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ORF Community Education Session: Liberation; Education

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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.

Education                                                                     Workshop #4 Registration

Open Road Fund Community Education Sessions


Liberation; Education:

Join the Open Road Fund for this workshop that explores pursuing and financing higher education through an accredited university or college. We will also explore some of the challenges and pressures of achieving an accredited education (being the first in one's family to earn a degree, etc). Jered Pigeon, Minnesota State University, will present during this workshop.


There will be a random prize drawing for two $50 Visa gift cards. You must be registered, attend the session in its entirety, and be present to win. 


Wednesday, April 23, 2025

6:00 - 7:30 pm CST

Zoom


The Open Road Fund Community Education Sessions are free, virtual, live, and open to all while centering Black people and Black experiences. This is a Black-centered space where we will prioritize uplifting Black voices and safety.

The first 500 participants to enter the Zoom webinar will be admitted. If there is full capacity, any guests that registered but are not able to enter the Zoom webinar will receive a recording of the session.













Contact Information

Building Black wealth allows us to forge paths toward liberation on our terms. It’s the key to rebuilding our communities and reclaiming our right to self-determination. When we have access to an abundance of resources, we can foster collective healing, safety, care, and mutual aid.

Since 2023, the Open Road Fund has been helping create intergenerational Black wealth in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota—distributing $50,000 gifts to 200 people and counting. Recipients use these funds for projects centered around housing, education, financial well-being, healing, and economic justice.

Below, four awardees share their paths to building legacies for their families and communities.

Opening a Bookstore

“With the generous gift from the Open Road Fund, I intend to kickstart my bookstore business in Minnesota, dedicated to providing diverse literature, parenting resources, and fostering community engagement. I aim to achieve a successful and sustainable business within the first year, creating job opportunities for the local community, and promoting a culture of literacy and empowerment. I envision expanding the business’ offerings, accumulating wealth for my family, and leaving a legacy of education, representation, and financial security for the community, while continually investing in the local economy.”

Becoming Financially Stable

“My first priority is to pay off my credit cards and debts, which will allow me to increase my retirement fund contribution and make needed home improvements. I want to ensure that my home is stable and will last for decades to pass on to my son and grandchildren. I also plan to work with a trusted financial advisor to learn more about gaining financial stability, managing my income, and saving for retirement.”

Reclaiming Our Connection to the Land

“My goals are to teach Black youth how to live off the land, showing them the skills that our ancestors grew up knowing—hunting, farming, reaping the benefits of the land that they worked so hard on. I want the Black youth in my community to learn and understand about the Buffalo Soldiers and the history they still hold. I want to be able to leave my family with land and skills that they can pass on for decades. I want my kids and grandkids to have somewhere they can always call home as well as a place they can continue my legacy. I want to own a feed store as well, so locals can spend their money with me locally while creating jobs. My life, my family’s life, and the lives of the Black youth will change forever financially, mentally and physically. My life will be different because I will be the first person in my family to own land that my ancestors longed to have, and I will be able to inspire more Black people to own land and reap the benefits of the land.”

Buying a Home

“I plan to use the gift from the Open Road Fund to purchase a multifamily home. My primary goal is to provide a comfortable and affordable living space for my family as well as my sister’s family and children while she saves for her own home. This investment will not only support our families’ financial journey but also serve as an asset in my wealth-building strategy. Over the next year, I aim to identify a suitable multifamily property, secure financing, and facilitate our move. This project is not just about securing my financial future but also about providing essential support to my family.”

There will be six more rounds of the Open Road Fund, with a total of 800 gifts awarded by 2031. Applications reopen Juneteenth 2025!

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.

Housing and Shelter                                                  Workshop #3 Registration

Open Road Fund Community Education Sessions


Raise the Roof:

Join the Open Road Fund for this workshop that focuses on single-family homeownership. Jeff Wills, Economic Services Manager and Housing Counselor of Model Cities Inc., a redevelopment community non-profit in St. Paul, will offer resources and information to help first-time home buyers on their journey to buying and maintaining a home. We will briefly watch a short video clip about the challenges and gaps in Black homeownership, then have a moderated discussion and open up for Q&A.


There will be a random prize drawing for two $50 Visa gift cards. You must be registered, attend the session in its entirety and be present to win. 


