At Nexus Community Partners, we take joy in witnessing what can unfold when people reconnect with their own power. Victoria McWane-Creek has been part of the Nexus community in many ways, and their words invite us to think differently about how change happens.
Written by Victoria McWane-Creek
My relationship with Nexus has shaped me in ways that continue to unfold.
As a Boards & Commissions Leadership Institute fellow, I reencountered the idea that “the state holds the power over life and death.” I rejected that then, and I reject it now. By choosing to arrive in this form (the form of a woman with brown skin) I actively proclaim the right to live, and to live well. Ease, dignity, and harmony are not aspirations; they are an unshakeable truth the state is obligated to uphold. The state must allow that truth to breathe, take root, and grow. My life and my work are an ongoing movement toward that reality.
As a North Star fellow, I confronted how far I had drifted from the Earth that feeds and holds me. Remembering my way back to land, to Earth Mother, required awakening across lifetimes. It meant recognizing that connection, belonging, and nourishment are not privileges; they are my moral, natural, and spiritual birthright.
Through my Open Road Fund gift, I came to understand that joy is also inherited. Just as trauma travels through DNA, so does joy. Experiencing joy, and witnessing the joy of others, heals me, heals my ancestors, and pre‑codes future generations to expect joy and extend it. That is the work I do through Onyx Collective: designing conditions where joy is not accidental, but intentional, communal, and abundant.
Nexus has been a companion in my remembering of power, of land, of joy, and I am grateful to stand in that lineage today.
What are we really doing when we remember?
Victoria’s story reminds us that the work of creating more liberated communities does not always begin with something new. It begins by remembering the power and possibility that have been present all along.
By Nonkululeko Tabata, Director of Community Wealth Building
At the end of July, the Association of Cooperative Educators Institute brought together cooperative practitioners, organizers, researchers, and people who are building co-ops in their own communities. It was a space to share ideas, learn from one another, and strengthen relationships across the cooperative movement. One of my favorite things about these conferences is being around people who genuinely believe another economy is possible.
I served as a keynote panelist for Celebrating 75 Years: Shaping the Future of Co-operative Education alongside Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard (John Jay College) and Electra Skrzydlewski (Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers). We reflected on how cooperative education has evolved over the years, what we can learn from the movement’s history, and what the next generation of cooperative leaders will need.
I shared how Nexus’ North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship uses storytelling, political education, and relationship building to help communities reclaim cooperative traditions and build community wealth. It was a thoughtful conversation about how education can move beyond teaching business models to building leadership and movements.
I also co-facilitated with Nexus’ Cooperative Developer, Christina Nicholson, about how we approach cooperative development and humanize the experience as an accessible approach to building the cooperative ecosystem.
Why Co-op Education Matters
Education is one of the most important investments we can make in the cooperative movement. Strong cooperatives don’t just happen because people have a good business idea. They grow because people build trust, learn together, and develop the skills to lead collectively. I left thinking about the importance of preserving the history of cooperative movements while making sure we’re creating space for new voices, especially young people and communities that have always practiced cooperation—even if it wasn’t always recognized by that name.
Co-op education is not simply about teaching people how to run cooperatives. It’s about helping people imagine different possibilities for their communities and giving them the tools to make those possibilities real.
Our movements become stronger when we learn across generations. The conference celebrated decades of experience while also making space for emerging leaders to shape what comes next.
By Nonkululeko Tabata, Director of Community Wealth Building
The second annual Minnesota Cooperative Summit brought together people from across Minnesota’s cooperative ecosystem, including cooperative businesses, community organizations, funders, educators, technical assistance providers, and advocates. It was a space to learn from one another, share what’s working, build relationships, and think about how cooperatives can create more economic opportunity and community wealth.
I co-presented Cooperatives as a Path to Economic Opportunity with Denise Butler from African Career Education & Resources (ACER) and Victoria McWane-Creek from Onyx Collective. We talked about how cooperatives create real opportunities for communities to build wealth through ownership rather than simply access. I shared the work Nexus is doing through the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship and how investing in leadership, relationships, and community is just as important as supporting businesses. There is a lot to be said by having three Black women leading Black cooperatives in the Metro, surburbs, and rural Minnesota. It was a powerful moment.
