Survey findings from the Community Leadership Learning Initiative   The Community Leadership Learning Initiative (CLLI) goal is to deepen our collective understanding of community-driven leadership. We want to raise the visibility of community leadership to philanthropy and the broader ecosystem of leadership and community development. CLLI welcomes people from across the country to share in…

“We are fooling ourselves if we think the nation can recover and heal without reimagining and rebuilding the systems and institutions the virus has revealed to be inadequate and broken.”– Angela Glover Blackwell and Michael MacAfee   COVID-19 is unprecedented. This virus has left no community, no sector, no class untouched, and yet, painfully and…

At Nexus, we recognize the difficult choices many business owners face right now. We have expanded our business services and created our new Business Legacy Program, which implements a  3-pronged strategy to help keep local legacy businesses stabilized in our community. Consulting on succession planning: helping businesses explore succession planning and restructuring options provided by…

Hello folks! Today ​we are pleased to announce that we are opening up the application for ​cohort 8 of the Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI)! ​The BCLI is a 7 month leadership program that trains and helps place Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities on publicly appointed boards and commissions in support of a racial…

A summary of different response and recovery resources for businesses during the COVID-19 crisis. In conversation with businesses and experts in the field, we have been gathering information on resources for small businesses and co-ops (emergency loans, grants, and etc). The situation is constantly changing and we are working to keep this document updated regularly….

We invite you to learn alongside grassroots community leaders, funders, leadership practioners and intermediary organizations as we explore the many ways we practice community leadership. Learning opportunities include virtual gatherings and in-person site visits. In case you missed the Community Leadership Learning Initiative launch session last week, you can listen to the meeting recording here. We…

Community Wealth Building Coordinator Nkuli Shongwe recently returned from a cooperative learning trip to Puerto Rico*. Look out for upcoming blogs about her experience on the island and site visits to local cooperatives, including a hydroelectric cooperative and farming co-op.  Adjuntas, Puerto Rico is lush and mountainous, a striking environment for our first site visit. …

People with deep lived experiences of inequities are actively leading and creating transformation in their own communities, in ways that respect and leverage their cultural ways of knowing and being. The pervasive view of leadership, as extraordinary and hierarchal individuals, reinforces dominant positions of power. Institutions that only rely on this systems-driven analysis often miss…

The Nexus Worker-Ownership Initiative is proud to announce the completion of its first cooperative conversion! Starting in 2020, Happy Earth Cleaning Cooperative is now in business.  Nexus, in partnership with Project Equity, helped provide technical assistance for Happy Earth Cleaning LLC to become an employee-owned co-op.  Over a period of 10 months the previous business…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 9, 2020 Contacts: Theresa Gardella Vice President of Programs and Operations Nexus Community Partners tgardella@nexuscp.org Erin Jerabek Heelan Consultant, WOI Nexus Community Partners erin@erinhconsulting.com New Year Brings Employee Ownership to Happy Earth Cleanin Happy Earth Cleaning LLC is the first employee-owned cleaning company in Minneapolis The new year began at Happy…