Team Category: Team Member

Tiana is a Saint Paul-based strategic initiatives leader with a passion for strengthening local communities. She brings over a decade of experience in nonprofit leadership, increasing community resource access, and equity and inclusion initiatives. Most recently, Tiana served as Deputy Director of Business Development for the Partnership Inc, where she focused on expanding career pathways for all professionals in the region, and led the Minnesota Black Fellows Regional Program pilot, as well as the Partnership’s national talent and inclusion executive council. She is excited to utilize her experience in program operations and design to support the grantmaking process of the Open Road Fund.

I have spent my career doing operations, database, and finance work in nonprofit organizations. I love supporting great programmatic work with strong systems and processes. I also believe in complexity, and in sitting in the tension of the fact that many of the financial tools we have available have long been used in systems of harm for marginalized communities. I have learned so much from folks who have thrived and built economies of care despite the odds.

In my role, I love engaging with our community online, creating content that lifts up Nexus’ programs and tells the stories of our staff and fellows—the changemakers building more engaged and powerful communities of color every day.

In her role, Andrea focuses on talent acquisition, full-cycle recruitment, onboarding, and employee engagement.

I joined Nexus in 2023 as an Administrative Assistant, providing support to the operations team and assisting with office management and database maintenance. I am now the Program Assistant for the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI), which supports, trains, and helps place BIPOC and other underrepresented community members on city and county publicly appointed boards and commissions.

I joined Nexus as the Grant Admin Assistant for the Open Road Fund, and am now the Grant Program Manager. I support the grant-making process that provides funds intended to help the Black communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota build generational wealth.

Sherine Onukwuwe is a media producer, photographer, vocalist and graduate of Temple University’s Film and Media Arts program. Her career as a producer in front of and behind the camera spans over 30 years. She has produced numerous documentaries for a variety of nonprofits, government agencies, small businesses and fellow creatives. She engages in work

I joined Nexus Community Partners in February 2023 as a Communications Specialist, where I managed Nexus’s social media channels, monthly newsletters, and collaborated on internal projects. In May 2024, I joined the Shared Ownership Center as their Program Manager. In this role, I support the LOCAL Fund, employee-owned cooperatives, and real estate investment cooperatives in the Twin Cities. I previously crossed paths with Nexus while at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs and The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation AmeriCorps VISTA C3 program.

In my capacity as Executive Assistant & Operations Coordinator, I support my work companions mainly on the administrative side. I help with office management, basic IT, along with various other things. I believe in the work that Nexus is doing and am happy to lend my skills to this community.

I am the Program Manager for the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship (NSBCF). I support community wealth building initiatives that honor and reclaim the legacy of Black cooperative economics and invite alternate ways of being.

I joined Nexus to lead the Worker Owner Initiative (WOI), which is part of Nexus’ Community Wealth Building Strategy. I help companies assess employee ownership as a model for stronger businesses and create employee and community wealth. Our vision is to raise awareness of these models so that business ownership, quality jobs, and community self-determination are accessible to all of us.

I joined Nexus in 2021 and serve as the Development Manager. In development, I see my role as an opportunity to push philanthropy to do better, and to create change at the intersection of wealth and racial justice.