Want to Be Part of the Next BCLI Cohort? Come Learn How!
Fred
As our alum Victor shared, “If you truly care about your community, if you understand that racism exists in current governing structures, and if you care about advancing equity for BIPOC and other communities who’ve been told, ‘NO, you can’t,’ then BCLI is for you.”
Applications for our next Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute cohort will open this winter. Sign up for our info session on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 6-7 pm CT, to learn all about the program!
2026 Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute Information Session: Cohort 13
A new cohort year, a new Black Study Session! Join our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 5-7 pm CT, to learn how we can create a solidarity economy and rise together through mutual aid.
We’ll be joined by a guest speaker (TBA!) who will share an introduction to solidarity economy. Then, we’ll facilitate an abbreviated offer and needs market—a type of mutual aid used to identify and exchange knowledge, skills, resources, opportunities, and needs within our community.
Join us as we learn and put into practice Kwanzaa principles Ujima (collective work & responsibility) and Ujamaa (cooperative economics) as well as mutual aid!
Registration opens soon—stay tuned for the sign-up link!
Whether you attended our past events live or watched the recordings, we hope you’ll join us for our final 20th celebration, highlighting the transformational power of our Open Road Fund. Save the date for Walking the Path to Liberation on Thursday, Nov. 13, 10 am – 12 pm CT on Zoom.
With relentless attacks on Black life and well-being, initiatives run by and for Black folks to achieve Black liberation are essential. Since its launch in 2023, the Open Road Fundhas distributed $50,000 gifts to 199 Blackpeople in our region, with 101 more gifts being disbursed this winter. That’s $15 million and counting to help repair the harms of slavery, redlining, economic exploitation, and anti-Black violence in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
Through the Open Road Fund, we seek restoration. We seek freedom. We seek access to land and resources to build new institutions. We seek to enrich the next generations to come through us. We seek the peace of mind to determine what quality of life we deserve, what tools we will use, and how to attain them all.
Join us to celebrate how this work is creating tangible pathways to liberation, prosperity, and healing—on our own terms. Fill out the form below to register!
Tish Jones is a poet, emcee, hip hop theater artist, and founder of TruArtSpeaks, an arts and culture organization in St. Paul. She has exhibited her work throughout the United States, and abroad, as a public performance artist for over two decades. Her writing can be found in We Are Meant to Rise (University of Minnesota Press), A Moment of Silence (Tru Ruts and The Playwrights Center), the Minnesota Humanities Center’s anthology Blues Vision: African American Writing from Minnesota (Minnesota Historical Society Press), and more.
MeMe Simpson
Born in Mankato, MN, as the second oldest of seven children, MeMe works as a product ambassador, with a passion for charity and community work. MeMe is the newest vice president of the St. Peter Good Neighbor Diversity Council, which allowed her to put on the first Juneteenth celebration in her city. She shares, “I wouldn’t be part of that organization if it wasn’t for me receiving the Open Road gift, helping me elevate myself and what I believe in.”
You’re invited to our Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute Cohort 12 Graduation! Come celebrate our latest leaders and hear from our program team and guest speaker at Open Book on Oct. 2, 5:30-7 pm CT.
BCLI equips those historically barred from governing to reclaim a seat at the table, joining boards and commissions to fight for equitable policies in our neighborhoods, cities, and state. Over the last seven months, our 11 fellows have been learning Robert’s Rules, municipal budgets, and other technical skills, as well as how to build coalitions and organize one-on-ones. Some of them have even already been placed on a board, committee, or commission! Our fellows are eager to lead and ready to impact the leadership landscape in Minnesota.
Robert Lilligren will be our graduation speaker this year. As the first Tribal member on the Metropolitan Council and CEO of the Native American Community Development Institute (NACDI), Robert is deeply committed to equity-centered regional growth. He is a longtime public servant who has also served on the Minneapolis City Council.
We’re excited and proud to send off another batch of bold and passionate equity champions!
This year, we’ve been gathering online and in person to celebrate our 20th anniversary, highlighting the people and programs that make Nexus’ work possible. Our celebration continues with our newest program: ROOT (Reclaiming Our Own Time)! Mark your calendar for Deep Rest for Resistance on Thursday, Oct. 9, 10 am – 12 pm CT on Zoom.