Wednesday, March 26, 2025

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm CST

Zoom


The Open Road Fund Community Education Sessions are free, virtual, live, and open to all while centering Black people and Black experiences. This is a Black-centered space where we will prioritize uplifting Black voices and safety.

The first 500 participants to enter the Zoom webinar will be admitted. If there is full capacity, any guests that registered but are not able to enter the Zoom webinar will receive a recording of the session.












Contact Information

Our February Open Road Fund Community Education Session will focus on business ownership and entrepreneurship. Jacob Bell from Family Freedom Center will discuss tips and advice for starting and maintaining a business, possible resources, and a brief history and importance of Black businesses to Black community stability.

Minding My Black Business

Jacob Aaron Bell is a leader in economic development and Black business ownership in Duluth, serving as Executive Director of Family Freedom Center. Raised on the West Coast but deeply connected to Duluth through his family’s legacy of community organizing, Jacob stepped into leadership following the passing of his father, Xavier Bell, who helped build Family Freedom Center into the city’s first autonomous Black nonprofit. Since taking the helm in 2021, he has expanded the organization’s mission beyond advocacy, turning it into a powerhouse for economic mobility, ownership, and wealth-building within the Black community.

ORF Community Education Sessions are free, virtual, live, and open to all while centering Black people and Black experiences. This is a Black-centered space where we will prioritize uplifting Black voices and safety.

As an added bonus, workshop attendees will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card! We’ll select two winners live during the session. (Must pre-register and be present to win.)

 

We have a story to share. About liberation, restoration, freedom, and creativity. About reclaiming our mind, body, and soul to heal from ancestral disruption and present-day displacement. We’ve been working to gain our right to self-determination through ownership of what we produce, build, and invent for our families and community.

When the Bush Foundation put out a call for partners to help redistribute $100 million to Black and Indigenous communities, we jumped at the opportunity. This money could help address the systemic harms Black people have faced since being brought to this country—harms that did not end with the abolition of slavery, but that took different shapes in the 160 years since.

In 2021, Nexus was selected to steward an unprecedented $50 million to Black folks in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota—what is now our Open Road Fund (ORF).

Since 2023, we have been distributing $50,000 wealth-building gifts to Black descendants of the Transatlantic Slave Trade in our region. 200 folks and counting are using these funds to help pay for education, make a down payment, open a gallery, own their own restaurant, and so much more.

Our new website shares the Open Road journey. Check it out!

Nexus Community Partners Open Road Fund Team (from left to right): Lavasha Smith, Sherine Onukwuwe, Olivia Funkhouser Reynolds, Danielle Mkali, Duaba Unenra.

Join us for our first Open Road Fund Community Education Session of 2025! Katherine Lankford of Finance and Affirmations will explore money shame, helping us understand our personal money story and how it impacts our financial decisions.

Financial Journey to Healing & Wholeness

As an added bonus, workshop attendees will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card! We’ll select two winners live during the session. (Must pre-register and be present to win.)

Open Road Fund Community Education Sessions are free, virtual, live, and open to all while centering Black people and Black experiences. This is a Black-centered space where we will prioritize uplifting Black voices and safety.

Stay connected with the Open Road Fund (ORF) through this year’s Community Education Sessions! Each webinar is free, virtual, live, and open to all while centering Black people and Black experiences. This is a Black-centered space where we will prioritize uplifting Black voices and safety. Topics are based on ORF’s five wealth-building themes: financial well-being, economic ownership and power, housing and shelter, education, and health and healing.

As an added bonus, workshop attendees will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card! We’ll select two winners live during each session. (Must pre-register and be present to win.)

Financial Journey to Healing & Wholeness

with Katherine Lankford, Finance & Affirmations

  • Wednesday, Jan. 29, 6-7:30 pm CT
  • This workshop explores money shame and helps us understand our personal money story and how it impacts our financial decisions.
  • Register here

Minding My Black Business

with Jacob Bell and Family Freedom Center

  • Wednesday, Feb. 26, 6-7:30 pm CT
  • This workshop focuses on business ownership and entrepreneurship. We will discuss tips, resources and advice for starting and maintaining a business, and a brief history and importance of Black businesses to Black community stability.
  • Register here

Raise the Roof

with Jeff Wills, Model Cities Inc.

