BCLI Archives - Page 3 of 4 - Nexus Community Partners

On Thursday, December 4^th, nearly 40 community members gathered at Goodwill Easter Seals for our second BCLI Issue Series of the season. Together we explored how to promote equitable community development without displacing residents and gentrifying neighborhoods in the Twin Cities.

Building on the first Issue Series around organizing and engagement, we discussed the following two questions: How do neighborhoods define what equitable change looks like? How do communities of color benefit from development and prevent gentrification and displacement?

We started the evening with small group discussions around the definitions of gentrification and displacement, then moved into our panel of neighborhood leaders who shared strategies and stories of successful neighborhood-led change that included authentic engagement and representative decision making. Check out the audio links below to listen to each panelist and view the photo gallery here.

Caty Royce, the Director of Frogtown Neighborhood Association, kicked off the panel talking about building relationships and having honest conversations about neighborhood change with new and long time residents. Ms. Royce also spoke to the value of the Frogtown neighborhood being locally controlled, which led to the development of the Frogtown Farm and a small development company designed to Preserve Frogtown and build on the historical blue collar history of the neighborhood.

Shauen Pearce, the Executive Director of Harrison Neighborhood Association, shared her strategies for engaging residents around policy, as well as ways to ensure that the board of HNA reflects the community and therefore leads decision-making around neighborhood developments.

Staci Horwitz, Program Director of the City of Lakes Community Land Trust (CLCLT), expanded on equitable neighborhood change from the perspective of ensuring affordable homeownership for residents, using a community land trust model in the neighborhoods slated for change and development.

The evening concluded with audience questions to the panel. Listen to the full Q & A, or see the list of questions below.

(00:38) How do you inform and raise awareness around policy issues so they are more engaged and informed in the policies affecting their neighborhoods?
(09:15) How is a land trust structured and can people get involved?
(14:10) How can we allow and encourage affordable housing developments more in the inner core of the city versus on the outskirts like North Minneapolis (where there is ample affordable housing, “where we are affordable housed out”), without displacing those who already live there?

“Organizing is harder than brain surgery…
And the reason it’s harder than brain surgery is: everyone thinks they can organize. Believe it or not…they think ‘Oh, I can do that job.’ But nobody walks into the operating room and takes the scalpel out of a brain surgeon’s hand and says ‘Hey, move over. I got this.’ To be an organizer you actually have to get the tools and training to do the job.”

Julia Freeman

On Thursday, November 6^th, the BCLI kicked off our first Issue Series of the season with nearly 50 community members gathered at Gandhi Mahal’s Community Room to explore the role of community organizing and community engagement in the equity movement. Specifically, we explored the following two questions, “What does effective community organizing and engagement look like? How do these two fields intersect and advance racial equity in the Twin Cities?”

The evening began with a group discussion of the differences and similarities of the two fields, before turning over to three panelists who shared their stories of success engaging and organizing for systems change. Check out the photo gallery here, and the links to the speakers’ audio below.

Julia Freeman, Senior Organizer for Racial Justice at Voices for Racial Justice (the former Organizing Apprenticeship Project), shared her experience working toward education equity, engaging those most impacted by racial disparities in education to co-create a rubric for measuring racial equity in schools:

Jay Bad Heart Bull, President and CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), commented how the American Indian Community Blueprint demonstrated the process of engagement with the community around visioning for what American Indians wanted rather than just needed. This led to deep relationships and trust-building within and across communities, which created a large base to mobilize organizing for the Indigenous People’s Day campaign in Minneapolis:

Janice Barbee, Director of Healing Roots and Manager of Building the Field of Community Engagement at Nexus Community Partners, shared her experience working in community over the years in South Minneapolis and the various projects that the community has driven, created and sustained. One of these was the Backyard Initiative, an initiative driven by community members in partnership with Allina Health to create a healthier community in Minneapolis:

The session ended with powerful questions ranging from how to avoid burnout to suggestions for moving from a direct service organization to a social change organization. See below for the list of questions recorded and to listen to the full Q & A.*

1. How do we create shared ownership so communities remain engaged long-term?
2. (2:54) Does a network exist across organizations to build power and movement at systems levels?
3. (6:32) How do we transform direct service organizations into social change organizations?
4. (10:54) How do we avoid burnout?
5. (13:38) What tools or strategies do you use to engage and communicate with those most impacted by issues?
6. (16:43) How do you deal with institutional racism that forces us into silos?
7. (22:45) What advice do you have for people who are doing or want to do work in organizing or engagement?

