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Register for Rooted in Legacy, Owning Our Future!

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In March, we kicked off our 20th anniversary event series with a celebration of the Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute. Now we’re gearing up for our second event—and you’re invited!  

Our next virtual gathering will highlight our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship and the Shared Ownership Center @ Nexus. Mark your calendar for Community Wealth Building: Rooted in Legacy, Owning Our Future on June 5, 10 am – 12 pm CT on Zoom. 

Over the past 13 years, we have been carefully laying the foundation for Community Wealth Building to grow inside and outside of Nexus. Now, in a time of ever-increasing privatization and the erosion of public resources, we are poised to meet the moment. Sharing bounty and abundance is everything.  

Our Shared Ownership Center supports local worker and real estate investment cooperatives to change the face of ownership, while the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship approaches Community Wealth Building from a reparative framework rooted in Black culture.  Come learn about our work and how we envision a brighter, more cooperative future!

Guest Speakers:

  • Amoké Kubat, Yo Mama’s House Founder
  • Carl Johnson, Storehouse Grocers & Coffee Founder
  • Joe Vital, East Phillips Neighborhood Institute Interim Executive Director

Nexus Community Partners Event Registration

Community Wealth Building: Rooted in Legacy, Owning Our Future. Candid photos of Nexus staff speaking into microphones, smiling, and laughing.

Community Wealth Building: Rooted in Legacy, Owning Our Future


Date and Time: Thursday, June 5, 10 am - 12 pm CT on Zoom

To celebrate 20 years of working together, we’re hosting five events throughout 2025. Our next virtual gathering will highlight our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship and the Shared Ownership Center @ Nexus.

Over the past 13 years, we have been carefully laying the foundation for Community Wealth Building to grow inside and outside of Nexus. Hear from our team—and some special guests—about our work and how we envision a brighter, more cooperative future.

As an added bonus, we'll have a random prize drawing for three gift cards during the event! You must be registered, attend the session in its entirety, and be present to win. Three winners will receive a mini Joyful & Abundant Nexus print and one of the following:

- May Day Cafe Co-op gift card 
- Mudluk Pottery Clay Date certificate (one hour of private instruction on the wheel for two people)
- Mississippi Market Co-op gift card
    Thank you to our event sponsor, First Independence Bank!












    Contact Information

    Meet Our Speakers

    Amoké Kubat

    Creative culture bearer, artist, and activist Amoké Awele Kubat is a Minneapolis “Northsider for life” who has been empowering mothers and families since 1987. She uses writing and art-making to speak truth to power and to hold a position of wellness in an America sick with inequalities and inequities. Amoké’s co-op, Yo Mama’s House, is an art and healing space for mothers of all ages.

    Carl Johnson

    Carl Johnson is a dynamic and visionary leader serving as the Lead Pastor of Faith City Church in St. Paul, MN. He is a key figure in addressing food insecurity and fostering economic development in St. Paul. Pastor Johnson is the driving force behind Storehouse Grocers and Coffee, an innovative initiative that functions as both a grocery store and a community hub.

    Joe Vital

    Joe Vital is an Indigenous land defender, leader, and speaker from South Minneapolis. An enrolled member of the Red Lake Nation and a proud Mexican focused on bringing Indigeneity to the mainstream, Joe is committed to promoting the protection of Turtle Island and elevating voices of Indigenous stakeholders. He serves as the Interim Executive Director of East Phillips Neighborhood Institute.

    On a sunny spring morning, we gathered with Nexus friends old and new to celebrate the power of our Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI), kicking off the first in a series of online learning events for our 20th anniversary.

    When we established the Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute 12 years ago, there was nothing like it in our region. Local transit organizers in the community were tired of just being consulted; they wanted to have a seat at the decision-making tables. BCLI was our answer.

    Nexus Founder and CEO Repa Mekha shared, “We understood that who plans, who governs, who owns, and who stewards resources has always been at the crux of sustained inequities in this country. We’ve known that from the beginning. And so we pushed. 10-plus years later and 157 alumni strong, we have the foundation now of a growing movement of equity-minded leaders with a shared analysis and common tools across the state. That’s the power we have in being with each other.”

    During the two-hour event, we had the honor of hearing from guest speakers Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota; Victoria McWane-Creek, Founder of Organization 4 Full Participation; and Hodan Hassan, former Minnesota State Representative.

    As they shared their reflections, advice, and encouragement, some common themes emerged:

    “Our maximum performance calls for maximum care.”

    Repa Mekha, Nexus Founder & CEO

    “We are stronger together than apart,” Repa said. “We all have something to contribute, a part to play, no matter how large or small. This work is about movement building. And it has to have as many faces, facets, and angles as possible. It takes all of us. The equity work that we do in small places is connected to a cause much larger than the spaces we operate in, much larger than our individual contributions. And as we do the work of champions, we need the tools, knowledge, skills, and wisdom for change. But we also must take care of ourselves.”

