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Centering Our Values: The 2020 Election

Fred

In who we are and through what we do, Nexus Community Partners builds engaged and powerful communities so that each and every person can flourish in a joyful and abundant life. For this to be possible, we must usher out the rigged rules, attitudes, and practices that concentrate wealth and power in fewer and whiter hands, and usher in ways of living, working, and making decisions together that nourish communities for this generation and generations to come.

Because we are living in historic times, through a pandemic, and in the midst of a volatile election season, we wanted to take the time to affirm a few things.

Each of us has a voice, and each of us contributes to the fabric of our communities. Whether we are Black or white, Asian or Latinx, Indigenous or immigrant, this moment shows us that now, more than ever, every one of our voices deserves to be counted. This election season has brought voter suppression tactics the likes of which we haven’t seen since the Jim Crow era — ranging from reducing polling access in predominantly Black, brown, indigenous and immigrant zip codes, to politicians encouraging outright intimidation from white supremacist militias in an attempt to scare us from exercising our vote. But the only reason they try to suppress our voices is because they know that together, we’re powerful. And we demonstrated our power by showing up to the polls in record numbers. 

But our power has always extended beyond the ballot box. Election season or not, pandemic or not, we’ve counted on one another to care for our loved ones, make ends meet, and make a better future. No matter who is elected, there is nothing that will stop the work that we and countless others have been doing and will continue to do long after all the ballots have been counted. 

At Nexus Community Partners, we work toward a future where…

… the places and spaces we share allow us to explore and express the depths of who we are – celebrating our joys, and healing our pains.

We honor our responsibility for each other, knowing that we are all connected – what affects one person or community, affects another. So, we first make sure that each and every person has their essential needs met, and we grow from there. That’s just what makes sense.

We nurture the prosperity of our communities – and in this prosperity, our health, joy, peace, love, safety and the needs of future generations come first. We foster our relationships with each other and with the land, and work cooperatively to cultivate and share this prosperity in our communities. 

We relish our distinctive cultural practices, traditions and needs. For our world to work, we all need each other. When we nourish each of our unique contributions, our world is a better, more interesting place, and we are more powerful together. 

When we make decisions that affect all of our lives, we share the power in making those decisions. We create and maintain processes of collective decision making that ensure that power continues to be informed by all of us, and the structures we use to make decisions actively repair and heal the harm from hyper-individualistic white supremacist structures. 

We repair and heal our individual and collective trauma, knowing those are interconnected. Each person gets to heal on their own terms, and collectively we confront oppressive systems that get in our way. We honor the trauma and resilience of generations that came before us.*

We count on each other. Whatever the outcome of this election, Nexus Community Partners will keep striving for the world that we all want and need.

Look at the statement here.

 

* Adapted from Young Women’s Empowerment Project and the Chicago Healing Justice Learning Circle by way of Fumbling Towards Repair: A Workbook for Community Accountability Facilitators

Please check out the Housing and Land edition of the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship. The North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship is a five-month fellowship focused on Black American Cooperative Economics. North Star is centered on the history of Black cooperative economic thought and practice. Our 2021 North Star Fellowship will focus on housing cooperatives and land trust models for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. As a cohort, fellows will explore the power and landscape of resident-controlled community ownership models that are permanently affordable and provide dignified housing options for our communities. We are forming a cohort of fellows that have a vision of collective living, permanently affordable, and community-controlled land and co-operative housing that will provide a space for our communities to have access to spiritual, cultural, and economically sound options.

Also, new this year, we are only accepting applications in groups of 2 or more. Apply here! And for more information please contact Danielle Mkali at dmkali@nexuscp.org or Nkuli Shongwe at nshongwe@nexuscp.org.

To keep our community informed, here is another update on the Transformative Black Led Movement Fund Mutual Aid progress so far.

These are the latest numbers, as of today. In the future, we’ll keep sharing this information, and hope to share more information around geography, demographics, and more.

We know our community urgently needs this money, and we are working as hard as we can to get it out on a timely basis. We also want to acknowledge that though we are trying our best to get money out, we have also encountered a lot of barriers and setbacks. And we know every one of these slow downs impacts people who are trying to pay rent, bills, access healthcare, provide for their families, and more.

We’re building new processes and infrastructure to help us handle a huge volume of grant requests. We’re struggling to work with financial institutions (like banks and PayPal) who make it hard to get money into the hands of those who need it most. We are trying our best to make the mutual aid process fair to everyone, while not adding unnecessary barriers, especially for undocumented folks. We appreciate your patience as we navigate this new landscape of mass-mutual aid.

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.

