This collection documents actions of the Michigan Prospect for Renewed Citizenship (MPRC) around the years 1997-2011. Materials include budgets, bylaws, board minutes, op-ed articles, fundraising letters, and other organizational records.
Harold Lynn Jondahl (also H. Lynn Jondahl or Lynn Jondahl) was born on July 10, 1936 in Emmetsburg, Iowa to Hazel Jondahl (born Kummerfeldt) and Ernest Jondahl. He received a B.A. in History from the University of Iowa in 1958 and a Master of Divinity from Yale University Divinity School in 1962. Jondahl was ordained a minister in the United Church of Christ and accepted a post as campus pastor at California State College in Los Angeles (now California State University, Los Angeles). He was active in the Civil Rights Movement and participated in the March on Selma in 1965. In 1966 Jondahl moved to Michigan.
In 1972, Jondahl was elected to represent the 59th House District in the Michigan House of Representatives. He served from 1973-1994. During his tenure, Jondahl served on a variety of committees and chaired both the Committee on Consumers (1975-1982) and the Taxation Committee (1983-1992). Jondahl sponsored and led successful efforts to enact environmental and consumer legislation, including Michigan's Mandatory Deposit Act, the Handicapper Civil Rights Act, the Sand Dune Protection Act, and the Generic Drug Act. He also focused on education reform, utility regulation, juvenile justice, and economic development.
In 1994, Jondahl gave up his House seat to run for the Democratic nomination for Governor. He lost the nomination to Howard Wolpe, who later lost the general election to the incumbent Governor John Engler.
In 1992, Jondahl helped co-found the Michigan Prospect for Renewed Citizenship (MPRC), an independent nonprofit institute focused on progressive public policies. It aimed to use resources from public and private institutions to increase public policy education and advocacy. To accomplish its mission, the MPRC commissioned research, worked with citizen groups to identify issues of public concern, convened specialists and researchers, published issue papers and op-eds, sponsored conferences and forums, and built coalitions with public and private sector organizations. The MPRC was board-directed, and Olivia (Libby) Maynard served as MPRC president from 1991-2009. Jondahl was appointed Executive Director in 1997.
The MPRC focused on a variety of issues, including wage laws, unemployment compensation, election reform, and campaign finance reform. The institution's work in the latter resulted in their project, the Michigan Campaign Finance Network, growing into its own independent nonprofit organization.
In 2009, the MPRC board passed a resolution to curtail program activity. They transferred resources and projects to other nonprofit organizations that shared MPRC's mission, while maintaining its status as a legal entity. In 2010, the MPRC Executive Committee unanimously agreed to transition MPRC into the hands of pollster and analyst Ed Sarpolus, who proposed the creation of a research and education center. In 2012, the board of directors voted to change the name of MPRC to Target Insyght, with Ed Sarpolus as founder and executive director.
From 1995-2002, Jondahl served as Co-Director of the Michigan Political Leadership Program at Michigan State University. From November 2002-2003, Jondahl served as the director of transition for Governor Jennifer Granholm's new administration. Jondahl has been on a variety of boards and committees over the course of his career, including the Michigan Budget and Tax Policy Project Advisory Board, the State of Michigan Board of Ethics, the Executive Board of the Lansing Branch of the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Board of Directors for the Michigan Women's Studies Association. He married attorney Judy Martin in 1974.
