Leadership Development that Creates Ecosystem Change:  Nexus Community Partners Announces the Sixth Cohort of their Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)

For more than 15 years, Nexus Community Partners has been dedicated to building more engaged and powerful communities of color. Through the work of BCLI, Nexus has continued to build sustainable and replicable models for community engagement and community orientated leadership development that strengthens communities.

The BCLI is a seven-month leadership program designed to identify, train, and support placement of dynamic leaders of color and underrepresented communities onto publicly appointed boards and commissions in the Twin Cities. BCLI fellows help advance a racial and economic equity agenda across several sectors and issue areas.

We’re pleased to announce our 2018-2019 cohort of 16 racially and ethnically diverse leaders. They come from the community, nonprofit, private, and public sectors and represent the Twin Cities metro area. The sixth BCLI cohort members are:

Aarica Coleman, nominated by BCLI Alumni
Abdi Ali, nominated by Center for Multicultural Mediation
Annie Chen, nominated by YWCA Minneapolis
Bao Lee, nominated by BCLI Alumni
Carmeann Foster, nominated by Rebound Inc.
Christine McCleave, nominated by National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
Clara Ugarte Perrin, nominated by Center for Urban and Regional Affairs
Courtney Schroeder, nominated by Project for Pride in Living (PPL)
Jamaica DelMar, nominated by  Jeremiah Program
Kameron Lindsey, nominated by BCLI Alumni
Oluwatobi Oluwagbemi, nominated by The Office of Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton 
Roshawn Renfroe, Ramsey County Children’s Mental Health Collaborative
Sara Thomas, nominated by BCLI Alumni
Tenaya Crenshaw, nominated by BCLI Alumni
Vincent Henry, nominated by Simpson Housing Services
Ying Lee nominated by Minneapolis Parks & Recreation

Nexus Community Engagement Institute (NCEI) is proud to welcome Caitlin Schwartz, Sindy Morales Garcia and Venessa Fuentes to our NCEI Advisory Committee!

NCEI advances and strengthens communities through equity-based community engagement, both locally and nationally. The NCEI Advisory Committee is composed of local community engagement practitioners who guide and support the work of the Institute, helping to provide vision and strategy as well as to develop and co-lead trainings and workshops on community engagement with NCEI staff.

We’re honored to have the wisdom and experience of Caitlin, Sindy and Venessa to help ground and guide this work moving forward – please help us welcome them to the team!

Get to Know the New NCEI Advisory Committee Members

Caitlin Schwartz

Caitlin Schwartz has over 12 years of experience in community engagement, organizing, and grassroots leadership development, most recently working on Metro Transit’s Community Outreach & Engagement Team and serving as board member and development committee chair with the Headwaters Foundation for Justice. Her passion is in constituent leadership and ensuring that people are centered in the planning and decision-making that impact their lives. A first-generation college student, she received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of St. Thomas, studying Justice & Peace Studies and Sociology.

Sindy Morales Garcia

Driven by a commitment to equity and wholeness, Sindy works with Wilder’s Community Initiatives team to catalyze the cultural shifts needed to co-create transformational and sustainable change. Her work is informed by a rich tapestry of experiences in higher-education advocacy, community collaborations, and faith-based activism. As a facilitator, Sindy enjoys cultivating spaces of meaningful reflection and dialogue that enable participants to strategically advance new thinking and action in their lives and work.

Originally from Quetzaltenango Guatemala, Sindy comes from a family of community organizers. Her family’s narrative of struggle, resilience, and strategic disruption led her to center her personal and educational journey on deepening her understanding of liberation, healing, and social justice. This includes a degree in Reconciliation Studies at Bethel University, community organizing and public policy at the Silberman School of Social Work, and liberation theology and social ethics at Union Theological Seminary.

Venessa Fuentes

Venessa is a local artist and advocate who, since 1997, has worked in Twin Cities arts, community development, and grantmaking nonprofits. Recently, she held positions at the Bush Foundation and Jerome Foundation – both in grantmaking and communications. Venessa is an alum of the inaugural cohort of the Ron McKinley Philanthropy Fellowship.

Please help us in welcoming our newest team member, Chao Yang, to the Nexus family! Chao joins us as the Director of Strategic Development, where she works to align and execute fund development, evaluation and communications efforts aimed at achieving community engagement and organizational sustainability efforts.

Click here to learn more about her, and please help us welcome her to the community!

As Annelise prepares to leave Nexus, read her journey from the beginning

Annelise’s Nexus journey began summer 2016, when she joined the staff as a New Sector Alliance intern. She worked on Metro Transit’s Better Bus Stops Project, handling project coordination and reporting around bus stop accessibility and revitalization. During her work with Nexus on the project, Annelise had a realization.