*There was a question asked about how to deal with funders’ timelines when real engagement takes time; and unfortunately there was an error on the recorder during that portion of the Q & A. Our apologies!

On Thursday, October 9^th, over 90 people gathered at the Dakota Lodge at the Division of Indian Work to celebrate power in community and to welcome the new Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) fellows into the BCLI family. These 15 fellows will be the next group of advocate commissioners advancing racial equity and social justice through locally appointed boards and commissions. Meet the fellows here.

The theme of the night was centered on the Kenyan proverb, “Sticks in a Bundle are Unbreakable;” the idea that we are more powerful collectively than we are as individuals. A panel of two social justice leaders, State Representative Rena Moran and BCLI Alum Roxxanne O’Brien, shared their experiences advocating and advancing equity, while staying grounded in the community. Check out the event’s photo gallery here.

Five key themes emerged from the panelists as messages to the fellows and broader community:

Panelists

Being “in so deep, you can’t get out” – as a reminder to people who do community work that they do not have a choice because it affects them as individuals and their entire community; therefore, we share the collective responsibility to push for equity.
People come to the work where they are; no more, no less. People come to these decision-making tables with only their experiences and it is our job to educate them on differences of opinion, strategies and impacts on underrepresented communities.
Relationships, relationships, relationships. If we are not in the community, how will we know the pulse of our community? Being from underrepresented communities means we come to the work with these relationships and feel that pulse – therefore it is vital that we maintain those relationships to stay rooted and to uplift our communities together once we are on decision-making bodies.
One-on-ones are a powerful tool. The reality is that in Minnesota, we have very few leaders of color at the capital, in elected office, and on boards and commissions. In order to change policies and incorporate equity into systems and institutions, we must find common ground with current leaders to reach some agreements – and one-on-one conversations are very effective at sharing and learning about each other’s stories, values and vision.
We must break out of the matrix. Racial equity and social justice work can be exhausting – especially when caring for families, working one or multiple jobs, and also being expected to show up for rallies, meetings, events and/or one-on-ones. But in order to break the chain of systemic racism, we must show up and break out of the business-as-usual mode of operation. Look at what we can accomplish together in action – together we are unbreakable when we all realize our power and move collectively.

From the community members, to fellows, to alum, to the panelists and the organizers in the room – Nexus is looking forward to what we will accomplish together this year and to advancing racial equity and social justice in the Twin Cities region in the years to come.

We hope to see many of you at our upcoming Issue Series, which are open community events where we highlight the work of partners in the equity movement. Our first Issue Series will be on Organizing and Engagement on November 6, 2014, from 5:30-8pm at Gandhi Mahal in Minneapolis. Sign up to receive e-invitations three weeks prior to each event at www.nexuscp.org. Or contact the program associate, Angie Brown, for more information at abrown@nexuscp.org.

Developing Leaders to Advance an Equity Agenda: Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute Announces its Second Cohort!

Nexus Community Partners is pleased to announce the second cohort of the 2014-2015 Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI). The 15 cohort members come from various communities in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs and bring a wealth of experience and knowledge working in community, non-profit and private sectors.

The BCLI will train and place these dynamic individuals onto publicly appointed boards and commissions in the Twin Cities. The fellows will have the capacity and community support to advance a regional equity agenda and serve as the next generation of leaders who are representative of, and accountable to, the region’s communities of color and other underrepresented populations. These fellows join a prestigious group of alumni, eight of whom serve on a current board or commission or at a high level policy position in government. Read more about our alumni here.

Nexus is proud to introduce this unique and powerful cohort and look forward to their futures as advocate commissioners and board members:

(Name, Nominating Organization)

Antrinita Wright, Neighborhood Leadership Program (NLP), Amherst H. Wilder Foundation
Carla Kohler, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio (CLUES)
Chamath Perera, Asian Economic Development Association (AEDA)
David Martinez, Wells Fargo Community Development Department
David Milton, Mastery Charter Schools / Harvest Education Network
Donna Evans, BCLI Alum
Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, Navigate MN
Falmata Bedasso, Oromo Community of MN
Jamez Staples, Community Elder
Leila Paye-Baker, Department of Human Rights and Equal Economic Opportunity (HREEO), City of Saint Paul
Nasser Mussa, Oromo Community of MN
Sonya Lewis, AFSCME 3800
Suyapa Miranda, BCLI Alum
Tescil Mason-Kimmons, BCLI Alum
Yolonde Adams-Lee, MN Department of Human Services

Fellows were selected through a competitive nomination, interview and selection process led by a committee of six community members and BCLI alumni. The final cohort reflects a balance in race, gender identity, geography, issue area, experience and target boards and commissions. Read more about the fellows here.