As we live in times of extremism, fear and despair, carving out thoughtful, recurring space to refill our cups, protect our peace, and build communal care together is essential to our future and our safety.
ROOT puts rest and restoration at the heart of movement building. With innovative sabbatical programs, our Reimagine Rest event series for community members, and our Heal the Healers series to fortify our own community healers, we are giving BIPOC leaders unique opportunities to center rest and reconnect with ancestral wisdom.
Register below to learn about our rest ecosystem work, get grounded with a meditation activity, and hear deep reflections on reclaiming our rest by our thought partners Camille Cyprian, Dora Palma, and Dr. Felicia Sy.
Camille is a community-rooted entrepreneur, healing justice practitioner, and organizational leader with over a decade of experience supporting social change. As Chief Network Weaver at Rooted to Last and co-founder of multiple mission-driven ventures, their calling is to curate, and cultivate, spaces that center collective healing, cultural & intergenerational connection, and liberation. Currently pursuing a doctorate in organizational development, Camille applies holistic frameworks to build more equitable institutions and communities. Her vocation is expanding access to immersive, healing-centered experiences–and deepening transformative impact in St. Paul, across the state, and beyond.
Dora Palma
Dora Palma, BSN, MSW, LGSW, is a licensed clinical social worker, nurse, and healing practitioner whose work weaves Western clinical training with Indigenous wisdom and decolonized approaches to therapy. Originally from Peru and now rooted in Minnesota, Dora brings the perspective of an immigrant, woman of color, and community healer to her practice. She is devoted to cultivating spaces of rest, sacred listening, and collective care where people can reconnect with themselves, their ancestral resilience, and their communities. Her work reflects a lifelong commitment to healing justice, honoring lived experience, and uplifting narratives of wholeness and restoration. Dora affirms the vital role of rest as resistance, renewal, and a pathway toward collective liberation.
Dr. Felicia Washington Sy
Dr. Sy is a licensed independent clinical social worker, traumatologist, and educator with over 20 years of experience providing trauma-informed care to survivors of sexual and physical violence. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work.
An integrative healer and organizational well-being consultant, Dr. Sy combines mindfulness-based practice, intercultural theory, and social justice frameworks to support individuals, families, and institutions in creating conditions for deep healing and systemic change. She maintains a private psychotherapy practice in South Minneapolis, leads healing circles, and consults with organizations across the Twin Cities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and collective wellness.
Dr. Sy has taught in area colleges and universities for over a decade and currently co-teaches an advanced practice therapy cohort at Anam Cara Therapies. Her publications focus on bullying in schools and the professional use of self in trauma-informed care. She holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.
A practicing Buddhist for over 14 years, Dr. Sy is a member of Clouds in Water Zen Center, where she co-facilitates the BIPOC sitting group and brings her contemplative practice into every dimension of her personal and professional life.
If you applied to the Open Road Fund this year, we invite you to join our final Community Care Call on Sept. 18, from 6-8 pm CT. We understand that many intense emotions can be stirred by the Open Road Fund application questions, especially those concerning our shared ancestry. And we also know that not being chosen for a gift from the Fund can trigger feelings of grief or despair.
The Zoom session will be hosted by three Black mental health practitioners—Dr. Aja King, Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, and Dr. Cedric Weatherspoon—to provide a healing space and practices that may help guide you through what you are feeling. Please join us!
Hosted by MadWorC, Regional Rendezvous 2025: The Nature of Cooperatives is a midwest conference for worker co-ops running Sept. 19-20 in Madison, WI. Nexus Program Manager Diana and Cooperative Developer Christina will present “Dispatch from the Twin Cities Cooperative Scene”! Check out the summary below, and learn more and register on MadWorC’s website!
Dispatch from the Twin Cities Cooperative Scene
What’s cooking in Minnesota’s Twin Cities? In the last five years, amidst a global pandemic, uprising, and political instability, the cooperative scene in Minneapolis and Saint Paul has expanded. In response to land speculators, retail vacancies, shifting work conditions, and a strong desire for better, less exploitative workplaces, more people are turning to cooperatives to improve their work-life conditions. With support from community development financial institutions, nonprofit cooperative developers, local government, and dedicated community members, a growing worker-owned cooperative and real estate investment cooperative movement is surging across the metro. Cooperative principles don’t stop at co-ops–they also influence how groups are organizing, sharing resources, and building community wealth. Hear from various cooperators on what they’re most excited about in the Twin Cities cooperative and collectivist scene!
