Join our fifth Business Planning Webinar on Thursday, June 5, 3-4:30 pm CT! We’ll cover everything you need to know about startup costs, revenue, expenses and more.
Each webinar builds upon the last and is aligned with the LOCAL Fund application. By the end of the series, if the LOCAL Fund is a good fit for you and your team, you will be ready to apply! Missed a session?Find the recordings here.
Fill out the form below to register for Session 5: Projections, Sources & Uses.
Business Planning Webinar Series Session 5: Projections, Sources & Uses
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP1612 awarded to Nexus Community Partners by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
The Open Road Fund will be hosting our first Community Care Call for the 2025 giftmaking season! These calls are set up to address the uncertainty and potential discomfort around filling out the Open Road Fund application and answering questions about your ancestry. Sessions are facilitated by three Black mental health practitioners: Dr. Aja King, Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, and Dr. Cedric Weatherspoon. Our first call will be held Thursday, May 29, 6-8 pm CT on Zoom. We hope to see you there!
Space for these sessions is limited to 100 people on a first–come, first–served basis. If you already feel knowledgeable about your ancestry, please make space for folks seeking to learn.
Want to learn more about the Open Road Fund? Come to one of our upcoming information sessions! We will talk about the Fund, the 2025 application process, and answer your questions. The first session is June 4 from 6-7:30 pm. The second session is June 25 from 12-1:30 pm. The 2025 Open Road Fund launches on Juneteenth (June 19)!
During these sessions, we will:
Introduce the Open Road Fund and the Open Road team
Show participants how to apply, including a live walkthrough of the application
Explain how the Open Road Fund selects grantees, and answer any questions you may have
Discuss what wealth-building grant awards can be used for
These info sessions are free and open to the community. Each session will take place on Zoom and will be recorded. Please register using the links below.
Our Business Planning Webinar Series is in full swing! Join our fourth session, Conversion Basics, on Thursday, May 22, 3-4:30 pm CT. We’ll dive into the feasibility of converting existing businesses into cooperatives and go over the transition process.
Each webinar builds upon the last and is aligned with the LOCAL Fund application. By the end of the series, if the LOCAL Fund is a good fit for you and your team, you will be ready to apply!
Fill out the form below to register for Session 4: Conversion Basics.
Business Planning Webinar Series Session 4: Conversion Basics
Thank you for your interest in the Shared Ownership Center's Business Planning Webinar Series. Registration for this session is now closed.
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP1612 awarded to Nexus Community Partners by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Our friends at CoMinnesota, Minnesota Farmers Union, the University of Minnesota Morris, and West Central Initiative are launching the first-ever Minnesota Cooperative Summit this summer! Hear from speakers (including Nexus!) on how co-ops have been powering progress for generations.
Minnesota has a rich history of cooperative success, from rural electricity to credit unions to local food systems. The Minnesota Cooperative Summit is your chance to connect with this legacy, learn from innovators, and be part of the next chapter in cooperative development.
You don’t need to be in a co-op to attend. This event is designed to inspire newcomers, spark partnerships, and bring fresh energy to the idea of shared ownership. This event is for YOU if you’re:
Interested in launching a community-based project
A leader seeking new ways to retain employees or pass along your business
Curious about models that center people, not just profit
Center your health and healing in the final workshop of our 2025 Community Education Session lineup! Fill out the form below to register.
Our guest speaker is Dr. Aja King, LPCC, Ed.D, a counseling psychologist and founder of Brave Defiance. Dr. King creates retreats and healing spaces for those seeking to be nurtured to their maximum health and potential. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. King has dedicated her life to guiding others through the mental health and wellness journey. She utilizes a holistic approach which includes Reiki, Healing Touch, Sound Therapy, Breathwork, and meditation.
We kicked off our LOCAL Fund webinar series with a business plan breakdown and co-op creation guidelines. Our third session, Finance 101, takes place Thursday, May 8, 3-4:30 pm CT on Zoom. Learn the ins and outs of budgeting, balance sheets, and cash flows!
Each webinar builds upon the last and is aligned with the LOCAL Fund application. By the end of the series, if the LOCAL Fund is a good fit for you and your team, you will be ready to apply!
Fill out the form below to register for Session 3: Finance 101.
Business Planning Webinar Series Session 3: Finance 101
Thank you for your interest in the Shared Ownership Center's Business Planning Webinar Series. Registration for this session is now closed.
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP1612 awarded to Nexus Community Partners by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Make your co-op dream a reality with the Shared Ownership Center @ Nexus! The second session in our spring webinar series takes place Thursday, April 24, 3-4:30 pm CT on Zoom. We’ll cover how to assemble your dream team, start planning your bylaws, and accessing an attorney and technical assistance.
Each webinar builds upon the last and is aligned with the LOCAL Fund application. By the end of the series, if the LOCAL Fund is a good fit for you and your team, you will be ready to apply!
Fill out the form below to register for Session 2: Creating Your Cooperative.
Business Planning Webinar Series Session 2: Creating Your Cooperative
Sorry, this form is not available.
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP1612 awarded to Nexus Community Partners by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Our April workshop explores pursuing and financing higher education through a university or college. Jered Pigeon, Campus Diversity Officer and Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Minnesota State University – Moorhead, will also discuss some of the challenges and pressures of achieving an accredited education. Fill out the form below to register!