We invite partners and community members to join us for the BCLI Launch Event on Thursday, October 9th from 5:30-8pm at the Dakota Lodge at the Division of Indian Work, 1001 E. Lake Street, Minneapolis, MN 55407. You’ll have a chance to meet our fellows and hear from a panel of long time local social justice leaders on the historical context and significance of people of color and other underrepresented communities joining boards and commissions. Panelists include State Representative Rena Moran, District 65A, and BCLI Alum Roxxanne O’Brien, Inaugural BCLI Cohort. Additional panelists to be announced.

RSVP for the 2014-15 BCLI Launch Event Here

For more information about the BCLI, the Launch Event, or ways to become involved, please contact the program associate, Ms. Angie Brown, at abrown@nexuscp.org, or program director, Ms. Terri Thao at tthao@nexuscp.org.

We are now targeting seats in Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Ramsey County and Saint Paul.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, July 18th by 12 midnight CST
The BCLI fellowship runs from October 2014 – April 2015

“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

Why Apply?

Join a network of racial equity and social justice advocates influencing policy decisions on local and regional commissions.
Gain integrated perspectives on key local and regional racial equity and social justice issues: economic development, health equity, affordable housing, transit, and workforce development.
Participate in a facilitated learning community of trainers, advocate commissioners and elected officials who share best practices, lessons learned, and key concepts.
Learn commission skills like Parliamentary Procedure, media messaging, and municipal budgeting.

Download the full 2014-2015 Nomination Packet here.

Please note a change in nominations this year: Each organization and each BCLI alum may nominate only one candidate each year (see Page 5 of the Nomination Packet for more information).

Come to an upcoming Information Session!

Please RSVP to Angie Brown at abrown@nexuscp.org – please indicate which info session you plan to attend. Light refreshments will be provided.

Thursday, May 29^th 5:30-7pm at UROC: 2001 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis 55411
Thursday, June 5^th 9-10:30am at Hope Community Inc., 3^rd Floor Loft: 611 E. Franklin Ave, Minneapolis 55404
Tuesday, June 17^th 5:30-7pm at CLUES, McKnight Room: 797 7^th St. E., St. Paul 55106
Thursday, June 19^th 6:30-8pm at Brookdale Library, Room AB: 6125 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center 55430

Questions? Contact us:

Ms. Angie Brown
Program Associate
abrown@nexuscp.org
651-289-7029

Ms. Terri Thao
Program Director
tthao@nexuscp.org
651-379-0505

About the BCLI

Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) is a 7-month leadership program that supports, trains and places people of color and other underrepresented community members on publicly appointed boards and commissions that influence and impact equity in the Twin Cities Metro Area. Click here for more information about the BCLI.

Nexus Community Partners is proud to announce the graduation of our inaugural fellows from the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)! Over 40 friends, family members, knowledge partners and supporters joined the celebration on Thursday, April 10th at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. We honored our twelve graduates as they move beyond the seven-month training toward placement and decision-making on local boards and commissions. Meet the graduates and see what boards and commissions they are seated on or targeting here.

13-14 BCLI Fellows

From left to right: Ilhan Omar, Abdirahman Muse, Cathy Jones, Naida Medicine Crow,
Kandace Montgomery, Maleta (Queen) Kimmons, Marsha Cressy,
Roxxanne O’Brien, Sammie Ardito Rivera
Not pictured: Cynthia Campos, Maggie Lorenz, Mee Cheng

Elder LeMoine LaPointe, who participated in the BCLI Launch Event, opened the graduation with a blessing alongside his two sons, Wakinyan and Thorne LaPointe, and relative Mi-zi-way Mi-gi-zi Desjarlait.

The graduation program featured a slideshow of the various activities of this year’s program, including photos from our Saturday training sessions, the October Program Launch and from the BCLI Thursday Night Issue Series. The fellows then got a chance to share their stories of what this program meant for them personally and for the broader equity movement in the Twin Cities.

From left to right: Kandace Montgomery, Roxxanne O’Brien, Ilhan Omar, Sammie Ardito Rivera

“[I am] part of a group called Advancing Women’s Voices where we gather and we talk about leadership and power within the Somali community and what it means for women to have a voice…We decided to all nominate each other for this [BCLI] and I luckily got picked,” said Ilhan Omar, who was appointed Senior Policy Aide to Council Member Andrew Johnson after beginning the BCLI.