If you want to make a change, you have to step up and see yourself as a leader. You have to lead a campaign for yourself or for others. You have to have the courage to form a team, build a coalition, and execute a vision for your community. Join the Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) on Thursday, Sept. 11, as we dive into the nuts and bolts of running for public office!
You’ll hear from a panel of experienced leaders who have run for or helped others run for elected office:
State Representative Fue Lee
Organizer Wintana Melekin
St. Paul School Board Member (and BCLI Alum) Erica Valliant
In an era of rising authoritarianism, staying grounded, informed, and resilient is not just necessary—it is survival, and it is revolution.
How do we think clearly and act effectively if we are not in the business of radical self-care while navigating these unprecedented times of stress, uncertainty, and oppression? How do we organize and lead in a way in which we are calm, our communities are safe, and we can all remain powerful in these times? When a regime’s entire strategy is to overwhelm us, how do we see and work through the noise to keep democracy alive?
Join our Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute and guest presenter Noel Nix on Aug. 14 to learn how we continue to fight to maintain our republic and the spirit of equality.
Self-Care, Resistance and Resilience: Defense Against The Political Dark Arts
Originally from Michigan, Noel has spent most of his life in Minnesota, where he’s developed a deep appreciation for both the vibrancy and challenges in our community. After seeing and experiencing the struggles faced by those working in community over the course of his career with the City of Saint Paul and Ramsey County, Noel embarked on a new journey in mental health to extend compassionate care to individuals and couples seeking healing and growth.
Noel’s approach to counseling is rooted in person-centered, multicultural, feminist, and radical healing perspectives. As a Black, heterosexual, cisgender man, he is dedicated to creating a safe, inclusive space where clients can explore thoughts and emotions without judgment or bias. While Noel supports individuals of all professional backgrounds, he is particularly interested in supporting people working in government, education, first response, health care, community organizing, social work, and other community-based work.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Minnesota, and a Master of Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas.
Join us for a very special collaboration between TruArtSpeaks and Nexus Community Partners at Re-Verb Open Mic! Advancing ROOT‘s Reimagine Rest Series and our long-term partnership, we are proud to invite culture worker and wellness practitioner, Felicia Perry, to lead attendees through guided wellness work centering rest, restoration, and your creative practice. That’s not all: Perry’s “Hustle & Harmony” journal will be available for distribution, and the mic will be hotter than ever! The list goes out at 5:45 pm sharp, and you may want to wear your comfy, movement-friendly clothes for this one!
Thursday, July 31
6-8 pm CT
Flava Coffee & Cafe, 623 University Ave W, St. Paul, MN 55104
We invite you to join our next Open Road Fund Community Care Call! The Care Calls are a series of three healing and learning sessions about African ancestry hosted by three Black mental health practitioners: Dr. Aja King, Dr. BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya, and Dr. Cedric Weatherspoon.
As folks descended from African people who were enslaved, we understand that the questions about ancestry in our application, though necessary, can bring up a variety of feelings—some of us may experience uncertainty and not-knowing. We are offering these sessions as a way to help process and explore these emotions. Our intention is to hold a space where our people can heal from the sense of personal shame, sadness, and anger about our origins.
Our second call will be held Thursday, July 10, 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.
Since April, our Shared Ownership Center has been hosting business-planning webinars that break down the key components in running a successful business. From concept to plan, we’ve gone over structure, finances, and fundraising, with a focus on creating and transitioning to a worker-owner cooperative business. Thank you to everyone who’s been along for the journey!
Our final webinar, Application for the LOCAL Fund, is Thursday, June 26, 3-4:30 pm CT. Now that you know the business planning basics, it’s time to learn how the LOCAL Fund can help! We’ll review the parts, process, and timeline for the application. Fill out the form below to register!
Business Planning Webinar Series Session 7: How to Apply for the LOCAL Fund
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.
Come celebrate our latest leaders and hear from our program team and guest speaker at Open Book on Oct. 2, 5:30-7 pm CT.