Jered Pigeon is a seasoned business analyst and company strategist with over 12 years of experience advising and consulting institutions in both the education and manufacturing sectors. Specializing in hiring and recruiting strategies, fostering organizational growth through cultural initiatives, and providing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion coaching, Jered is dedicated to facilitating positive change within organizations.
Join our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship for a Black Study Session on April 30! The session will hold space for participants to experience self-care and community care, with guest speakers guiding participants in different practices.
North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship Black Study Session: Self-care and Community Care
Alanna Morris is a dancer-choreographer, educator, and artist organizer. After a 10-year career with TU Dance, she founded an arts & cultural organization, I A.M. Arts, to support critical dance performance, wholistic education, and community life. Alanna is the director of the Roots and Wings Institute for Embodied Wisdoms, which launched in 2024, empowering creatives and nonprofits with project management and integrated health services. Alanna is also an adjunct professor at Hamline University.
Priscilla Momah
Founder of Coco Womb Wellness, Priscilla Momah is a wellness practitioner, certified yoga instructor, Reiki practitioner, and Thai yoga bodyworker who offers a range of healing experiences throughout the Twin Cities. She curates soulful embodiment experiences that fuse music, sound healing, and mindfulness practices into unique workshops designed to cultivate care and connection. Through breathwork, meditation, sound baths, and somatic movement, Priscilla creates immersive journeys that invite participants to tap into deep relaxation and healing. Her offerings include group sound baths, private 1:1 Thai yoga bodywork sessions, and carefully crafted workshops that nourish the body, mind, and spirit.
Our Shared Ownership Center is hosting a free business planning webinar series for cooperatives this April through June! Sessions will take place (almost) every other Thursday, 3-4:30 pm CT, on Zoom. Each webinar builds upon the last and is aligned with the LOCAL Fund application. By the end of the series, if the LOCAL Fund is a good fit for you and your team, you will be ready to apply!
Fill out the form below to register for our first session, Concept to Business Plan.
Christina Nicholson and Mara O’Neill will guide you through the necessary foundations in starting a business. They will go over how to assess the feasibility of a business plan and different types of cooperative businesses. This will be an interactive session with time for a robust Q&A.
Meet the Facilitators
Christina Nicholson, Cooperative Finance Developer – Worker Owner Initiative
In my role at Nexus, I serve as the Cooperative Finance Developer for the Worker Owner Initiative (WOI), which is part of Nexus’ Community Wealth Building Strategy. I help both start-ups and existing businesses understand the role worker ownership can play in successful owner retirement strategies as well as improved workplace cultures for teams. With solid technical assistance and organizational support, worker-owner cooperatives can grow and perpetuate community wealth by expanding opportunities for local business ownership.
I have been working in cooperatives in Minnesota for 25 years in a wide range of roles, from front-of-house retail to construction to cooperative consulting. In all of my endeavors, the thread has been working to connect communities to each other through common cause. This has been framed for me as a shared economy that questions the normative culture of the unequal exploitation of labor. Rather than focus on what is wrong, cooperatives look to inspire a shared sense of success and equity among community members within the cooperative.
When done well, cooperatives celebrate the unique contributions of individuals while challenging assumptions about how we perpetuate destructive myths around gender, race, and class. I am so excited to be a part of Nexus and look forward to learning from my peers who continue to inspire me with their vast knowledge of community wealth building, leadership, and development of strategic partnerships!
Mara O’Neill, Consultant
Mara O’Neill has over four decades of experience in the field of community economic development providing technical assistance and underwriting loans to new and expanding small businesses. She is also experienced in managing and operating all aspects of a revolving loan fund including loan documentation and closing, perfecting liens on collateral, loan servicing, and tracking loan funds. She currently provides consulting services to small nonprofit organizations in the areas of small business loan program development and management.
From 2011 until 2020, Mara was the Loan Program Director for Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD). Before joining MCCD, Mara was Director of Capital Investments for First Children’s Finance (FCF), a nonprofit organization supporting the business side of childcare, where she oversaw the loan and grant program and developed FCF’s childcare business training program. She was Chief Operating Officer at Neighborhood Development Center, a community–based non-profit organization providing training, financing and ongoing technical assistance to new micro-businesses in Saint Paul and Minneapolis. She also worked for the Saint Paul Department of Planning and Economic Development for 12 years providing financing and technical assistance to small businesses and developers.
Mara has a BS Degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is certified as an Economic Development Financing Professional by the National Development Council, now known as Grow America. She is a recipient of the Top Women in Finance Award from Finance and Commerce Magazine and in 2019 she received the Champion Award from Credit Builders Alliance.
Business Planning Webinar Series Session 1: Concept to Business Plan
Thank you for your interest in the Shared Ownership Center's Business Planning Webinar Series. Registration for this session is now closed.
This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP1612 awarded to Nexus Community Partners by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Our March Open Road Fund Community Education Session will focus on single-family homeownership. Jeff Wills, Economic Services Manager and Housing Counselor of Model Cities Inc., will offer resources and information to help first-time homebuyers on their journey to buying and maintaining a home. Fill out the form below to register!
Jeff Wills, a native of Queens, NY, came to Model Cities with over a decade of experience as a homeownership advisor, banking manager, and consumer lender. A constant in Jeff’s career is his relentless advocacy for economic equity, with a particular focus on financial empowerment for disenfranchised and disadvantaged communities of color. Jeff graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities as a student athlete and earned his Bachelor of Science in Business and Marketing Education.