TRANSFORMATIVE BLACK LED-MOVEMENT FUND ANNOUNCEMENT

We have had an incredible response to the Transformative Black Led Mutual Aid Fund (TBLMF). Since August 10th, requests for Mutual Aid alone have totaled over 1.5 million dollars from 700 applications (from both organizations and individuals).

Because of this response we will be putting the mutual aid fund on hold to be able to adequately assess and more promptly respond to these needs. We will send out another communication once it has re-opened. We understand that this response indicates the great amount of need in our Black communities and are working hard to be able to distribute these funds as quickly and thoughtfully as possible during these difficult days. We appreciate your patience, reminders, and all of the following up.

We will honor and review requests received through 10/2.

Applications for Organizing for a New Future, Transformative and Healing Justice, and Economic and Cultural Justice will re-open on October 12th.

Please feel free to reach out to the TBLMF team with any questions or concerns that you may have at tblmf@nexuscp.org. We try our best to respond to all emails within one week.

In cooperation,
The Transformative Black-Led Movement Fund team

Nexus is happy to be partnering with the Black Visions Collective on this rapid response fund. The goal of the Transformative Black Led Movement Fund (TBMF) is to transparently and efficiently resource Black-led and Black individuals in the Twin Cities. Funds will go to support those responding to the political and cultural opportunity to defund police and begin the transition process toward developing and implementing a shared vision of community led safety. Funds will also go to provide direct mutual and legal aid. 

Through this interim fund, we will redistribute $3.1 million from funds raised by Black Visions and Reclaim the Block during the uprising proceeding the murder of George Floyd by MPD. Nexus Community Partners is partnering with Black Visions Collective to administer the fund and to facilitate the process for supporting an interim fund committee advisory. This fund serves as a rapid response strategy as we work to develop a community led Black Movement Fund.  The fund application can be found here also, this is a link to the pdf version of the application for your reference, applications will still need to be submitted via online form, finally, the TBMF Frequently Asked Questions can be found here.

If you have questions about the application or the process please feel free to reach out to the TBLMF team at TBLMF@nexuscp.org.

In partnership with Public Allies Twin Cities, Nexus Community Partners is hiring for two dynamic 2020-2021 Public Allies positions:

Nexus Community Partners is a community-building intermediary whose mission is to build more engaged and powerful communities of color by supporting community-building initiatives and fostering social and human capital.

Public Allies Twin Cities is a social justice organization committed to changing the face and practice of leadership by recruiting and training talented young leaders, with a passion for social impact, to create meaningful change in our community. Our Allies are diverse, equity-centered, innovative problem solvers, dedicated to mobilizing community assets to develop solutions to local challenges. In partnership with nonprofit partners, we deliver our nationally recognized, values-driven, results-led apprenticeship to advance our mission to create a just and equitable society and the diverse leadership to sustain it.

Priority application deadline Wednesday, August 5th, final deadline Friday, August 14th. 

The full report to the CLLI Team at Nexus Community Partners is now available online. This report shares findings of a pre-initiative survey completed in February 2020. Findings reveal how CLLI learning community participants define and think about community leadership values, processes, strategies, and practices. Survey responses reported here were collected before the initiative’s first session, or Phase 1. The survey will be administered again after the initiative’s final session to see if responses have changed.

During the Community Leadership Learning July 9th webinar, Nora Hall, Ph.D, and Karen Gray (GrayHall LLP) highlighted results. This snapshot provides a starting point for understanding leadership with and in communities. The CLLI Learning Community meets monthly to explore collective leadership and the many ways communities’ cultural practices impact our authorship over our lives and futures. We want to co-create a shared narrative about what constitutes healthy and vibrant community leadership.

The Leadership Survey Report shares learning community participants’ insight about nuances in community leadership and engagement, including:

  • Preferred Community Leadership Approaches
  • Leadership and Community Engagement
  • Leadership in Communities Facing Systemic Inequities
  • Community Leadership and Social Determinants of Health
  • Additional Community Leadership Comments

Read the executive summary or full report.

Interested in participating in our learning community webinars? Click here to see our learning calendar and resources.

Survey findings from the Community Leadership Learning Initiative

 

The Community Leadership Learning Initiative (CLLI) goal is to deepen our collective understanding of community-driven leadership. We want to raise the visibility of community leadership to philanthropy and the broader ecosystem of leadership and community development.

CLLI welcomes people from across the country to share in regular virtual learning opportunities. Together, our learning community explores topics such as:

  • What does collective leadership look like when operating from a cultural context?
  • How does a community’s cultural practices impact their authorship of their lives and future?
  • What are the conditions and supports that allow natural community systems to flourish and evolve?

With our evaluation partners, CLLI is working to refine key findings about what constitutes healthy and vibrant community leadership. Join our next CLLI webinar to hear more about survey findings from the Community Leadership Learning Initiative. We are excited to share what we are learning. Session information and registration link for the webinar are below.

