Category

Leadership that Drives Equitable Change: Announcing BCLI Cohort 9

Fred

At Nexus Community Partners, we believe that when we make decisions that affect all of our lives – across race, place, gender, and more – we all must share the power in making those decisions.  

But for too long, publicly-appointed boards and commissions have been a “hidden” layer of power making decisions about our communities, without our communities. And, increasingly, it is clear we need people in government who are accountable to their communities, and who are fighting for policies that direct resources to the people that need it most. We need to build the government that we want to see.   

Over the past nine years, Nexus been this work through our adaptation of the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI),* a seven-month leadership program that supports, trains and helps place BIPOC community members on publicly appointed boards and commissions. 

Today, Nexus is pleased to announce the 16 fellows in our ninth cohort of the Twin Cities BCLI. From Woodbury to St. Louis Park, from St. Paul to Brooklyn Center, they represent a wide swath of geography and demographics, talent, and life experiences. Fellows are working to advance equity across sectors and issue areas, such as economic development, health, housing, transit, and workforce development. The 2021-2022 cohort kicks off this week with a private virtual opening dinner and online training session.

The 9th  BCLI  cohort  members are:  

  • Aimee Vue, nominated by Youthprise
  • Akia Vang, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Chonburi Lee, nominated by Hmong American Partnership
  • Chrissie Carver, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Danielle Swift, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Kabao Xiong, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Mai Tong Yang, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Ricky Williams, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Robert Boos, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Saundra Massey, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Stephanie Jones, nominated by Brooklyn Center
  • Stephanie Shider, nominated by Nexus staff
  • Temitayo Olasimbo, nominated by Woodbury
  • Veronica Rono, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Yariet Montes, nominated by St. Louis Park
  • Yasmin Muridi, nominated by BCLI alumni

The BCLI continues to build momentum and challenge the status quo within local government by supporting fellows and alumni to bring their full selves, their responsibility to their communities, and their distinctive cultural perspectives to these governing positions. 

The incoming BCLI fellows join a network of 114 alumni. Over half of them have been appointed to a board or commission or hold a high-level policy position, and all of them are building racial and economic equity in their communities.   

 Alumni of the Twin Cities program include Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (MN-05); MN House Representative Hodan Hassan (DFL-62A); Metropolitan Council Representative for the 8th District Abdirahman Muse; Bush Fellows Roxxanne O’Brien and Carmeann Foster; Lower Phalen Creek executive director Maggie Lorenz; Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Minneapolis Ron Harris; Executive Director of Minnesota Voices HwaJeong Kim; and local entrepreneur and former Metropolitan Council Transportation Advisory Board member Jamez Staples. 

Biographies of each fellow can be found on Nexus’ website. 

For more information about the BCLI, the launch or ways to become involved, please contact program manager Chai Lee at clee@nexuscp.org. 

*The BCLI is adapted from a model created by Urban Habitat in Oakland, California. 

The Twin Cities BCLI is proud to announce that one of its most recent alumni, Steven Nelson was recently appointed to Public Health Community Health Services Advisory Committee (CHSAC) for Ramsey County. Steven is a graduate of the most recent cohort (#8: 2020-2021).

Steven has a great lived and work experience in the areas of mental health and addiction counseling. His passionate voice and valuable background will be a great asset to this committee. We want to also give a shoutout to Ramsey County Commissioner Trista MatasCastillo for her help in guiding Steven in this endeavor and on this appointment. Congratulations Steve!

Nexus Community Partners believes that when we make decisions that affect all of our lives, we all must share the power in making those decisions. Guided by that vision, the Nexus BCLI is a 7-month leadership program that supports, trains and helps place BIPOC and other shut out community members on city and county publicly appointed boards and commissions. Look out for more information about our 9th cohort this Fall!

Congratulations to the 16 graduates of the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute’s 8th cohort! On April 1st, 2021, we gathered virtually with BCLI fellows, their families, and community members to celebrate all they learned and accomplished in the past 7 months. These graduates join a community of 99 BCLI alumni. 