Left to right: Nexus’ Nkuli Tabata, ACER’s Denise Butler, and Onyx Collective’s Victoria McWane-Creek present stories about Black cooperative development.A mini North Star reunion! Community Wealth Building Director Nkuli (right), reunites with program alumni Shétu Rose, Alicia Rufus, and Victoria McWane-Creek.
I also attended the Indigenous Cooperative Perspectives session, which provided a powerful reminder that cooperative ways of living and working have existed long before many of our modern systems. It was a meaningful opportunity to learn from Indigenous leaders and reflect on the different ways communities practice collective ownership and stewardship.
Key Takeaways
Cooperative development is really about people. We spend a lot of time talking about financing, legal structures, and business planning, but relationships, trust, and community are what make cooperatives sustainable.
I was in awe of how much cooperative work continues to grow in Minnesota. We had incredible representation from people who play different roles in the ecosystem.
The conversations about ownership really stayed with me. We often focus on helping people access opportunities, but ownership changes what’s possible. When people own businesses, land, housing, or other assets together, they build long-term wealth and have more power to shape their own futures.
Building an ecosystem requires all of us. No single organization can do this work alone. We need collaboration, trust, and a willingness to invest in one another over the long term.
Conferences like this are a great starting point, but the real work happens afterward through collaboration, sharing resources, and continuing to support cooperative leaders as they build in their own communities. I hope people left feeling inspired to take action. Whether that’s supporting an existing co-op, exploring a cooperative model for their own work, or investing in community ownership, I hope this encourages people to reach across sectors to build a stronger and more connected cooperative movement.
Photos by Heather Elaine Fotography.
North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship applications are open now through Aug. 24! Interested in applying? Watch our information session below, where we share a brief history of North Star, discuss fellowship requirements, provide a curriculum overview, and answer questions.
North Star is a place for Black-led cooperatives, collectives, housing, commercial, and land trusts to learn and reclaim the history of Black cooperative economics. Fellows come together for seven months of co-learning, storytelling, and skill-building. If you’re part of a Black-led co-op—or dreaming of starting one—this fellowship is for you!
Are you passionate about Black economic justice? Are you part of a Black-led collective, cooperative, or land trust—or dreaming of starting one? Then our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship is for you! Together, we will learn and reclaim the history of Black cooperative economics over seven months of co-learning, storytelling, and skill-building. Apply to join our 10th cohort by Monday, Aug. 24, 11:59 pm CT!
How It Works
Nexus’ North Star curriculum grounds fellows in Black cooperative economic history locally and nationally, challenges them to analyze and rethink capitalism, and supports them in building their own cooperatives, leadership skills, and networks.
As a cohort, fellows explore and receive:
Grounding in the history of Black cooperative economics in the US and a history of cooperation and Black feminism
Cooperative skills and tools, like governance, decision-making structures, and conflict resolution
Support in designing and creating a strategy for a cooperative economic project
A $1,000 stipend for participating in the fellowship
Access to alumni funds post-fellowship
Time Commitment
October 2026 – May 2027
Saturdays, 10 am – 2 pm, one to two sessions per month
Wednesday Black Study Sessions, 5 – 7 pm, two per cohort year
Total time: Approximately 85-100 hours, including reflection, co-op work, and research outside of meetings
It is important that our program participants have not only the passion and willingness to join North Star, but also the time and capacity to fully participate. We understand that life can be a lot of things for us, including stressful, traumatic, and isolating. Our staff work hard to cultivate a sacred Black space for cohort members to participate as fully as they can.
Information Session
Interested in applying? Watch our information session below!
Applications for our 10th North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship cohort open onAug. 3!
North Star is a space for political education, strategy, and collective learning rooted in Black cooperative economics and Black feminist practice. We ground people in the history of how Black communities have always built together, even in the face of systemic harm, extraction, and exclusion. At the same time, North Star creates space for people to reclaim that history and put it into practice. Through the seven-month fellowship, participants deepen their understanding of cooperation, strengthen governance and decision-making practices, and develop models that reflect their values and the realities of their communities.
North Star is also about shifting how people move from isolation into relationship and collective power. It connects people to one another and to a broader ecosystem of support, creating the conditions for cooperative ideas to take root and grow.