Roxxanne O’Brien spoke about her success on the Minneapolis Citizen’s Environmental Advisory Committee: “It was really frustrating the first few months…being one of the only black women on the board and trying to bring forth my values and experiences…[Until recently, when] we just finally had a unanimous vote to pass equity language to the City Council and the Mayor, which would [bring] some options for floods or emergency situations in our communities that would reach people in poor communities – would reach people of color.”

“I want to see more unity amongst people of color to rise together to get what we need…I was really excited about the possibility [in the BCLI] to work across culture with people working on different issues…I was seated on the Homegrown Minneapolis Food Council this January…I’m glad to be able to expand my work of health and wellness and my knowledge about food systems and gardening within my own community, and larger systems change for all our communities,” shared Sammie Ardito Rivera.

Kandace Montgomery acknowledged that advancing equity through boards and commissions is but one strategy for systemic change: “It doesn’t stop at the city level. There are five legislators of color at the capitol…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.”

Check out the video of the graduation here, and the photo gallery here.

The graduates were gifted a Certificate of Graduation, as well as a signed copy of local activist and artist Ricardo Levins Morales’ work titled Wellstone Memorial that included a quote from the senator: “Significant social change comes from the bottom up, from an aroused opinion that forces our ruling institutions to do the right thing.”

Nexus President & CEO Repa Mekha concluded the event with the following remarks: “This is not about individuals, but about the power that comes when people from across cultures that have shared vision about change in this world weave themselves together, learn together, and commit together; that’s much more powerful than what any individual can ever do.”

The BCLI has prepared these leaders to serve as the next generation of appointed officials who are representative of, and accountable to, the region’s communities of color and other underrepresented populations – creating real demands and real change for our children, our community and the Twin Cities region.

BCLI staff would like to say a special THANK YOU to all of our funders, knowledge partners, training facilitators, guest speakers, Issue Series panelists, evaluators, nominators, fellows, selection committee members, and all of the BCLI community and family – thank you for all of your amazing work, and for helping with the development and implementation of this program! We couldn’t do this without you!

Keep an eye out for these upcoming 2014-2015 important dates! For more information about the BCLI, contact the program associate, Ms. Angie Brown, at abrown@nexuscp.org, or the program director, Ms. Terri Thao, at tthao@nexuscp.org.

From left to right: Ilhan Omar, Abdirahman Muse, Roxxanne O’Brien, Cathy Jones, Angie Brown, Kandace Montgomery, Repa Mekha, Maleta (Queen) Kimmons, Sammie Ardito Rivera, Marsha Cressy, Terri Thao
Not pictured: Cynthia Campos, Maggie Lorenz, Mee Cheng, Naida Medicine Crow

“Significant social change comes from the bottom up, from an aroused opinion that forces our ruling institutions to do the right thing.” Senator Paul Wellstone 1944-2002

The 2013-2014 Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) Issue Series came to a close with our final Issue Series on Thursday, March 6, 2014. Over 30 community members gathered at the Rondo Library in Saint Paul to discuss Health Equity in the Twin Cities with our panelists Antonia Wilcoxon, Director of Community Relations at the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) and Joo Hee Pomplun, Organizer of the Health Equity Working Committee (HEWC).

View the photo gallery here.

3.6 Health Equity Panel

We kicked off the event with the questions “What does ‘health’ mean to you?” and “What does ‘health equity’ mean to you?” After discussing in small groups, our panelists elaborated on their work in health equity and how it is connected to racial equity in their work and how their work is poised to capitalize on the assets of communities of color in the broader equity movement.

Ms. Wilcoxon shared that “We cannot make these decisions or arrive at some findings here in the absence of the very people that we are talking about because they are not here at the table to speak for themselves.”

Ms. Pomplun shared: “One thing that I’ve always really questioned is the State and however many agencies and institutions keep asking: ‘How do we solve these racial disparities; how do we solve these problems?’ But then they go back into their institutions and … think about it, and do their own little think-tank in their institutions. But the answer is in the community… There is so much readiness, so much passion, so much desire to be out there leading policy, making policy, making the changes that we want to see happen that will benefit our communities to create and advance the equity that is needed and necessary…”

The ensuing discussion centered around involvement of communities of color not only in advisory roles to local government – like the Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council that Ms. Wilcoxon facilitates – but also as the decision-makers and policy shapers, as Ms. Pomplun shared with her work helping draft a bill to amend a health related tax that would impact communities of color and LGBTQ communities.