The first all-virtual BCLI cohort, these fellows navigated the unique personal, local, national, and global challenges of the past 7 months with grace and determination. It was truly an honor to witness their dedication to community and justice, and to join them on their journey.  

As is BCLI tradition, two graduating fellows, Shawn Sorrell and Stephannie Lewis, shared their personal experiences and biggest takeaways from the fellowship. For Shawn, he spoke on the different roles different people have in making change, and how wherever fellows show up, “we need to demand change or risk maintaining the status quo.” Stephannie Lewis emphasized the importance of reflection, and how central reflection is for effective and just governance—”to make sense of messy and confusing policymaking, reflection is not placating or appeasement, it is wisdom. It anchors us to our community and our why.”

Our keynote speaker, Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley, delivered a message about collective leadership, the importance of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and marginalized folks being at the table, and bringing their communities with them. She said, 

“We’re living right now in a moment in our society where we have the possibility to reimagine and transform so much. I want to remember where you came from so you can always remember where you are going.”

As the first African American elected to the Hennepin County Board, Commissioner Conley knows how difficult it can be to navigate those spaces, and how much pressure there can be to fix things—“for real transformational change to occur, the onus is not on any one individual. It is our collective responsibility to lock arms and GET IT DONE!!!”

All the speakers expressed gratitude for the fellows and how much they learned over the course of the cohort. The evening ended with Terri and Chai honoring each graduating fellow. Celebration packages including certificates and original art by BCLI Alumnae PH Copeland on the way. We also want to give a HUGE thank you to Three Sisters Event Rentals for their tech support, event coordination, and courier services. Check them out here!

Nexus is truly humbled to be able to share space with such powerful people, and we thank the fellows, alumni, friends, family, and funders for making this happen.

*The Nexus Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) brings together Black people, indigenous people, and people of color (BIPOC) and other community members who have been shut out of governing to support, train, and help place them on city, county, metro and state boards and commissions. Alumni of the program challenge current systems by bringing their full selves, their responsibility to their communities, and their distinctive cultural perspectives to these governing positions. Learn more here.

 

Huge congratulations to graduates of our 8th BCLI Cohort! It is an honor to work with such powerful people who deeply believe in community leadership, accountability, and justice.

Leading up to graduation, the BCLI fellows took a deep dive into health equity. Antonia Wilcoxon, longtime community leader and former MN Dept of Human Services staff, shared her experiences about tackling institutional racism in health. Fellows learned so much from her experiences advocating with confidence for equity in a system as huge as the MDHS.

In their second March session, fellows got hands on experience in a simulated Planning Commission discussion. In this simulation, a fictional company was trying to develop a piece of land. While fellows debated the future of this parcel, they raised important issues and values at the intersections of health and environmental equity, economic development, and land use. Each fellow was able to practice using Robert’s Rules of Order, advocate for local hiring clauses, ask for environmental impact studies, and more. It was so engaging that the fellows asked for an additional simulation later this month!

Look out for some photos and stories from graduation next week! Until then, check out this health equity video from the BCLI curriculum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56ZKfSNkcJc

First published September 2019. Words by: Nexus Community Partners and Nichelle Brunner

Nichol Ellis-McGregor is currently the MFIP Program Manager at Rise Inc., an organization that supports people with disabilities and other barriers. From 2015 – 2016, Nichol participated in Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) program. 

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nichol and we discussed her current and past work, BCLI’s influence on her personal and professional decisions, and what inspires her. 

In your current work, did you learn any skills in BCLI that were transferable to your full time work?

To influence or transform movements equitably, I have to make myself present at a table or committee or board. Even just navigating myself to get to that table, that relates to BCLI in that, I can’t make change without being at that table. I also learned that we can have differing opinions, but we need to listen to each other. Before that, I thought those folks, folks with different opinions than mine, were the enemy. I realized I needed to function less out of emotion, though I am passionate about the work, and just listen and do checks and balances to make the best decisions. 

What work have you done since that was inspired by your work in BCLI? 

I sat on the Suburban Metro Area Continuum of Care Advisory Committee, where I was basically the voice for those in suburban Anoka and Hennepin counties to get affordable housing. I went back to school. I’m currently at Northwestern for my Masters in Human Services. Generally, where I can make movement, I do. 