  • Wednesday, March 26, 6-7:30 pm CT
  • This workshop focuses 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.
  • Register here

Liberation; Education

with Jered Pigeon, Minnesota State University Moorhead

  • Wednesday, April 23, 6-7:30 pm CT
  • This 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 explore some of the challenges and pressures of achieving an accredited education (being the first in one’s family to earn a degree, etc.).
  • Register here

Rest is the Revolution

with Dr. Aja King, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, EdD, LPCC

  • Wednesday, May 14, 6-7:30 pm
  • Where do we get to be playful? Where do we get to relax? This workshop will explore how to resist being consumed by a chaotic world and find space for joy and play.
  • Registration link will be available two weeks prior to event.

Through programs like our North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship and the Open Road Fund, Nexus Community Partners is reimagining Black wealth.

Building Black wealth means healing from over five centuries of labor and livelihood stolen from us on this stolen land. It’s owning what we produce and building and inventing for our families and community. It is a creative and sovereign practice of restoration that reaffirms the excellence that has always been in us.

Meet Amoké Kubat

Artist, writer, and Yoruba Priestess Amoké Awele Kubat is a Minneapolis “Northsider for life” who has been empowering mothers and families since 1987.

Amoké first heard about Nexus in 2011 through a friend who was being mentored by Nexus CEO Repa Mekha. Through her friend, she learned about Nexus values, strategies, and vision—all rooted in community. Seven years later, Amoké took a deep dive with us, joining our second North Star cohort.

“I was thrilled to be in the company of people who looked like me, who shared the diversity of the Black Experience as descendants of Africans. We were more than survivors. We held the roots and seeds of our Ancestors’ dreams and hopes. We were visionaries, warriors, educators, artists and more, who aspired to own businesses and cooperatives.”

Amoké’s co-op, YO MAMA’S HOUSE, INC., is an art and healing space for mothers of all ages. They empower mothers by disrupting the devaluation of women’s invisible labor and increasing recognition of the ART of Mothering. North Star helped Amoké build community with other Black cooperators while also accessing the technical assistance and funding opportunities she needed to further grow YO MAMA’S HOUSE.

In 2023, Amoké joined our Black Community Trust Fund advisory committee. As a respected Elder, she shared her wisdom in renaming the trust fund as the Open Road Fund—which comes from the English translation of Ejio Ogbe, meaning, “an open road leads to the fulfillment of destiny.”

“I firmly believe that people of African descent are NOT destined to fail. It is one’s birthright to live a long life, in good health, and live abundantly.”

Amoké’s greatest takeaway from her work with Nexus is that communities matter. “The workload is not heavy when we stand with likeminded people,” she says. “People have more power than they think they do—especially in solidarity.”

Will You Join Us?

In a time of ongoing and relentless attacks on Black life and well-being, initiatives run by and for Black folks to achieve Black liberation are essential.

Any gift you make between now and the end of the year will be doubled thanks to our friends at Voqal Partners.

  • Monthly gifts of $20 are a way to honor our 20th anniversary throughout the year.
  • $100 helps support costs for expanding our online work in Greater Minnesota.
  • $500 covers a stipend that keeps our fellowships accessible to all.

Make a donation or share your Nexus story

By the end of 2024, the Open Road Fund will have invested $9,950,000 in Black-wealth gifts, impacting 199 individuals and families across Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Saying YES to 199 folks is an honor! We are deeply encouraged by the tremendous impact this resource is having on these communities and the positive transformations we’re witnessing.

Collective Care Calls

This year, Collective Care Calls were a meaningful addition to the Open Road Fund. We had the honor of working alongside three incredible Black mental health practitioners:

  • Dr. Aja King
  • Dr. Bravada Akinyansa
  • Cedric Weatherspoon, MA, LMFT

These calls provided a powerful space for participants to process their emotions. Reflecting on ancestry, lineage, and legacy can be deeply emotional, and the calls helped many navigate these feelings. Additionally, the space was invaluable for those processing the emotions tied to receiving a letter of declination. These sessions were truly life-giving!

Overcoming Challenges

We encountered a few technical bumps along the way this year, but we’re actively working toward a smoother journey in 2025.
Note: If you’re still missing an email regarding your application, please let us know! You can reach us at ORFSupport@nexuscp.org.