The panelists closed by sharing some recommendations on how each of us can incorporate health equity into our own work, as well as ways to become an active member in local decision-making processes around health and health equity.

Check out the full audio recording of our panelists (41:56):

For more information about the BCLI, check out our website and join our listserv to get updates on upcoming events.

We look forward to seeing everyone this November for the beginning of our 2014-2015 BCLI Issue Series!

Antonia Wilcoxon
Director of Community Relations
Department of Human Services (DHS)

“That generated a process in which we created – I say we, but it was really the collective of both state employees which were in a smaller number than the cultural communities – a series of recommendations for the agency [DHS] to undertake… [including] that our agency did not hire the people who look like the people we served, so the agency changed its affirmative action goals to develop some goals for minority hire. Another concern was the fact that as an agency we knew very little about the community we serve, so they really recommended some anti-racism training which the senior leadership went through and they learned how much we excluded the community that we serve, and made some actions to make sure that we include more individuals affected by the disparities in the planning and development of the policies. The Cultural and Ethnic Communities Leadership Council was created and passed into law this past legislative session with the purpose of advising the commissioner of human services on disparities reduction.”

Joo Hee Pomplun
Organizer
Health Equity Working Committee (HEWC)

“It’s so fantastic to have Antonia at DHS, because she is just such a champion and internal person to connect with to understand how the culture works, who to talk to, and just to help us navigate and message what we see as the barriers to the disparity reduction happening at DHS.

…

“[As part of a leadership institute I’m a part of for leaders of color and LGBTQ leaders in policy] we offered… a complimentary bill to this tax [a tax that largely affects communities of color and LGBTQ communities] and we wanted to bring some equity to that tax that would bring some of those resources back into our communities that would bring some benefits and reduce the impact of that tax… None of us ever did a bill before…but Senator Hayden was really fantastic and helped us walk through it and Senator Dibble as well…There is power. There is desire. There is passion. It’s just a matter of us taking those opportunities to do it.”

On February 6th, over 65 community members packed the BCLI Issue Series at the McKnight Foundation to engage in learning and honest discussion about the “Intersection of Equity, Transit and Affordable Housing in the Twin Cities.”

The panel included Owen Duckworth, Coalition Organizer for the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, Margaret Kaplan, Community Development Director of Minnesota Housing, and Wynfred Russell, Executive Director of African Career, Education & Resource, Inc. The panelists began the conversation by sharing their work in transit and affordable housing through an organizing, nonprofit and systems approach. (Click on the links below to hear each speaker’s segment of the panel. Click here to view the photo gallery).

The speakers focused on several themes, including: the need to have a greater racial equity analysis within organizations and at the systems and institutional levels; the need for more leaders championing and implementing equitable strategies; the need for continuous community engagement; and the need for established communities of color to share their lessons with the new immigrant communities.

These issues are extremely important to Nexus, and for the region, as critical decisions are being made on investments in transportation and affordable housing. It is imperative to ensure that communities benefit from these opportunities, especially given the historical and continued discrimination against communities of color and low-wealth communities. The audience raised some valid and difficult questions including: What makes white, middle-class educated people qualified to make decisions for low-wealth people of color with the lived experiences of inaccessibility to transit and affordable housing? Why aren’t community members with the lived experiences considered the experts and therefore represented on panels such as these?

These are themes that Nexus is familiar with and we work on ensuring that people (majority communities of color and low-wealth) who live these experiences actually inform the decisions that are being made at the systems level and are considered experts. Through the BCLI Issue Series, Nexus is intentional about creating shared spaces where community members and organizers, as well as policymakers and systems representatives, can build relationships and honestly address equity issues in our region. By engaging leaders from all levels of the decision-making process, our collective power to advance equity becomes stronger – and the voices of those impacted by decisions around affordable housing, transit-expansion, jobs, and education can become the voices at the decision-making tables for these issues.

We appreciate the feedback from all attendees regarding suggestions for making these shared spaces stronger and more resourceful – as that is the ultimate goal of the BCLI Issue Series. The suggestions included inviting the BCLI fellows and community members to sit on the panel, clearly defining equity, exploring the divisions between different cultural and ethnic groups in equity work, and many others that will help inform our final Issue Series event on March 6th, as well as the Issue Series for the 2014-2015 BCLI program year.

