branding.

We have to work with technology for authentication (you are who you say you are) and authorization (you’re allowed to do what you’re trying to do). We have to understand how APIs work and how they are designed. We have to handle strategies to cache data to make our applications perform better.

We have to understand how to use Infrastructure as Code (IaC) to configure and manage our servers and containers in a repeatable, consistent way. We have to understand how to work with SSL certificates so communication to and from our applications is encrypted and secure. We have to understand how to use container technology.

We have to understand what tools are available to monitor our application portfolio, so we get alerted when things don’t go like they should. We have to understand all the features and ways of using git for source code control and code reviews.

We’ve also mentioned testing before. There are several kinds of tests we can write, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests. We have to know when to use each of those kinds of tests, understand the best strategy for what to test, and sometimes, write tests in more than one language.

We have to understand how a relational database like Oracle works and how to optimize queries. We have to understand the features of an Oracle database so we can write queries using SQL to get data for our systems.

Each one of these things could be a tech topic of its own—and some will be! We use all of these skills to design our applications so they’re well-tested and stable. The systems we work on are often very complex. The number of skills the team has to have to support them reflects that. I’m grateful to be a part of such an amazing team.

Update from Stacey

Thank you for all of the effort that went into performance appraisals. It is always a big lift to complete all of the self-appraisals, responses, and appraisal meetings. I heard from many supervisors and directors how good it is to be reminded of everything we accomplish in a year. I am especially grateful for folks taking the time to really think about our Diversity Equity & Inclusion Vision Statements; I saw goals spanning each of the statements and am looking forward to the year ahead.

On March 28, I will be giving an ASR update at the virtual All Staff Assembly. If there is something you would like me to cover in that update or in a News & Notes column, send me an email. I’d love to hear from you!

All Staff Assembly March 28

As a reminder, the in-person All Staff Assembly for March 28 was postponed due to an unforeseen scheduling conflict. The required safety training will be completed at a future date. We will continue to hold our regular, online All Staff Assembly on March 28 from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. over Zoom.

The Birth Justice Collaborative

The United States healthcare system is one of the most expensive in the world. Yet, preterm birth rates among Black women are 50% higher than Hispanic or White women. American Indian women are 7.8 times more likely to die during birth than white women, while Black women are 3 times as high. These are horrifying statistics, especially in a highly-developed country like the United States. What these numbers reflect is systemic racism in the medical industry.

The Black and American Indian-led Birth Justice Collaborative launched in 2022 to improve community birth outcomes in response to these alarming statistics. The Collaborative’s partners include the University of Minnesota Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC), Hennepin County, Collective Action Lab, and more.

The Collaborative operates with five key strategies. These strategies have formed the Collaborative’s two-year priorities, which include “creating a trusted cultural provider network for mothers with financial incentives, creating an advocate training program to provide quality, culturally-centered advocacy, and prioritizing anti-bias report card programs that call out culturally-insensitive practices and encourage accountability,” amongst others. Want to get involved or learn more? Reach out to the Collaborative at info@birthjusticecollaborative.com.

Interested in learning more about birth justice organizations? Check out these local birth resources within Minneapolis:

• The Childbirth Collective
• Roots Community Birth Center
• The Oshun Center for Intercultural Healing

ASR Staff Engagement March 21 Survey

This week’s ASR Staff Engagement Survey examines how we structure our workdays. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.

According to the last survey, about half of respondents are planning to travel during the spring season (51.6%). Similarly, 50% say that they currently garden or have an interest in gardening. When asked about what you’re looking forward to in spring, many mentioned the warmer weather, opening the windows, gardening, and just being outside.

Finally we asked about your go-to dessert. The vast majority of responses mentioned ice cream, followed by cheesecake and chocolate. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated. The results from the last survey are available below.

March 7 survey results

Are you planning to travel during the spring season?

• Yes (51.6%)
• No (48.4%)

What are you looking forward to in the spring?

• The sun and hopefully rain
• Golf and baseball
• Camping
• Green grass and tulips.
• Warmer weather and patios!
• Gardening!
• More hours of daylight & no chance of shoveling.

Do you garden or have interest in gardening?

• Yes (50%)
• No (43.3%)
• I’m not sure (6.7%)

What is your 'go-to' dessert?

• Ice cream with fresh fruit
• Cookies! I like to keep frozen cookie dough in my freezer for when the mood strikes.
• Custard tart or some sort of crumb/streusel topped cake.
• Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake
• Root beer floats