Open Road Fund is a community resource granting $50 million to Black folks in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota in order to create tangible pathways to liberation, prosperity, and healing on our own terms. The Open Road Fund is stewarded by Nexus Community Partners and resourced by the Bush Foundation.
We believe that paths lead to our destiny, and when faced with barriers, we call upon our ancestors to guide us on the open road to liberation. In honor of their resiliency and communal spirit, the Open Road Fund aims to redistribute resources to present-day descendants of the Atlantic Slave Trade in an effort to build Black wealth within our communities.
This $50 million belongs to our community and offers the opportunity to make a positive impact, but it is not reparations. The fund’s resources aren’t enough to correct all the harm done to the Black community over the last 400 years. However, it is a step in the right direction towards cultivating wealth and prosperity.
The Open Road fund officially launches this Juneteenth, on June 19, 2023.
How the Open Road Fund works
The Open Road Fund was created to serve Black descendants of the Atlantic Slave Trade, especially formerly incarcerated folks, single parents, senior citizens, those living with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and more.
Open Road Fund will award $50,000 grants to at least 800 Black residents in the region through 2031.
Applicants must meet the following requirements to be eligible to apply:
- Be age 14 and up.
- Be a resident of Minnesota, North Dakota, or South Dakota.
- Be a descendant of the Atlantic slave trade, including the Caribbean, North, Central, and South America. Descendants of formerly enslaved people who repatriated to Africa are also eligible.
These resources can be used for several wealth-building projects, including housing, education, financial well-being, healing, and economic justice—and we encourage all applicants to identify the area of focus that best suits their path to building Black wealth.
The Open Road Fund application will open on June, 19, 2023. All applicants must complete the application process by identifying their project or intent for the $50,000 grant to be considered. Applications close for the fund on July 28, 2023.
About Nexus Community Partners
Since 2004, Nexus Community Partners has been working to build Black wealth for Black communities in the Twin Cities and across the state. To us, Black wealth building is about creating spaces and opportunities that help all Black people to thrive. Black folks know that the United States was built on the backs of our ancestors. And that from slavery to today, we have been exploited out of trillions of dollars of wages, time with our loved ones, and the space to have loving, healthy relationships with ourselves, making it nearly impossible to center our healing. With this $50 million Fund, Nexus has the chance to provide a return on the investment Black folks have long made to this country.