Hennepin County Profile

To learn more about how Hennepin County works for you, the District 3 team conducts a profile series with employees of the county who live in the district. Each month we spotlight a different person from varying departments and occupations. Find out about the day-to-day aspects of occupational fields and work environments at the county, and how each person’s work affects your life.

Kathie Doty Program Director, Hennepin-University of Minnesota Partnership Linden Hills Neighborhood 25 years working with Hennepin County

Describe your work.

I direct the Hennepin County-University of Minnesota Partnership, which was created to catalyze productive connections between Hennepin and the University of Minnesota. That includes collaborative research projects, placing students in county programs, and encouraging more sharing of expertise. People generally feel like the direction of that expertise moves from academia to the county, but the University feels there is practitioner expertise they’d like to tap into, so it’s a two-way street. This is a unique program, and we know of nothing quite like it anywhere in the U.S..

---

What part of your job do you find most challenging?

The biggest challenge is the sheer volume of potential connections. It’s a challenge to determine where to focus energy to optimize benefits for both Hennepin and the University. Human services, transportation, economic development, you name it: there are tons of ways local government and academia can work collaboratively for the good of the community. The way that we manage that challenge is that I have incredible support and direction from Hennepin County Administrator David Hough. He keeps me on track with what’s important to the county, and Ed Goetz, my University boss and Director of the University’s Center of Urban and Regional Affairs helps me figure out how to navigate at the U.

(Editor's note: Ed Goetz is also a resident of Hennepin County District 3.)

---

What do you find most enjoyable?

I like to have a challenge, and do work that requires you to solve problems every day. There is no cookie-cutter approach to this job, and every day is different. The model for counties working with Universities has historically been Extension Services, but that model doesn’t fit as well for urban issues. That is why we are creating this model from scratch, and I find that very exciting. We’ve sustained the program for 10 years and have documented significant value from this partnership, and I enjoy the energy that comes from producing results.

---

What is one thing everyone should know about the work you do?

Hennepin County is a leader among counties, and is intentional about being on the cutting edge of using the best available information and smart people to provide the best possible services to the public. When this partnership was envisioned, there was a sense that, since the University’s main campus is located in Hennepin County and expertise is so near at hand, that the County should be tapping into the knowledge base there so we can be innovative in serving our residents. Recently, we received national recognition for our work. The Partnership has been selected as the regional winner of the 2015 Association of Public & Land Grant Universities’ W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award, and was also selected to compete for the national C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement Scholarship Award at the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference at Pennsylvania State University, which will be decided this month.

Kathie Doty is a resident of the Linden Hills neighborhood in southwest Minneapolis, and is the Program Director for the Hennepin County-University of Minnesota Partnership. The Hennepin-University Partnership is a formal connection between the State’s most populous county, Hennepin County, and the State’s primary research institution, the University of Minnesota. These two entities work together through a strategic partnership to capture value in areas where mutual benefit can be found – including conducting research that informs policy and practice, evaluating of public programs, sharing of expertise, and working with students on a range of projects. For more information, click here.