Event: Leadership WITH/IN Community

  • Thursday July 9th
  • 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. EST/ 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. CST
  • Sign up now!

This session gives participants opportunities to examine nuances in community leadership and engagement. Learn how community leaders define and think about community leadership values, processes, strategies, and practices based on a survey conducted in February 2020. Nora Hall, Ph.D., and Karen Gray (GrayHall LLP) will share this snapshot of how Community Leadership Learners perceived community leadership work. We will discuss preferred community leadership approaches, leadership in communities facing systemic inequities, and leadership and community engagement.

 

“We are fooling ourselves if we think the nation can recover and heal without reimagining and rebuilding the systems and institutions the virus has revealed to be inadequate and broken.”

—Angela Glover Blackwell and Michael MacAfee

COVID-19 is unprecedented. This virus has left no community, no sector, no class untouched, and yet, painfully and predictably, COVID-19 is playing out along the well-worn lines of oppression. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities are being hit the hardest in this pandemic, and there are not nearly enough resources going to support these communities.

Through the MN Disaster Relief Fund, Thrivent Foundation, and Mortenson Foundation, Nexus has been awarded $175,000 to support businesses struggling because of COVID-19. We have seen billions of dollars going to large corporations, and far fewer dollars to go support the economic anchors of BIPOC communities—small businesses and cooperatives.

It may go without saying, but we did not receive enough to fund every business and cooperative that needs it. We have chosen to strategically leverage our funding to support business that are falling through the cracks—established businesses that have BIPOC ownership or a majority BIPOC employees and are cornerstones of their community.

Specifically, Nexus COVID-19 relief grantees meet the following criteria:

  • Businesses with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) owners, or that employ a majority of BIPOC employees.
  • Located in our priority areas of East Side of St. Paul (primarily Dayton’s Bluff and Payne-Phalen), North Minneapolis, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, and South Minneapolis.
  • Have less than 50 employees
  • Have been in operation for at least a year

Grants range up to $20,000 depending on the size of the business and are for general operating expenses. Businesses can use them at their discretion. UPDATE: At this point in time, we have distributed all of the funding.

We have compiled a list of recovery resources for business and, through the Nexus Business Legacy Program, we are offering free consultations for business owners to learn about transitioning to employee ownership.

In Solidarity,

The Nexus Team

 

At Nexus, we recognize the difficult choices many business owners face right now. We have expanded our business services and created our new Business Legacy Program, which implements a  3-pronged strategy to help keep local legacy businesses stabilized in our community.

  • Consulting on succession planning: helping businesses explore succession planning and restructuring options provided by employee-ownership.
  • Technical assistance for emergency funds: assisting in finding and applying for emergency loans and grants.
  • Grants for businesses: limited funding is available to clients that are exploring employee-ownership options.

Many local businesses are considering their liquidity, exit, and succession planning options. Selling all or part of a business to the employees is a viable option for owners looking to exit or revitalize their business and can be an opportunity to access new capital, gain tax benefits, motivate employees, and secure the legacy of the business. Owners can opt to stay with the business as a co-owner, or transition out at their own pace.

The Nexus Worker Ownership Initiative offers free consultations for business owners to learn about transitioning to employee ownership. Our full suite of services includes:

  • Learn about succession planning and restructuring via employee ownership models
  • Feasibility studies to assess a fair sales price and tax benefits for the seller
  • structuring the sale
  • Lining up financing with our CDFI and philanthropic partners
  • Training employees on governance (management structures often stay the same)

Find out if employee ownership is a fit for your business. For many business owners, it is the ideal way to receive fair market value, gain tax benefits, and to ensure that it will live on as an asset for your employees and your community.

Contact us for a free consultation. We keep all private information confidential, and never share with 3rd parties without written permission.

Hello folks! Today ​we are pleased to announce that we are opening up the application for ​cohort 8 of the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)! ​The BCLI is a 7 month leadership program that trains and helps place Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities on publicly appointed boards and commissions in support of a racial and economic equity agenda. Now more than over we need BIPOC voices at many decision making and policy monitoring tables!

If you are an alumni and you know someone that would be a GREAT FIT for BCLI, please nominate them. Or, if you are an organization who has someone in their network would  be a good fit for the program, we welcome your nominations too – we’d love to have them participate.

If you are interested in learning more about BCLI because you’re not sure what it is, please join us May 21st at 6PM for an online information session ​where BCLI staff and alumni will join us to answer questions. Sign up on Eventbrite and RSVP with Chai Lee via email: clee@nexuscp.org to get a zoom link to the future info session on May 21, 2020!