Day one, we discuss the legal and liability issues inherent to this subject, including negligent hiring, discrimination issues under state and federal law, Minnesota statutes, and related topics.

Day two focuses on use of the background questionnaire, releases and authorizations, writing the report and using the data practices act and other sources to conduct a sound and legally defensible background process.

This course is designed for any person who hires, manages, or supports law enforcement personnel, whether, full-time, part-time or volunteer. This class is very appropriate for LE, HR, County Administration, or County Attorneys. 

Register directly on the MSA website. View event flyer >

From one-time efforts to year-round momentum, too many organizations rely on bursts of energy like giving days, year-end pushes, last-minute appeals without the systems to support them.

It is important to shift the focus from urgency to sustainability. This session emphasizes practical systems, clear goal-setting, and repeatable processes that reduce burnout and increase consistency.

This training is provided in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

Bring an issue your organization is facing, and leave with clearer options and practical next steps you can act on immediately!

This session supports leaders in moving from “fixing the same problems” to creating system-level stability. Participants translate recurring issues into system insights, map priority processes, and design a targeted 30-day experiment—building momentum even within constrained capacity.

This training is provided in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

This intermediate-level intensive workshop is geared toward nonprofit and government staff or long-term volunteers with grant writing experience who are ready to take the next step in crafting winning proposals. Learn to write stronger proposals and win more grants.

This training is provided in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

Turning strategy into real conversations and real results

Even with strong systems in place, many nonprofit professionals still hesitate at the most critical moment: the ask. This training is hands-on, practical, and confidence-building. This session creates space to practice, refine, and build comfort with real-world fundraising conversations. We move beyond theory into lived experience to help participants find language that feels natural, grounded, and aligned with their mission.

This training is provided in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

How strong organizations create strong fundraising. Fundraising doesn’t begin with an ask, it begins with alignment. Participants explore how leadership, governance, and strategic clarity directly shape donor trust and long-term stewardship. This session focuses on strengthening the internal foundation that makes fundraising more natural, more effective, and more sustainable.

This training is provided in partnership with the Initiative Foundation.

In this one-day workshop participants will learn how to establish and sustain comprehensive school safety efforts that attend to both physical and psychological safety. The workshop addresses critical components needed to develop, exercise, and evaluate safety and crisis teams and plans and conduct building vulnerability assessments. The model also integrates school personnel and comunity provider roles in providing school-based crisis preparedness and response activities. Additional topics addressed also include media/social media, communication, reunification, students with special needs, culture, and memorials. After this workshop, participants will be better prepared to improve their school’s climate, student resilience, and crisis response capabilities of school personnel. With updated research and strategies, this workshop makes a clear connection between ongoing crisis prevention, mitigation, protection, response, and recovery. 

View event flyer for more info >

This course provides a comprehensive, operations-focused approach to Active Human Shooter/Hostile Event Response (AHSER) aligned with NFPA 3000 standards. Participants will examine the critical components of an integrated response, including Unified Command, Rescue Task Force (RTF) deployment, and the application of basic trauma care in high-threat environments.

Through the lens of real-world incident after-action reports, this course bridges policy and practice—highlighting what worked, what failed, and how coordinated response efforts can be improved. Emphasis is placed on interagency collaboration between fire, EMS, and law enforcement, ensuring a cohesive and effective operational framework during rapidly evolving incidents based on the priorities of life as defined in law enforcement as well as the fire EMS tactical priorities.

Key topics include:

• Establishing and managing Unified Command in dynamic, high-risk environments


• Formation, deployment, and operational considerations of Rescue Task Forces


• Warm zone operations and risk-based decision making


• Integration of fire/EMS into law enforcement-led incidents


• Application of basic trauma techniques, including hemorrhage control, airway management, and rapid patient extraction

To better support students impacted by trauma, educators must first understand the various types of traumas (beyond ACES) and how trauma affects the brain and behavior in both students and adults. This equity-infused training is embedded with trauma-informed practices that support resilience and address its insulating factors of relationship, regulation, and responsibility. The topic of trauma is approached with care and consideration for people with a wide range of lived experience.