    “Self-care is a must,” Hodan continued. “This is heavy work and it’s emotional labor. Always root yourself in the why—why are you doing this work? If you center around the why, the work gets more joyous and more beautiful.”

    “Whatever space that you envision yourself to be in, that’s where you belong.”

    Hodan Hassan, 2016-17 BCLI Alum

    Lt. Governor Flanagan emphasized, “We’re supposed to be at these tables. We are meant to be at these tables. We must be at these tables. And having support to do that is incredibly powerful.”

    Keep Easing Down the Road

    Victoria shared the inspiration she draws from her grandmother and The Whiz song “Ease on Down the Road.”

    ‘Cause there may be times when you think you lost your mind
    (And the steps you’re takin’ leave you three, four steps behind)
    But the road you’re walking might be long sometimes
    You just keep on steppin’ and you’ll be just fine

    Lt. Governor Flanagan said, “If you are feeling down in this time of great uncertainty, where for many of us, simply our existence is being challenged … I also want you to just feel hopeful. Take a step back and look at all of the work that these 157 people have been able to do. We are powerful in this moment. We are powerful at these tables. We are powerful when we take up space and we speak to our own lived experience.”

    Hodan advised, “Reach within. Show up for one another. Connect with your community. Continue grounding in the work. Surround yourself with the right people and continue the work. Tomorrow is a different day.”

    Repa reminded us: “The most inspiring and landscape-shifting change that we’ve seen for decades and decades has grown out of chaos. We found strength and possibility and we rose every time. And guess what? We will rise again. There is no going back. There is no letting go. There is no stumbling. We can see the future that we want to create.”

    A lot has changed since our founding in 2004. Through it all, our communities have remained strong because of our collective care, ingenuity, and unrelenting drive for transformative change. To celebrate 20 years of working together, we’re hosting five events throughout 2025. At each gathering, we will look back to look ahead, and envision a brighter, more powerful future for us all.

    We’re starting off with our longest-running program: The Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)! Mark your calendar for our virtual event, Building Power through Bold Leadership, on March 27, 10 am – 12 pm CT on Zoom.

    Fill out the form below or follow this link to register!

    For 12 years, BCLI has been helping community leaders build the skills and networks they need to create big policy change, from city-wide paid sick time to fighting housing discrimination. With fascism on the rise, this work is more important than ever. We must continue to work together to identify, train, and support leaders who are reflective of and responsive to our communities. Together, we are powerful!

    Hear from guest speakers on the scope and impact of BCLI. You’ll learn how this program will continue to shape how decisions are made throughout Minnesota—and walk away with the tools and relationships we need to navigate these times.

    Featuring:

    • Hodan Hassan, former State Representative for MN Senate District 62B, and BCLI alumna
    • Peggy Flanagan, Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
    • Victoria McWane-Creek, Consultant/founder of Organization 4 Full Participation, BCLI alumna, and current North Star fellow

    All are welcome! This isn’t just for Twin Cities folks; BCLI is building bridges across Minnesota. Mark your calendar and join us—we can’t wait to see you there!

    Nexus Community Partners Event Registration

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    Through programs like our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship and the Open Road Fund, Nexus Community Partners is reimagining Black wealth.

    Building Black wealth means healing from over five centuries of labor and livelihood stolen from us on this stolen land. It’s owning what we produce and building and inventing for our families and community. It is a creative and sovereign practice of restoration that reaffirms the excellence that has always been in us.

    Meet Amoké Kubat

    Artist, writer, and Yoruba Priestess Amoké Awele Kubat is a Minneapolis “Northsider for life” who has been empowering mothers and families since 1987.

    Amoké first heard about Nexus in 2011 through a friend who was being mentored by Nexus CEO Repa Mekha. Through her friend, she learned about Nexus values, strategies, and vision—all rooted in community. Seven years later, Amoké took a deep dive with us, joining our second North Star cohort.

    “I was thrilled to be in the company of people who looked like me, who shared the diversity of the Black Experience as descendants of Africans. We were more than survivors. We held the roots and seeds of our Ancestors’ dreams and hopes. We were visionaries, warriors, educators, artists and more, who aspired to own businesses and cooperatives.”

    Amoké’s co-op, YO MAMA’S HOUSE, INC., is an art and healing space for mothers of all ages. They empower mothers by disrupting the devaluation of women’s invisible labor and increasing recognition of the ART of Mothering. North Star helped Amoké build community with other Black cooperators while also accessing the technical assistance and funding opportunities she needed to further grow YO MAMA’S HOUSE.

    In 2023, Amoké joined our Black Community Trust Fund advisory committee. As a respected Elder, she shared her wisdom in renaming the trust fund as the Open Road Fund—which comes from the English translation of Ejio Ogbe, meaning, “an open road leads to the fulfillment of destiny.”

    “I firmly believe that people of African descent are NOT destined to fail. It is one’s birthright to live a long life, in good health, and live abundantly.”