Evaluation & Storytelling
  • First Evaluation Report: We released our first evaluation report this year, which can be accessed here.
  • Next Report: We are already preparing new data and insights for our next report, scheduled for release in Spring 2025.
  • Storytelling Project: This year, we began development of the Open Road Fund storytelling project, and we can’t wait to share more updates with you soon.

Thank you for being part of this journey. Together, we’re building a future rich with possibility. The Open Road Fund 2025 application opens Juneteenth 2025! We remain honored to be stewards of this fund.

Dear community,

We’ve officially entered the next phase of the Open Road Fund 2024! We received over 4,300 applications from Black people in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, and have informed all applicants of their selection outcome. We felt excitement and hope as we reached out to the 101 finalists who were randomly selected to receive $50,000 to invest in their Black wealth-building plans. We were also filled with sadness having to turn so many people down. All Black folks’ dreams for their abundant futures are worthy and deserving of resources.

From the beginning, we have been clear that this is not reparations. While these gifts are an important step toward cultivating Black wealth, they are not close to enough to repair all the harm done to the Black community over the last 400 years. When we do get reparations, it should be for all descendants of enslaved African people, not just 800 folks from Minnesota and the Dakotas.

How were finalists selected?

We used a random-selection process to choose finalists because of our inherent belief that all eligible applicants’ dreams and plans for creating and sustaining Black wealth deserved an opportunity to be chosen. One family’s plan to buy a home does not have more or less merit than another person’s plan to invest in a business or to pursue higher education.

We worked with software developers to design a randomization tool built for our grantmaking process. Using this tool, we randomly selected finalists — 50% from the Twin Cities metro area and 50% from Greater Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Will finalists be publicly announced?

For those who were not chosen this year, we understand the grief and skepticism you may be feeling right now. With only 101 people selected across three states, some of us may not yet know anyone who was selected. Out of respect and concern for finalists’ privacy, Nexus will not make finalists names public, although finalists are free to share if they wish.

What’s next?

Phase 2 of the Open Road Fund includes finalists submitting their wealth-building plans and letters of support, and once approved, disbursement of funds. After finalists receive their awards, we plan to consensually share grantee stories and evaluate grantee experiences in partnership with Research in Action, a Black-led research and evaluation firm.

The Open Road Fund will be distributing gifts for the next six years. We hope you will continue to follow the Open Road Fund and Nexus Community Partners — across our organization, we work to nurture the prosperity of our communities, including our health, joy, peace, love, safety, and the needs of future generations. We will continue to share Black wealth-building opportunities hosted by Nexus and our partners.

In Solidarity,

The Open Road Fund Team

If you have not heard back about your Open Road Fund application, please email us at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org. If you have questions, please reference our FAQ page.

Did you apply to the Open Road Fund this year? We invite you to join us for our final Community Care Call, where we will hold space for aftercare and community support. The video call will be hosted by three Black mental health practitioners — Dr. Aja King, Dr. BraVada, and Cedric Weatherspoon — alongside Open Road Fund staff, who will be available to provide support and answer your questions.

Monday, Sept. 16
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Register to receive the Zoom link!

Space is limited. Please only RSVP if you are certain you will attend.

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.

This Care Call is an invitation to process and explore all the emotions that may arise from the application and selection process. Dr. Aja King, Dr. BraVada, and Cedric Weatherspoon will provide a healing space and practices that may help guide you through what you are feeling. This space is meant to be one where we can work through personal and collective emotions of shame, sadness, and anger. Please join us!

First and foremost, we want to thank all who applied to the Open Road Fund this year! Check your inbox for a confirmation email that we have received your application for 2024. If you would like a copy of your 2024 application and haven’t received that yet, please email us at ORFSupport@nexuscp.org.

All applicants for the 2024 Open Road Fund will be notified of their status via email in early September. If you are selected to receive a gift and are unresponsive via email, you will also receive a call.

Please note that if you are selected, we will not share your information as a potential gift recipient. We respect your privacy and understand that it is your choice to share this information. We will announce on our social media and website that the finalists for 2024 have been selected, but we will not disclose their names or identifying information.

If you are not selected for this round of gift-giving, don’t worry! There are six more rounds of the Open Road Fund, and we encourage you to apply each year you are not chosen. To stay updated with all the offerings from the Open Road Fund and Nexus Community Partners, follow us on Instagram or Facebook.