“It was my first experience in programming, and I realized, I loved my job and I loved Nexus. From there, I wanted to learn Nexus’ operations, communications, development — literally everything about the organization,” Annelise said.

Once the summer ended, Annelise was able to continue her internship at Nexus as the Capacity Building Assistant while finishing her degree at the University of Minnesota. As the Capacity Building Assistant, she focused primarily on development and HR, deepening her knowledge of Nexus and philanthropy. 

She continued to work at Nexus throughout her senior year and when Annelise graduated in May 2017, she had a job waiting for her; however, mental health challenges had her in and out of the office and she was eventually hospitalized. Despite this, Nexus supported her.

“I was told, ‘don’t worry about Nexus. Your job will be here. We just care about you.’ I felt like I could be authentically myself in a professional environment. Never before did I feel comfortable telling a supervisor I was being hospitalized, and here I was — bringing my full self to this space and being vulnerable,” she said.

When she returned, she was accepted with open arms — and a new job title: Program and Operations Associate. In this role, she focused more on development, grantmaking, and communications. While molding her professional career, Annelise felt herself transforming and growing personally.

“I did more growing at Nexus in two years, than I did in my four years of college — and I didn’t have to pay $40,000. I’ve learned to communicate my love for my work and my coworkers. I know what it feels like to be nourished and cared for. I am a damn fool for leaving because I don’t know if I’ll ever work at another place that makes me feel so good.”

So what’s next for Annelise?

She’s off to Boston to become a Jewish Organizing Institute and Network (JOIN) for Justice fellow. As a fellow, she will continue to explore her role in racial equity work, participate in community organizing, and develop strategies for wealth distribution. Though she’s preparing to work on the east coast, Annelise is keeping her Nexus experience close.

“It’s so weird being in your 20s and you hear everyone talking about how they hate their job. But after being at Nexus, I know it is possible to be in an environment where you love what you do and do it well.”

Written by Nichelle Brunner

We are so excited to welcome Omar Leal to our Nexus team! Omar joins us as a Leadership Intern, where he’ll be working with the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute for the summer of 2018.

Omar graduated in 2015 with his Bachelor’s in Anthropology and International Studies from Macalester College, and has since collaborated with various nonprofits engaging with primarily Latinx youth and families.

Learn more about Omar here, and please help us welcome him to the Nexus family!

Nexus Community Partners seeks a full time Director of Strategic Development (40 hours a week, Monday-Friday), to join a dynamic staff of thoughtful, equity-driven individuals who are deeply committed to the organization’s values.

Nexus Community Partners is a community-building intermediary whose mission is to “build more engaged and powerful communities of color by supporting community-building initiatives and foster social and human capital.” Nexus addresses the deep isolation within communities of color and Indigenous communities caused by personal, institutional and structural racism by promoting an equity centered engagement model; supporting the development of leaders; democratizing wealth; and by reclaiming culture as an asset.

We are looking for a creative and strategic individual who can grow with the position and the organization. The Director of Strategic Development will be an integral part of Nexus’ leadership team and work in partnership with the staff and the Board to meet annual and long-range strategic development goals. This position will work to ensure the organization has the resources it needs to remain strong, impactful and sustainable through programmatic and organizational growth. This position will work closely with and report directly to the President and CEO.

Click here for the full job description and to apply

Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) is Now Taking Applications for the 2018-2019 Cohort!

Nominations Packets due Friday, June 15th, 2018

Nexus Community Partners is proud to announce that we are now seeking nominations for our sixth cohort for the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute.

The BCLI is a 7-month cohort leadership program that supports, trains and helps places people of color and other underrepresented community members on city and county publicly appointed boards and commissions that influence and impact equity in the Twin Cities Metro Area in economic development, health, housing, transit and workforce development.

In the past five years, The Twin Cities BCLI has trained 69 alumni, half of which have gone on to serve on boards and commissions at all levels of the state (local, regional, and state). We are excited to be recruiting a new cohort of leaders dedicated to equity work in the region and hope you will help us spread the word to friends and networks who want to be a part of a network of leaders on boards and commissions! We are pleased to add two new geographies to our nominations packet this year: welcome aboard, Roseville and Woodbury!

Learn more about the Nominations Packet (Application) Here

Moving BEYOND A SEAT at the table TO A VOTE in the decision-making process.

“We need to be running our own folks for seats by building power that pursues true democracy… We need to be developing leaders to be bold at those decision-making tables and to never leave their community behind. This is how we tell our own story. This is a story that tells everybody they can belong, and this is how we build our movement.”  – Kandace Montgomery, BCLI ’14

Please join us for the following Info Sessions to learn more about the nominations process and the program!

