As part of the 2025 Grantmakers in the Arts Conference: Building Solidarity, Rooted in Justice, Nexus Community Partners and AmbitioUS* co-hosted ReIMAGINE Scale: Self-Determined Power & Community Power in the U.S. The session began with an inspiring fireside chat at Penumbra Theatre between Anasa Troutman, Founder and CEO of The BIG We in Memphis, Tennessee,
Wrapping up a year of celebrations, we hosted our final 20th anniversary event, Walking the Path to Liberation, to spotlight our Open Road Fund. It warmed our hearts to connect with our Nexus family, see awardees share their stories, and welcome back poet Tish Jones for another powerful reading of the Open Road poem. Watch
By Chai Lee, Program Director, Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute For too long, confusing rules and closed-door processes have intentionally kept power from the people most impacted—shutting out Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color from decision-making, as well as women, queer folks, disabled folks, low-wealth folks, and other historically marginalized and oppressed people.
By Chai Lee, Program Director, Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute Boards, committees, commissions, task forces, and advisory groups guide every institution of power. They operate at all levels of government, from the neighborhood, city, regional, and county levels to the state, national, and international spheres. And in today’s volatile atmosphere of political uncertainty, it has
This fall, we welcomed our ninth North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship cohort—and we’re excited to announce our newest fellows! Get a preview below, and read more about their work here. * Denotes group members not participating in the fellowship. Black Liberation Lab James Arroyo Miller, Stephanie Williams, Jeanine Weekes Schorer,* Terri Hardaway* Seeing past the frameworks
This fall, our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship team jetted to Oakland, CA, for the Repaired Nations 7th Annual Black Solidarity Cooperative Conference, running Oct. 10-11, 2025. Over the long weekend, Program Director Nkuli Tabata and Program Manager Leanna Browne built new relationships, learned about exciting cooperative work happening throughout the country, and reconnected with
As our alum Victor shared, “If you truly care about your community, if you understand that racism exists in current governing structures, and if you care about advancing equity for BIPOC and other communities who’ve been told, ‘NO, you can’t,’ then BCLI is for you.” Applications for our next Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute cohort
A new cohort year, a new Black Study Session! Join our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 5-7 pm CT, to learn how we can create a solidarity economy and rise together through mutual aid. Fill out the form below to register! Meet Our Guest Speaker Julia Parker Julia has worked across the
On Oct. 2, 2025, our Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) graduated its 12th cohort at Open Book in Minneapolis. We’re proud to welcome the 11 graduating fellows to our growing alumni network—now 168 strong! BCLI Program Director Chai Lee opened by highlighting the program year, and Nexus Founder & CEO Repa Mekha grounded us
Since 2010, Nexus has been exploring and partnering with community, philanthropy, government, and private-sector leaders to promote community wealth building as an approach to achieving more equitable economic-development impact. How We Define Community Wealth Building Cooperative ownership, including worker co-ops, is a community wealth building strategy. Unlike traditional economic development, community wealth building works to
Deep Rest for Resistance was the third event in our 20th anniversary series. Thank you to everyone who took the time to join us! During the two-hour gathering, we shared an overview of ROOT (Reclaiming Our Own Time), got grounded with a short meditation, and heard deep reflections on reclaiming our rest by our thought
October is National Co-op Month! For people who have been intentionally shut out of mainstream economies, cooperatives and cooperative economics present a tried and true alternative. Our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship provides training, education, and networking for new and emerging Black cooperative leaders, while our Shared Ownership Center provides in-depth technical assistance and resources
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