Click on the below links to hear each speaker’s segment of the panel.

___________________________________________________________________

Owen Duckworth
Coalition Organizer
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability

“As many people who’ve done work on statewide coalitions or issue advocacy coalitions, there’s a real tension at the heart of a lot of these issues especially when it comes to racial equity issues…A lot of the issue advocacy organizations in our state or in our region are not led by people of color, are not necessarily based in an analysis that leads with race equity…There’s also a challenge…when building these coalitions…there’s a number of players that need to be at the table. Not all of them share a racial equity analysis – that’s an understatement. Many of them are literally turned off by the conversation around race…that’s a tension that’s there. But again for the Alliance [for Metropolitan Stability] – we put racial equity in front and center of our mission and hold that lens wherever we go. It’s a challenge again to how we think about building power within, for our member organizations, for our own organization and for communities on the ground.”

Owen Duckworth

Margaret Kaplan
Community Development Director
Minnesota Housing

“One of the things that I think has helped us along the way [of determining and implementing processes for supporting affordable housing] is some really strong leadership – both within our organization itself, with our commissioner Mary Tingerthol – deciding that equity, that community engagement, that engaging with communities in different ways and having voices at the table in different ways as we are making our decisions was something that we care about even if we didn’t know how to do it. And then also I think particularly when you look at the Twin Cities region, having some very strong leaders who are increasingly coming together and thinking about the way that we talk about equity and the way that we talk about disparities and the connection that equity and public investments have with each other in a more coordinated way. I think that helps us make changes in the work that we do.”

Margaret Kaplan

Wynfred Russell
Executive Director
African Career, Education & Resource, Inc.

“The Northwest suburbs are the new frontier…Brooklyn Center is 51-49, it’s the only majority minority city in the state. But if you would look at the representation, the elected officials there, it would give you a completely different picture – even the folks that work at city hall would give you a completely different picture…Brooklyn Park [population] is officially 48% minority…But Brooklyn Park has less than 2% people of color that work at the city and zero on the city council…The organization that I work with [African Career, Education & Resource (ACER) has] been trying to build relationships, build bridges all across the board…Our primary target audience is African immigrants, African Americans and all the minority groups…For some of us who have been fortunate to work with institutions like the U of M and other places, we know what needs to happen; we know some of the deficits that exist in some of these mainstream organizations. So we try to serve as a bridge to connect our community, the larger minority community, with a lot of these mainstream institutions and say okay, how can you help us? We’ve identified the needs, how can you help us deliver to our folks?”

Wynfred Russell

On Thursday, January 9th, 2014, over 60 community members gathered at the Hallie Q. Brown Community Center in St. Paul to discuss the shifting demographics in Minnesota’s workforce. Together, attendees explored how local government, employers, and community members are ensuring that communities and leaders of color will capitalize on these demographic shifts in the Twin Cities.

Jane Tigan of Minnesota Compass – Wilder Research kicked off the event with a presentation of the data. In her PowerPoint (available here: Minnesota Compass Demographic Shifts Data), Tigan demonstrated three key shifts in Minnesota’s population:

1) Our population is aging, with retirement-age population soon exceeding the school-age population for the first time in Minnesota’s history;

2) Our population is rapidly diversifying racially and ethnically: nearly all of our population growth in the past 12 years has been in communities of color, where populations of color have increased 250% since 1990;

3) The workforce needs are heading toward more education requirements, with significantly higher demand in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).

Listen to Tigan’s entire Shifting Demographics presentation below.

Jane Tigan
Research Associate
Minnesota Compass – Wilder Research

Following Tigan’s presentation, panelists Karen Francois (City of Minneapolis), Debbi Harris (The Arc Greater Twin Cities), and Chris Ferguson (Bywater Business Solutions) shared their reactions to the data, and – most importantly – how they are prioritizing these demographic shifts in their respective work as a policymaker, an advocate, and an employer.

Click on the links below to hear each speaker’s segment of the panel. Click here to view the photo gallery of the event.