Interested in applying? Sign up for our information session below!
2026-2027 North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship Information Session: Cohort 10
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By: Nonkululeko (Nkuli) Tabata, Director of Community Wealth Building, and Leanna Browne, North Star Program Manager
We began our ninthNorth Star Black Cooperative Fellowship cohort by grounding ourselves in the rich history of Black cooperative economics and the generations of Black people who have used cooperation as a tool for survival, resistance, and self-determination.
Fellows explored not only what cooperatives are, but why they matter. Together, we examined systems that often leave our communities behind and explored what becomes possible when we center collective ownership, shared governance, and community wealth building.
As the sessions progressed, we moved from vision into practice. Fellows wrestled with questions of feasibility, financing, governance, and conflict. There were moments of excitement and moments where the work felt overwhelming. Yet again and again, people showed up willing to ask difficult questions, refine their ideas, and support one another through the process.
Our conversations around governance and conflict were especially important reminders that cooperation is not the absence of disagreement. Building collective power requires us to develop the skills to navigate tension, share leadership, and remain accountable to one another. Those lessons are just as important as any business plan or financial model.
What stood out most was the willingness of participants to think beyond individual success and toward collective liberation. Whether discussing housing, food sovereignty, worker ownership, land stewardship, healing spaces, or community investment, fellows consistently returned to a shared question: How do we create systems that allow our communities not just to survive, but to thrive?
This fellowship also unfolded during a time of uncertainty. Many participants were navigating political challenges, funding concerns, personal responsibilities, and the realities of doing social justice work in a moment that often feels heavy.
“When we launched Cohort 9 in October 2025, we couldn’t have foreseen navigating a federal occupation during our seven-month journey,” Leanna reflects. “There were times we needed to pivot to tend to ourselves, each other, and our communities.”
Created by Cohort 3 Alum Duaba Unenra
Yet despite those realities, people continued to show up. North Star became a space where we could practice hope together: where Black people could gather, learn from one another, and continue imagining futures rooted in abundance rather than scarcity.
The importance of Black cooperative economics is as evident as ever. As Gwendolyn Brooks reminds us in her poem Paul Robeson:
we are each other’s
harvest:
we are each other’s
business:
we are each other’s
magnitude and bond.
Each year, we gift fellows notebooks with this excerpt on the cover, along with the Pamoja glyph, which means “together” in Kiswahili.
Cohort 9’s Lasting Impact
“As we celebrated the graduation of 14 cooperative groups and 33 fellows, I was reminded that the true success of North Star is not measured only by the projects launched or the plans developed. It is measured by the relationships built, the confidence strengthened, the ideas nurtured, and the growing network of Black cooperators who now know they are part of something larger than themselves.
This cohort reminded me that our ancestors left us a legacy of cooperation, and our responsibility is to continue carrying that legacy forward. I am deeply grateful to every fellow, speaker, partner, alum, and community member who contributed to this year’s journey. The future we are building together is possible because people continue to choose cooperation, courage, and collective care.” — Nkuli Tabata
“North Star, where we center Black people and experiences while learning together about Black cooperative history and Black cooperative economics, is powerful. Being surrounded by amazing Black people committed to imagining and building our Black cooperative present and futures is inspiring. Much gratitude for our 2025-26 North Stars!” — Leanna Browne
What’s Next
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship, we’re reflecting on both our roots and our future. Ten years represents more than a milestone. It is a testament to the vision of those who believed that investing in Black cooperative economics was essential to building self-determined communities. It is also an invitation to ask what the next decade can look like.
The need for spaces like North Star remains as urgent as ever. As communities continue to face economic inequality, displacement, and disinvestment, cooperative models offer a pathway toward ownership, democratic participation, and shared prosperity. We are excited to continue deepening our commitment to political education, community wealth building, and creating spaces where Black people can dream boldly and build collectively.
Top row, left to right: Nexus Community Wealth Building Director Nonkululeko Tabata, fellows Precious Wallace, Jonathan A. Osei, Laura Mann Hill, Blessing Chirimbani, DeAnna Smith, Dawn Burns, Sammie Joseph-Fredericks, Cayden Black, and North Star Program Manager Leanna Browne. Bottom row, left to right: Fellows Shétu Rose, Tapiwa Manjengwa, and Sumer Powell.
