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.

Open Road Fund Community Partner’s Interest Form

Open Road Fund Community Partner’s Interest Form

After a successful start of the Open Road Fund in 2023, the fund will re-open for applications Juneteenth 2024 (June 19th). We learned a lot in our first year. After engaging with applicants, awardees, our community, and our community advisory committee, we have made the following changes to our application process. 

ID Requirement

This year you will need to include a photo of your ID to apply.  We understand that this will present a barrier to some eligible applicants, and we did not make this decision lightly. We want to ensure that all recipients are a part of and connected to our community–and we want to discourage fake applications from hackers and bots.

The Open Road Fund is specifically for Black people descended from African people who survived the Transatlantic Slave Trade, who also currently live in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota.  Requiring IDs is one way we are making sure we are reaching this community. 

We will accept a variety of ID types. Types of identification we accept include: State issued ID or Driver’s License, School ID, Tribal ID, U.S. Permanent Resident Cards, and more. To access the full list of documents we accept please click this link. If you have any questions about ID submission, please contact our team at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org. 

Letters of Support

Starting in 2024 Open Road Fund finalists that are randomly selected to participate in round two of the application will need to submit two letters of support. The Letters of Support must both come from Black community members. Only one letter of support can be written by a Black family relative. 

We want to ensure that all recipients are a part of, connected to, and supporting our communities. The letters should be  less than one page, double-spaced. The letter should explain 1) how they know you; 2) why they believe in your wealth building plan; and 3) talk about the ways that you are connected to our shared community. 

Only the 100 finalists that are selected to move forward to the second round will be asked to provide the letters of support. You will not need to submit them during registration, but you should think of a few people to write these letters in the event  you are selected. 

If you have any questions about letters of support,  please contact our team at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org.

Life Experience Question

The Open Road Fund aims to have the most impact possible through our grantmaking process. We want to better understand who in our community we are reaching through our engagement process. This information will be confidential and only seen by staff and our advisory committee members.

This year, we will be asking applicants to share if they have had specific life experiences, such as housing instability, experiences of incarceration, and more. The life experience categories we chose were created by community, our advisory committee, and the Open Road Fund team. When filling out the application, please make sure to select any life experiences that are true for you.

If you have any questions about this addition,  please contact our team at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org.

Bank Account requirements

Starting this year, all finalists will be required to have a bank account and valid mailing address to receive funds. If you do not have one at the time of application, you may still apply. However, if you are selected for an award, you will need to  set up an account before we distribute your gift. 

We understand the complexities and barriers that exist in banking for our community, and we did not come to this conclusion enthusiastically. Unfortunately, we learned in 2023 that other types of accounts—like Chime, Venmo, Paypal, and Cashapp—simply are not built to accept gifts this size.

If you are an adult receiving an award by direct deposit, the bank account will have to be in your name. We cannot deposit the funds into the accounts of family or friends. 

If you are under 18 and selected for an award, we may not be able to directly deposit your award. If that happens We will work with you and your parents or guardians to get your award to you.

The Open Road Fund can only distribute funds to awardees via direct deposit or check. If you have any questions about this or any other part of the application please contact our team via email at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org.

Changes to Group App Process

For applicants applying as a group this year, we are simplifying the application process. Now it is possible for group members to apply using a single application. To apply as a group, all members must be eligible for the Open Road Fund, and you must commit to a single wealth building project that all members will work on together. 

The first person on your group application will be automatically designated as  the primary contact for your group. Unlike last year, each of your group members will not need their own individual accounts. You will be able to share the application login with your fellow group members, so that they can fill out their sections on their own. To make things easier, you should also consider planning a day for all group application  members to fill out the application together, in person.

Our hope is that these changes make  it easier for groups to apply to the Open Road Fund. If you have any questions about this or any other part of the application please contact our team via email at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org.

Ancestry Requirements 

We will continue to ask questions about ancestry on the application, however this year we did our best to make these questions easier to answer. We understand that you may not know the names of specific enslaved ancestors, or you may not have access to all of your family history—that is okay! This year’s question prompts will ask you to focus on connections to your ancestry that you do know. Prioritize telling us about the family history you have that helps you know you are descended from Black people who endured enslavement in the Americas due to the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

If you have any questions about this or any other part of the application please contact our team via email at ORFsupport@nexuscp.org.

Nexus Community Partners recently awarded $50,000 to 99 Black individuals through the Open Road Fund.

Nexus is partnering with Research in Action to evaluate and report on the outcomes of our collective efforts to work alongside the community in developing a model for redistributing unrestricted funds directly to Black people.

In our first report, you can read about the roadblocks to Black wealth, learn more about the first round of applicants, and the successes and challenges faced by the 2023 awardees.

The Open Road Fund will re-open Juneteenth (June 19), 2024 for its second grant-making year.

Download the full report here!  And get a preview below.

“Always the expectation that we need to struggle collectively and intentionally to change the state of affairs. And I know that being in this community for several decades now that has been the charge. One foot in the academy but never totally there but always with the expectation that political, economic, social change can happen and it is in our hands.” – Rose Brewer 

Open Road Fund’s event “Economic Ownership & Power” took place on Wednesday, March 27th, 2024 from 6 – 8 pm CT. In this session, we learned about the history of economic ownership and power, the racial wealth divide, and cooperative economics as a way to build wealth as Black folks in our community.

Speakers

• Dr. Rose Brewer, Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of African American & African Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• Nkuli Shongwe, Director of Community Wealth Building at Nexus
• Anisha Murphy, Esq., Owner of Just Law LLC, Adjunct Professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, and Vice President of Partnership Development at Community Reinvestment Fund, USA
• Moderator: Danielle Mkali, Senior Director of Community Wealth Building

How do we build economic ownership and power? 

“For me it’s about giving ourselves grace, we have been through so much as a people. They can’t kill us. It goes to show how powerful we are and how resilient we are no matter what society throws at us.” – Anisha Murphy

“Organizing around economic ownership and power is where it starts…It’s going to take multiple strategies for us to get to a place where we can see liberation, where we can see ourselves really exist and reimagine what it looks like to live outside of those systems” – Nkuli Shongwe 

About the Black Wealth Community Education Series

The Open Road Fund at Nexus Community Partners is hosting a Black Wealth Community Education Series from January to May 2024. The series is free, virtual, and live and is available as a resource for all while centering Black people and Black experiences. Topics include economic justice, housing, health and healing, and more. This is a Black-centered space where the Open Road Fund prioritizes uplifting Black voices and safety. Learn more about the Open Road Fund here.

Want to join the next event in the series? Sign up here for Nexus’s newsletter to stay connected!

Open Road Fund is hosting a Black Wealth Community Education Series from January to May 2024, covering financial wellbeing, housing, health and healing, and more. The series is free, open the public, and a Black-centered space. 

Financial Wellbeing: Strategies to Building Wealth took place on February 21st, 2024. The recording and evaluation form are located below.

In this session, we discuss different types of housing structures and how they relate to building Black wealth. Our panelists included Aarica Coleman, Appointed Administrator of the City of Bloomington’s Housing & Redevelopment Authority; Kimani Beard, Co-Founder of Summer Cypher Mpls & Member of Philadelphia Community Farm; and Sharon Garth, Retired Banker and Community Development Advocate. Kirstin Burch, Program Director of Family Housing Fund moderated.