Karen Francois
Director of Employment Equity
City of Minneapolis

“In August of 2012, the City of Minneapolis passed a resolution supporting employment equity …one of the things it did was it directed staff (staff in my division) to develop a racial equity toolkit and we’ve been working on that ever since [working closely with the City of Seattle’s Racial & Social Justice Initiative]…One of the things that I’m most proud of is our Urban Scholars Program, which is a leadership development summer internship program for college students from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds to prepare them for positions of influence in the public sector…Mayor Rybak was so impressed with the program [and our results] in such a short time that he doubled our budget. And so we’re going to go forward with 35 urban scholars this summer [some placed in Minneapolis Public Schools, some at the Metropolitan Council]…We [City of Minneapolis staff] do not reflect the population…so we are preparing young people, young college students of color, for positions of leadership for a population (as Jane said) is going to be increasingly diverse.”

Karen Francois

Debbi Harris
Immediate Past President, Board of Directors
The Arc Greater Twin Cities

“Our son, Josh, has very complex medical needs…when you look at Josh, you know he has a disability; you know what his barriers are going to be…I think the first barrier was that the medical community would not accept him as worthy of treatment based upon his potential, or perceived lack of potential …There are a lot of our children and our children of color who a couple things happen: the first is that they might be pushed into receiving labels of disability when that is not the case; and secondly, those who do have disabilities that might have an impact on their potential employment or how their education is approached who aren’t getting those diagnoses early enough, who aren’t getting support early enough, and are not getting the advocacy that they need. That’s why I’m here …My message here is more so: I think we need to raise the question about how we value disability. When we look at the numbers of how many workers are available – those are typical workers without any compromises at all. So when you have a student or a young person who wants a job but maybe is on the Asperger’s spectrum, maybe has autism, maybe has an intellectual disability that affects speech or whatever – how do we receive those people? And how do we approach them?”

Debbi Harris

Chris Ferguson
President & CEO
Bywater Business Solutions

“How do we start thinking about creating jobs and attracting companies that fit the assets we have? [Businesses have] figured out very well how to make money…I do think that given the right opportunity, the right resources, the right champion, that we could encourage them to use that same brain power to be thinking: ‘How do we take the physical and human assets we have today [and create jobs for those specific human assets]?’ Some of those jobs might be great for people with disabilities; some of those jobs might be great for people that need a flexible work schedule. But if we think about that as we’re creating the business model, as opposed to trying to shoehorn those people into an existing business model…we might be more successful in thinking about how do we [both give] those people a greater opportunity to stay employed.”

Chris Ferguson

This event, Engaging for the Future: Demographic Shifts & the Call to Action, was part of Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) Thursday Night Issue Series, in partnership with Wilder Foundation’s Neighborhood Leadership Program (NLP) Link-up Sessions, part 2 of a 2-part series titled: Leadership in the Twin Cities: Our Networks. Our Future. The first event was held in November, emphasizing the importance of social capital, and capitalizing on each other’s networks to create opportunities for leaders of color in the Twin Cities.

Joining the event were two additional key partners:

1) Brotherhood Brew of Brotherhood, Inc., an innovative social enterprise that provides comprehensive coffee services to businesses, nonprofits, individuals and events in the Twin Cities. All proceeds from the sale of Brotherhood Brew allow Brotherhood, Inc. to provide participants employment opportunities and essential job skills.

2) Members and organizers of Discussions that Encounter: Race & Racism in American Society, a group of community members who hold discussion forums two Thursdays each month to explore the injustices in American society based upon the concept of race, and the resulting engagement of racism. View the Discussions Brochure to learn more about Discussions that Encounter.

For more information about the BCLI Thursday Night Issue Series, the BCLI, or any upcoming events, click here, or contact Ms. Angie Brown at abrown@nexuscp.org. For more information about NLP or NLP Link-up Sessions, contact Mr. Damon Shoholm at damon.shoholm@wilder.org.

Panel

“Why just workers? Why not owners?”

On Thursday, December 5th, 2013, over 40 community members braved the bitter Minnesota cold in order to share their reflections on why the cooperative model is important in communities of color as an asset/wealth building tool in the Twin Cities.

This Issue Series gathered a panel of four, fierce women of color including (pictured from right to left) LaDonna Redmond, Nieeta Presley, Pakou Hang, and Yolanda Cotterall, who shared their respective experiences working with cooperatives in the food justice movement, economic development, and the labor movement.

The event, hosted at Hope Community, Inc., was part of Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) Thursday Night Issue Series, which are free and open to the public and happen once each month from October to March.

Click on the below links to hear each speaker’s segment of the panel. Or click here to view the photo gallery of the event.