Nexus’ North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship is a space for political education, strategy, and collective learning rooted in Black cooperative economics and Black feminist practice. We ground people in the history of how Black communities have always built together, even in the face of systemic harm, extraction, and exclusion.
Each year, we welcome a new group of fellows ready to reclaim this history and put it into practice. Below, three fellows from our 2025-26 cohort share their experiences!
“North Star has been a much-needed cooperative education space for our small (but growing) co-op. Each presenter felt hand-selected based on expertise and relevance to the cohort. We even witnessed impressive, responsive, and emergent facilitation from [Nexus staff] Nkuli and Leanna when it was clear we fellows needed more time and space to grieve, process, and tap into care during the necessary upheaval taking place throughout the U.S.”
Alicia Rufus, S.E.W. Cooperative
“Being a part of North Star has been a rewarding experience. S.E.W. Cooperative is focused on creating spaces for Black people living in the rural parts of Minnesota, where social isolation is high and opportunities for culture and connection is low. Through this fellowship, I have been able to slow down and really think about what we are building. I have been given the tools to build a cooperative that will really embody our vision: a strong, self-sustaining, Black rural community where social, economic, and cultural wholeness thrive. This is the spirit of Ubuntu in action. Looking forward, our focus is solidifying our governance and bylaws, growing our membership, creating programming, funding our vision, and securing land.”
Jeanine Wiley, S.E.W. Cooperative
“My experience in North Star was truly meaningful to me. I came into the program curious, but I’m leaving with a much deeper understanding of what it really means to build and sustain cooperative values in real life.
One of the biggest takeaways for me was learning how important solidarity, democracy, and respect for the world’s ecosystems are—not just as ideas, but as practices we have to be intentional about every day. The virtual cooperative tours helped me see these values in action, which made everything feel more real and possible.
I also really valued the hands-on work we did, especially creating bylaws and thinking through governance and decision-making. This was challenging, but it pushed me to think more critically about what fair and inclusive structures actually look like. It made me realize that strong cooperatives don’t just happen—they’re built with care, clarity, and shared responsibility.
The breakout sessions were a highlight for me. Being able to have honest conversations and hear about others’ real experiences helped me connect more deeply to the work. It reminded me that cooperative values are lived through people, relationships, and trust.
As I move forward with S.E.W. Cooperative, I want to carry these lessons with me in a real way. I plan to be more intentional about supporting democratic decision-making and making sure everyone’s voice is heard and respected. I also want to help build structures that are clear, fair, and rooted in our shared values. Most importantly, I want to contribute to a cooperative culture that reflects care—for each other, our community, and the environment.
This fellowship didn’t just teach me new skills—it shifted how I think about working with others and what it means to build something collectively. I’m grateful for the experience and excited to keep growing from it.”
April 14, 2026, was Co-op Day at the Capitol! Nexus joined the Cooperative Network to show lawmakers the power of the cooperative model to address community challenges, showcase worker-owned cooperatives as a solution to the business succession crisis, and demonstrate the benefits of worker co-ops in St. Paul and beyond.
Director of Community Wealth Building Nonkululeko (Nkuli) Tabata, Cooperative Developer Christina Nicholson, and Shared Ownership Center client Dave Abbott, Lead Carpenter and VP at Terra Firma Building & Remodeling Co-op, testified alongside other local cooperative leaders and worker-owners at an informational hearing with the Minnesota Senate Labor Committee.
Nkuli reflects, “Capitol Co-op Day felt like a powerful moment to share the work many of us have been building for years and bring it into greater visibility. Being able to speak directly to the impact and potential of worker co-ops felt both grounding and energizing. The hearing created space to connect our work to real solutions, especially around building community wealth, expanding ownership, and strengthening local economies. It also reinforced how important it is to continue lifting up the stories, experiences, and leadership within our communities. This work does not happen overnight, and moments like this help build momentum and deepen understanding of what a cooperative future can look like.”