What is your favorite memory from BCLI? 

One of the first things that comes to mind is the affordable housing project. We were divided into two groups and created housing communities. My group got really into the glamourous aspects of housing developments, but when we presented, we realized it was out of budget and unaffordable. It was so funny because it made us realize just how hard it is to create affordable and livable housing communities. It was really a learning moment. 

Another memory is definitely graduation. I initially feared going to it because I didn’t think I was worthy because I wasn’t an activist, you know. I wasn’t out there, on the frontlines, protesting. I now consider myself an undercover transformationalist agent — I can make change within policy and the work I do. 

What is one thing you would tell someone who is thinking of applying to the BCLI? 

Your life will truly be changed and you’ll learn so much. You don’t realize how much you don’t know about our government and how much it affects you. If you really want your worldview opened up, this will be the program for you. You will open up and grow.

What inspires you?

Resiliency. It’s the person who gets things done, no matter the obstacles in their way. It’s not only the people we see on tv, but it’s the grandmother up the block. It’s my mom who is raising 6 grandkids after retirement. I am truly inspired by people who don’t give up.

 

For Nexus 15th anniversary, staff, community members, and program participants were interviewed to reflect on the impact of Nexus. For the “Reflections from BCLI” series, participants reflect on their experience in the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute. 

They are advocates, facilitators, program officers, executive directors, and pastors. They come from nonprofits, work in government, and are graduate students. They are dynamic, innovative, and entrepreneurial. Above all, they want a seat at the table and like other years, they will push for racially equitable policies at local, regional, and state levels. From Woodbury to Hopkins, from St. Paul to Brooklyn Center, they represent a wide swath of geography and demographics, talent, and life experiences. “They” are our amazing 8th cohort of Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) fellows in the Twin Cities and Nexus is pleased to announce the 2020-2021 cohort today.

For more than 15 years, Nexus Community Partners has been dedicated to building more engaged and powerful communities of color. Through the work of BCLI, Nexus has continued to build sustainable and replicable models for community engagement and community orientated leadership development that strengthens communities.

The BCLI is a seven-month leadership program that identifies, trains, and supports placement of dynamic leaders of color and underrepresented communities onto publicly appointed boards and commissions in the Twin Cities. It is adapted from a model created by Urban Habitat in Oakland, California. BCLI fellows help advance a racial and economic equity agenda across several sectors and issue areas. For the first time, two of our Nexus colleagues will be joining the cohort! The cohort kicks off the week of October 5th.

The eighth BCLI cohort members are:

  • Alexandra Siclait, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Angela Cuellar, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Angela Williams, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Carl Johnson, nominated by State Representative Jay Xiong
  • Clara Jung, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • D’Andre Gordon, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Jewelean Jackson, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Jose Huape, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Mala Thao, nominated by The St. Paul and Minnesota Foundation
  • Nkuli Shongwe, staff, Nexus Community Partners
  • Octavia Smith, staff, Nexus Community Partners
  • Samantha Sencer-Mura, nominated by New Leaders Council – Twin Cities
  • Shawn Sorrell, nominated by the City of Woodbury
  • Stephanie Lewis, nominated by Social Impact Strategies
  • Steven Nelson, nominated by Ramsey County Department of Human Services
  • Tsua Xiong, nominated by BCLI alumni

The BCLI continues to build momentum within local governing bodies by creating opportunities for community members to become active decision makers. The incoming BCLI fellows join a network of 84 alumni, 44 of which have been successfully appointed on a board or commission or hold a high-level policy position, and all of whom are building and pushing racial, social and economic equity in the community. Alumni of the Twin Cities program include Congresswoman Ilhan Omar; MN House Representative Hodan Hassan; Metropolitan Council Representative for the 8th District Abdirahman Muse; Bush Fellows Roxxanne O’Brien and Carmeann Foster; Lower Phalen Creek executive director Maggie Lorenz; Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Minneapolis Ron Harris; Legislative Aide to St. Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen HwaJeong Kim; and local entrepreneur and former Metropolitan Council Transportation Advisory Board member Jamez Staples. Biographies of each fellow can be found here.