LaDonna Redmond
Founder, Campaign for Food Justice Now
Education & Outreach Coordinator, Seward Co-op

“So this question of access to the market is really a political issue; it is not really about shopping…That’s one element of it, but the real question is can you own it? Can you own the co-op? And because of the cooperative principles, access to ownership is there and available…And that’s the essential question: How much are we willing to pay to become owners of businesses that will lift our communities out of poverty?”

LaDonna Redmond

Nieeta Presley
Executive Director
Aurora/St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation

“We’re talking about long-term; we’re talking about sustainability. We’re talking about futures, so that community folk don’t have to wait for [insert organization] to come along and do what the community knows that it needs. If you have your cooperative in place, and it’s built and it’s around real estate development, you can do your own thing. You can do it based on your members.”

Nieeta Presley

Pakou Hang
Executive Director
Hmong American Farmers Association

“There are institutional barriers against …what we are trying to do, so we have to create institutions themselves to fight against those same institutional barriers. And for me that’s why cooperatives are so important, because they are an institutional structure that allows us to combat some of these larger dynamics.”

Pakou Hang

Yolanda Cotterall
Greater Minnesota Program Director
Latino Economic Development Center

“There were only so many opportunities out there for economic development [for Latinos in rural Minnesota]…They [Latinos] were working as farm laborers, they were working in dairy farms, they were working in the meat-packing plants, they were working in all sorts of low-income jobs, and they were the skill – people – that were doing that work…And we started to look at that and think, ‘Well, why just workers? Why not owners?'”

Yolanda Cotterall

For more information about the BCLI Thursday Night Issue Series, the BCLI, or any upcoming events, please contact the program associate, Ms. Angie Brown, at abrown@nexuscp.org.

Nexus Community Partners officially launched its inaugural Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) on Thursday, October 10^th, 2013! Over 40 community members joined us at the Wellstone Center in St. Paul for this celebratory and inspiring event as we introduced the first twelve fellows to the community. Click here to meet the fellows. Already they are generating interests around the Twin Cities.

During the event, we were honored to hear from three local long-time social justice leaders who shared their experiences strengthening communities of color and advancing equity in the Twin Cities. Speakers Gary Cunningham, LeMoine LaPointe, and Professor Nekima Levy-Pounds offered the BCLI fellows their words of support and encouragement in a Fireside Chat format. They reminded the fellows that we, as a community, are in this together, and that we all have the responsibility to support one another in creating positive social and structural change for the region:

“This is about our families and our communities and our children, and our children’s children. And the question I ask each of us sitting here today is what are you going to do? What are we going to do? What is your responsibility to do something to address it?” Gary Cunningham

“It’s time for a game change to begin to happen. So I’m seeing our fellows as game changers. And pace-setters. So we can break the cycles that exist … So it’s time for something new.” Professor Nekima Levy-Pounds

“Even if they stand by themselves, they have to stand up. If there are rights to be demanded, they have to be demanded. We can’t ask for our rights to be honored. We have to demand they be honored…We can do this together…We’ve got your back.” LeMoine LaPointe

The BCLI will train and place these qualified candidates from diverse populations onto city boards and commissions in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The fellows will have the capacity and community support to advance a regional agenda for equity in the five core issue areas of the program: economic development, employment, health, housing and transportation. These leaders will serve as the next generation of elected and appointed officials who are representative of, and accountable to, the region’s communities of color and other underrepresented populations – creating real demands and real change for our children, our community and the Twin Cities region.

Join us for our Thursday Night Issue Series to engage with community partners on current issues in Minnesota and the Twin Cities region. Our first Thursday Night Issue Series will be held in partnership with the Neighborhood Leadership Program (NLP) Link-up Series: Leadership in the Twin Cities: Our Networks. Our Future, on Thursday, November 7^th, 2013, from 5:30-8pm at the Center for Changing Lives. Click here for details and to register for the event.

A huge thank you to the staff and American Indian youth of MIGIZI Communications for filming and producing the videos of the Launch Event! You can watch these videos of our panelists on Nexus’ YouTube channel here.

For more information about the BCLI, contact the program associate, Ms. Angie Brown, at abrown@nexuscp.org, or the program director, Ms. Terri Thao, at tthao@nexuscp.org.

“Here’s a challenge: Get people who traditionally lack power — the poor, immigrants, people of color, the disabled — into positions of power.

That’s the goal of Nexus Community Partners, a St. Paul-based nonprofit aiming to bring diverse voices with different perspectives to the tables of power around the Twin Cities. “

Read more about our recently launched initiative in an article on MinnPost website here.

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Download the full 2014-2015 Nomination Packet here.

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