Christina says, “Spending time with senators and representatives at the capitol signaled to me a significant increase in interest of the role that worker-owner cooperatives do and can play in retaining jobs and businesses in Minnesota. The connection between national trends in job satisfaction, retention, and equity of roles and stability of income for worker-cooperatives has broken through to the elected stewards of Minnesota. We are hearing more requests for ways to support our work through direct funding of technical assistance, zero-interest and forgivable loans for equity shares, and a general promotion through DEED to current business owners and their teams of how to retain jobs across the state through worker-owned conversions.”
Nkuli Tabata, Nexus Director of Community Wealth Building (right), speaks to the Minnesota Senate Labor Committee (left) about the power of cooperatives and Nexus’ North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship program.
Congratulations to North Star Cohort 9! From St. Paul to Belize, Detroit to Atlanta, our newest North Stars are living the legacy of Black cooperative economics across the map. Come wish them well at our virtual graduation on Wednesday, May 6!
North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship Cohort 9 Graduation
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Self-care and community care are interconnected. Join our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship for a Black Study Session on April 29! Our guest facilitators will guide you through a sound bath and embodied practices to help you reconnect with yourself and soothe your nervous system.
North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship Black Study Session: Caring for Ourselves and Our Communities
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Meet Our Facilitators
Ayo Clemons
Ayo’s work is centered in healing justice, relational transformation, and somatic coaching. As one of the co-owners of the People’s Movement Center, Ayo’s work provided a context for an emerging healing justice framework that infuses theory in practice. As a Global Somatics Practitioner, Ayo’s personal somatic practice began in 2012 and later transformed into supporting others with healing trauma, connecting with their bodies, and recognizing their individual and collective power. With over 18 years of experience as a community organizer, racial justice advocate, and facilitator, Ayo has utilized her skills to connect with hundreds of people to articulate their vision and advocate for change in their communities.
Priscilla Momah
Priscilla Momah is a multidisciplinary wellness practitioner, artist, and space holder devoted to cultivating care practices rooted in rest, restoration, and the nourishment of the mind, body, and heart. Through her work, she creates intentional spaces that invite individuals and communities to slow down, reconnect, and return to themselves. With over a decade of experience as a musician and facilitator, Priscilla weaves together sound healing, yoga, breathwork, mindfulness, and somatic practices to support nervous system regulation and holistic well-being. She is a Reiki practitioner, Thai Yoga Bodyworker, craniosacral therapist, doula, and health and wellness coach, offering integrative experiences that honor the body’s innate wisdom and capacity to heal.
As the founder of Coco Womb Wellness, Priscilla’s offerings are rooted in accessibility, compassion, and deep listening. Her sound bath experiences are immersive and restorative, designed to guide participants into states of deep rest where healing, reflection, and renewal can naturally unfold. Through every offering, Priscilla holds a gentle yet powerful intention: to create spaces where people feel supported, seen, and nourished individually and in community.
As Black History Month/Black Futures Month draws to a close, the Cooperative Gallery Walk from our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship reminds us that we are a part of a deep, rich legacy of Black cooperative economics, past and present. Leanna, our North Star Program Manager, highlights the Combahee River Colony to show how we can draw on these stories for inspiration and a blueprint for a path forward. Read the feature below from our Cooperative Gallery Walk!
Leanna displays the Cooperative Gallery Walk at the Repaired Nations Black Solidarity Cooperative Conference
“The Combahee River Colony was located in a remote area where African Americans established their own settlements and remained relatively self-sufficient and semi-autonomous: the Gullah/Geechee communities in the South Carolina Sea Islands.
The Combahee River Colony in South Carolina consisted of several hundred African American women during the Civil War whose men had gone to join the Union Army. They occupied abandoned farmland where they ‘grew crops and cared for one another.’ They refused to work for whites and were proud of their handicrafts and cotton crop, as well as their independence. The community became relatively well known as an example of Black women’s independence, perseverance, and collective spirit.” —Excerpt from Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s “Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice”
What strikes you most about this history?
The Combahee River Colony filled in the gaps, resourced their community in creative ways, and tended to their needs collectively. We invite you to reflect, share, and engage with three people on these prompts:
As we continue to navigate a federal occupation and continued, brutal violence in our communities, what lessons can we learn from the Combahee River Colony?
What are the ways we can care for each other?
How can we practice cooperation in our communities?