For more information about the BCLI, the launch or ways to become involved, please contact the program director, Ms. Terri Thao at tthao@nexuscp.org or program manager Mr. Chai Lee at clee@nexuscp.org.

Leadership Development that Creates Ecosystem Change

Nexus Community Partners Announces the Seventh Cohort of their Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)

They are organizers, government workers, parents and pastors. They work in the fields of food justice, housing, and education advocacy. They represent Woodbury to Shakopee. And they come from various multiracial backgrounds. Nexus Community Partners is proud to announce our 7th cohort of Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) fellows in the Twin Cities.

For more than 15 years, Nexus Community Partners has been dedicated to building more engaged and powerful communities of color. Through the work of BCLI, Nexus has continued to build sustainable and replicable models for community engagement and community orientated leadership development that strengthens communities.

The BCLI is a seven-month leadership program that identifies, trains, and supports placement of dynamic leaders of color and underrepresented communities onto publicly appointed boards and commissions in the Twin Cities. BCLI fellows help advance a racial and economic equity agenda across several sectors and issue areas. The cohort kicks off the week of October 7th.

The seventh BCLI cohort members are:

  • Abdulrahman Wako, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Ana Vergara, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Benjamin Yawakie, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Cherita Tenhoff, nominated by Simpson Housing Services
  • Diego Guaman, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Erica Valliant, nominated by the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood
  • Fatu Magassouba, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Jae Hyun Shim, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Linda Garrett-Johnson, nominated by the MN Council on Foundations
  • Magdalena O’Connor, nominated by Project for Pride in Living
  • Que Vang, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Ricardo Perez, nominated by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs
  • Said Ahmed, nominated by Metro State’s MAPL Program
  • Tara Roberts, nominated by BCLI alumni
  • Timothy Brewington, nominated by the City of Woodbury

The BCLI continues to build momentum within local governing bodies by creating opportunities for community members to become active decision makers. The incoming BCLI fellows join a network of 84 alumni, 44 of which have been successfully appointed on a board or commission or hold a high-level policy position, and all of whom are building and pushing racial, social and economic equity in the community. Alumni of the Twin Cities program include Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, MN House Representative Hodan Hassan, Metropolitan Council Representative for the 8th District Abdirahman Muse, Bush Fellows Roxxanne O’Brien and Carmeann Foster, Lower Phalen Creek executive director Maggie Lorenz, and local entrepreneur and former Metropolitan Council Transportation Advisory Board member Jamez Staples.

Biographies of each fellow can be found on Nexus’ website.

For more information about the BCLI, the launch or ways to become involved, please contact the program director, Ms. Terri Thao at tthao@nexuscp.org or program coordinator Mr. Chai Lee at clee@nexuscp.org. You can also check out Nexus’ website.

 

On Thursday, April 4, 2019, Nexus Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) graduated its sixth cohort at the Bullard Rainforest Auditorium in the Como Zoo’s Visitor Center. With the addition of these year’s 16 fellows, Twin Cities BCLI has a grand total 85 alumni.

Similar to previous BCLI graduation ceremonies, Nexus President and CEO Repa Mekha officially welcomed everyone, and BCLI program director Terri Thao provided highlights from the 2018-2019 program year. Minnesota Lieutenant Governor and former BCLI trainer Peggy Flanagan provided opening remarks about the value that indigenous people, people of color and underrepresented groups bring to policy-making tables from which they have been historically shut out. She discussed the need to lift up more voices especially on boards and commissions at all levels of government. She stressed the importance of people who are most impacted being at the tables instead of being removed from the conversation.

After the Lieutenant Governor spoke, two graduating fellows Jamaica DelMar and Vincent Henry shared their personal stories and touched on the way the BCLI has inspired their confidence, reinvigorated their drive to get on boards, and do impactful work in community.

The keynote address was given by Minnesota State Representative Rena Moran (DFL-65A) of Saint Paul. Representative Moran talked about the importance of bringing each other along and holding each other accountable in the work we do in community and at policy tables. She reminded the fellows that this work often begins with one of the basic steps of organizing: conducting one-on-one’s with your colleagues to get a better grasp of who they are, what matters to them, and understanding the larger landscape.