Info Session One
Brooklyn Park
Thursday, May 10, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Brookdale Library, Creekside Room
2156, 6125 Shingle Creek Pkwy
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

Info Session Two
Saint Paul
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Rondo Library, Flex Room
461 Dale Street North
St. Paul, MN 55104

Info Session Three
Roseville
Thursday, May 31, 2018
5-6:30 PM
Ramsey County Library – Roseville, Community Room
2180 Hamline Avenue N.
Roseville, MN 55113

Info Session Four
Minneapolis
Wednesday, June 5, 2018
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
North Regional Library, South Half Room
1315 Lowry Ave N
Minneapolis, MN 55411

Click here for more information about BCLI, or contact BCLI program staff:

Terri Thao
Program Director
tthao@nexuscp.org

Chai Lee
Program Coordinator
clee@nexuscp.org

On Thursday, April 5, 2018, the Nexus Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) graduated 14 fellows from its fifth cohort to a room filled with over 75 friends, family members, nominators, alumni and supporters.

Graduation was hosted in the Paulson Hall at The Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis. Nexus President/CEO Repa Mekha welcomed the group and  summarized the last few cohort’s themes and how they wove into one another on the topic of grounded, deep work in community and relationship building as well as working in systems . The BCLI was honored to be graced by the wisdom and presence of Ramsey County Commissioner Toni Carter, who was the keynote speaker. Commissioner Carter gave a rousing and inspirational testimony about her lengthy road of service in community, expounding on the need for fresh, young and talented minds of color who have the will to serve others and the courage to grab a seat at the table. She reminded everyone of the need to be humble, to remember your roots, and always be grounded in speaking for those who are not at the table as yourself. Above all, her message of hope, retaining and channeling your passion for organizing and courage was a reminder that we have a long way to go to put more equity champions like BCLI alumni on many more important seats which impact the issues that affect our communities every day. As she said beautifully, “we should not stop at being the first person to do this or the first woman to do that, but that it is never enough to be just one, to have just the first, and we need to help and support each other to build pipelines of leaders to come after us and to push into the work of community and public policy change.”

Commissioner Carter’s words were followed up with comments from two graduating cohort members, Jasmond “Jay” Rathell and Yingya Vang. Jay spoke first, and he highlighted the impact of BCLI being a safe space where people of color (POC) leaders could really learn and dig deep into policy issues together. He found inspiration in the esprit de corps which the BCLI fellowship provided, and announced that he was intending to take his leadership to the next level, and would run for city council in his City of Robbinsdale. Yingya spoke to the importance of strengthening a network of peers and colleagues dedicated to the ongoing work of racial equity, and how motivational it was to be a part of movement to put equity champions at the decision-making tables.

After the speakers, the 14 graduates were acknowledged in the official commencement ceremony and given certificates and stipends for their participation. As in similar years, graduates were gifted with a poster from local artists/organizer/elder Ricardo Levins Morales who spoke at the October 2017 launch of the program.

This current cohort hails mostly from the East Metro, with seven St. Paul residents and a few from eastern suburbs. Fellows came with diverse backgrounds and from across sectors. They ranged in age from 23 to 58, averaging age 35. This year’s fellows had interests in seats at all levels of government from local and regional to state, examples include city budget boards to county health services and state-wide ethnic leadership councils.

The BCLI at Nexus is proud to graduate 14 more alumni into its network of leaders, making a total of 69 Twin Cities BCLI alumni, over half of whom have served at or currently serve in appointed boards and commissions at all levels of government in Minnesota. Stay tuned for more information as the BCLI works to recruit its next and sixth cohort this May.

Click here to learn more about Nexus’ Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute.

This program has been adapted from the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute originally created by Urban Habitat in Oakland, California.

Join us to celebrate the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship 2017-18 Graduating Cohort!

Come help us honor this year’s graduating North Star fellows: Amoke Kubat, Carl Crawford, Harrison Bullard, Lashunda Roberts, Lavasha Smith, Nicque Mabrey, Selah Michele and Sheronda Orridge and their efforts in establishing Black led Cooperative initiatives. Fellows’ initiatives vary from housing, worker owned, healing networks, hair care and hair product cooperatives.

Join us to learn more about their work and how you can be in cooperation with them. A keynote address will be made by Collie Graddick, our local north and south cooperative leader.

RSVP by April 18th here!

Nexus would like to send a shout out and very warm welcome to our newest team member, Elly Fireside-Ostergaard! Elly joined Nexus this month as an administrative specialist, and brings with her a wealth of experience in nonprofits and racial and economic equity.

We’re so excited to have Elly here at Nexus! Please help us welcome her by giving her a high-five if you see her in community in the coming weeks 🙂

Learn more about Elly here