    Amoké’s greatest takeaway from her work with Nexus is that communities matter. “The workload is not heavy when we stand with likeminded people,” she says. “People have more power than they think they do—especially in solidarity.”

    Will You Join Us?

    In a time of ongoing and relentless attacks on Black life and well-being, initiatives run by and for Black folks to achieve Black liberation are essential.

    Any gift you make between now and the end of the year will be doubled thanks to our friends at Voqal Partners.

    • Monthly gifts of $20 are a way to honor our 20th anniversary throughout the year.
    • $100 helps support costs for expanding our online work in Greater Minnesota.
    • $500 covers a stipend that keeps our fellowships accessible to all.

    Make a donation or share your Nexus story

    Together, we are building Community Wealth for a just and liberated future.

    Over the last 20 years, Nexus has worked to usher out the rigged rules, attitudes, and practices that concentrate wealth and power in fewer and whiter hands. For folks who have been intentionally shut out of mainstream economies, cooperatives present a tried-and-true alternative.

    Cooperatives embody the idea that wealth is more than the success of any one individual—that wealth is owning what we produce. To us, wealth is building and inventing for our families and community, not only in crisis, but also in the pursuit of our dreams.

    Meet Denise Butler

    For more than a decade, Nexus Community Partners and African Career, Education, & Resource Inc. (ACER) have been partners in organizing, funding, and community wealth building. When Denise Butler, Associate Director at ACER, approached Nexus to work with an emerging collective of 24 Black immigrant women and business owners, we jumped at the opportunity.

    With the help of Nexus and ACER, these women formed a cooperative: The Ignite Business Women’s Investment Group. Last year, Ignite purchased their first property: Shingle Creek Center in Brooklyn Center.

    At the beginning, the Shared Ownership Center at Nexus (SOC@N) helped Ignite determine their cooperative structure, articles of incorporation, and bylaws. As the project developed, SOC@N worked closely with ACER, Ignite, their legal team, and project manager to provide flexible support wherever necessary, from weaving together knowledge, resources, and connections to successfully acquiring the 18-unit shopping center.

    “Nexus was instrumental in supporting ACER’s work in building the first Black women’s cooperative in Minnesota. The infrastructural support provided by Nexus speaks to their expertise in the cooperative development landscape.” – Denise Butler, ACER

    This milestone was years in the making. It has been an honor to walk alongside Ignite and ACER as they expand their work to meet the needs of their community. Join us in scaling up BIPOC-led cooperative development!

    Make a donation

    Whether you can contribute $20 or a story about what Nexus means to you, you will continue to make our work possible!

    Share your story

    Have you participated in one of our fellowships? Been a longtime partner? However you’ve crossed paths with Nexus, we want to hear from you!

    When we founded Nexus Community Partners 20 years ago, we did something simple yet powerful—we turned to community to reclaim our strength and to reimagine what power looks like when it is rooted in truth and relationships. We are unique because of how we’re positioned and how we work: We take the long view, and everything we do is focused on creating lasting impacts.

    At Nexus, we are igniting BIPOC leadership for transformational change.

    When we established the Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) 10 years ago, there was nothing like it in our region. But we believe that when we make decisions that affect all of our lives—across race, place, gender, and more—we must share the power in making those decisions. BCLI helps Black people, Indigenous people, and people of color (BIPOC) and other historically oppressed people get seats at the table and serve at all levels of government.

    Today, of our 157 diverse alumni, many have gone on to high-profile roles including U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Voice Executive Director HwaJeong Kim, and MN First District Judge Luis Rangel Morales.

    Meet HwaJeong

    Eight years ago, HwaJeong Kim was volunteering at her local library and serving on her neighborhood district council. She loved her community, and she was motivated to do more to give back. That’s when she found BCLI.

    “I tell everyone the BCLI changed my life. It was a turning-point training that helped me understand how to navigate power and place with people. This completely catalyzed my professional and personal trajectory.”

    The leadership skills and professional connections with like-minded people helped HwaJeong build confidence and take her next steps. She went on to serve on The Saint Paul Planning Commission and work as the Legislative Aide for Saint Paul’s Ward 5 City Councilmember before being elected to the role herself in 2024.

    “My greatest takeaway [from BCLI] continues to be how to actualize values in our work and deliver community-driven solutions. Since graduating, I have nominated one person per cohort and will continue to do so—the BCLI produces highly skilled, connected, and values-driving community changemakers. Now more than ever, we need more of us in this fight!“

    Make a donation

    Join us in helping historically marginalized and oppressed people have a seat at the table. Whether you can contribute $20 or a story about what Nexus means to you, you will continue to make our work possible!

    Share your story

    As we reflect on the last two decades and look toward the years to come, we want to know: What does Nexus mean to you? Whether you were part of Payne-Lake Community Partners at the beginning or discovered Nexus this year, we want to hear from you!