Both speakers also shared a common message in their remarks—we need as many leaders of color and indigenous leaders as possible in racial and economic equity work. Both expressed appreciation for the work of the BCLI and other programs which prepare POCI folks for leadership positions in larger systems where they will represent community and bring equity to the table. The evening ended with BCLI fellows being honored with certificates and a poster from local artist Ricardo Levins Morales. Nexus is grateful to all of the alumni, friends, family and funders who helped make this year’s graduation a success.

For more than 15 years, Nexus Community Partners has been dedicated to building more engaged and powerful communities of color. Through the work of BCLI, Nexus has continued to build sustainable and replicable models for community engagement and community orientated leadership development that strengthens communities.

The BCLI is a seven-month leadership program designed to identify, train, and support placement of dynamic leaders of color and underrepresented communities onto publicly appointed boards and commissions in the Twin Cities. BCLI fellows help advance a racial and economic equity agenda across several sectors and issue areas.

We’re pleased to announce our 2018-2019 cohort of 16 racially and ethnically diverse leaders. They come from the community, nonprofit, private, and public sectors and represent the Twin Cities metro area. The sixth BCLI cohort members are:

  • Aarica Colemannominated by BCLI Alumni
  • Abdi Alinominated by Center for Multicultural Mediation
  • Annie Chennominated by YWCA Minneapolis
  • Bao Leenominated by BCLI Alumni
  • Carmeann Fosternominated by Rebound Inc.
  • Christine McCleavenominated by National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
  • Clara Ugarte Perrinnominated by Center for Urban and Regional Affairs
  • Courtney Schroedernominated by Project for Pride in Living (PPL)
  • Jamaica DelMarnominated by  Jeremiah Program
  • Kameron Lindseynominated by BCLI Alumni
  • Oluwatobi Oluwagbeminominated by The Office of Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton
  • Roshawn RenfroeRamsey County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative
  • Sara Thomasnominated by BCLI Alumni
  • Tenaya Crenshawnominated by BCLI Alumni
  • Vincent Henrynominated by Simpson Housing Services
  • Ying Lee nominated by Minneapolis Parks & Recreation

The BCLI continues to build momentum within local governing bodies by creating opportunities for community members to become active decision makers. The incoming BCLI fellows join a network of 69 alumni, 38 of which have to date been successfully appointed on a board or commission or hold a high-level policy position, and all of whom are building and pushing racial, social and economic equity in the community.

Biographies of each fellow can be found on Nexus’ website here.

For more information about the BCLI, the launch or ways to become involved, please contact the program director, Ms. Terri Thao at tthao@nexuscp.org or program coordinator Mr. Chai Lee at clee@nexuscp.org.

See below for an infographic of the 2018-19 BCLI cohort’s demographics.

We are so excited to welcome Omar Leal to our Nexus team! Omar joins us as a Leadership Intern, where he’ll be working with the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute for the summer of 2018.

Omar graduated in 2015 with his Bachelor’s in Anthropology and International Studies from Macalester College, and has since collaborated with various nonprofits engaging with primarily Latinx youth and families.

Please help us welcome him to the Nexus family!

Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) is Now Taking Applications for the 2018-2019 Cohort!

Nominations Packets due Friday, June 15th, 2018

Nexus Community Partners is proud to announce that we are now seeking nominations for our sixth cohort for the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute.

The BCLI is a 7-month cohort leadership program that supports, trains and helps places people of color and other underrepresented community members on city and county publicly appointed boards and commissions that influence and impact equity in the Twin Cities Metro Area in economic development, health, housing, transit and workforce development.

In the past five years, The Twin Cities BCLI has trained 69 alumni, half of which have gone on to serve on boards and commissions at all levels of the state (local, regional, and state). We are excited to be recruiting a new cohort of leaders dedicated to equity work in the region and hope you will help us spread the word to friends and networks who want to be a part of a network of leaders on boards and commissions! We are pleased to add two new geographies to our nominations packet this year: welcome aboard, Roseville and Woodbury!

Learn more about the Nominations Packet (Application) Here


Moving BEYOND A SEAT at the table TO A VOTE in the decision-making process.

“We need to be running our own folks for seats by building power that pursues true democracy… We need to be developing leaders to be bold at those decision-making tables and to never leave their community behind. This is how we tell our own story. This is a story that tells everybody they can belong, and this is how we build our movement.”  – Kandace Montgomery, BCLI ’14


Please join us for the following Info Sessions to learn more about the nominations process and the program!

Info Session One
Brooklyn Park
Thursday, May 10, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Brookdale Library, Creekside Room
2156, 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

Info Session Two
Saint Paul
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Rondo Library, Flex Room
461 Dale Street North
St. Paul, MN 55104

Info Session Three
Roseville
Thursday, May 31, 2018
5-6:30 PM
Ramsey County Library – Roseville, Community Room
2180 Hamline Avenue N.
Roseville, MN 55113

Info Session Four
Minneapolis
Wednesday, June 5, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
North Regional Library, South Half Room
1315 Lowry Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55411


Click here for more information about BCLI, or contact BCLI program staff:

Terri Thao
Program Director
tthao@nexuscp.org

Chai Lee
Program Coordinator
clee@nexuscp.org

On Thursday, April 5, 2018, the Nexus Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) graduated 14 fellows from its fifth cohort to a room filled with over 75 friends, family members, nominators, alumni and supporters.

Graduation was hosted in the Paulson Hall at The Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis. Nexus President/CEO Repa Mekha welcomed the group and  summarized the last few cohort’s themes and how they wove into one another on the topic of grounded, deep work in community and relationship building as well as working in systems. The BCLI was honored to be graced by the wisdom and presence of Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter, who was the keynote speaker. Commissioner Carter gave a rousing and inspirational testimony about her lengthy road of service in community, expounding on the need for fresh, young and talented minds of color who have the will to serve others and the courage to grab a seat at the table.

She reminded everyone of the need to be humble, to remember your roots, and always be grounded in speaking for those who are not at the table as yourself. Above all, her message of hope, retaining and channeling your passion for organizing and courage was a reminder that we have a long way to go to put more equity champions like BCLI alumni on many more important seats which impact the issues that affect our communities every day. As she said beautifully, “we should not stop at being the first person to do this or the first woman to do that, but that it is never enough to be just one, to have just the first, and we need to help and support each other to build pipelines of leaders to come after us and to push into the work of community and public policy change.”

Commissioner Carter’s words were followed up with comments from two graduating cohort members, Jasmond “Jay” Rathell and Yingya Vang. Jay spoke first, and he highlighted the impact of BCLI being a safe space where people of color (POC) leaders could really learn and dig deep into policy issues together. He found inspiration in the esprit de corps which the BCLI fellowship provided, and announced that he was intending to take his leadership to the next level, and would run for city council in his City of Robbinsdale. Yingya spoke to the importance of strengthening a network of peers and colleagues dedicated to the ongoing work of racial equity, and how motivational it was to be a part of movement to put equity champions at the decision-making tables.

After the speakers, the 14 graduates were acknowledged in the official commencement ceremony and given certificates and stipends for their participation. As in similar years, graduates were gifted with a poster from local artists/organizer/elder Ricardo Levins Morales who spoke at the October 2017 launch of the program.

This current cohort hails mostly from the East Metro, with seven St. Paul residents and a few from eastern suburbs. Fellows came with diverse backgrounds and from across sectors. They ranged in age from 23 to 58, averaging age 35. This year’s fellows had interests in seats at all levels of government from local and regional to state, examples include city budget boards to county health services and state-wide ethnic leadership councils.

The BCLI at Nexus is proud to graduate 14 more alumni into its network of leaders, making a total of 69 Twin Cities BCLI alumni, over half of whom have served at or currently serve in appointed boards and commissions at all levels of government in Minnesota. Stay tuned for more information as the BCLI works to recruit its next and sixth cohort this May.

This program has been adapted from the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute originally created by Urban Habitat in Oakland, California.