Nexus has developed innovative and interrelated initiatives that build power within communities of color, support a pipeline for living wage employment, and better equip organizations, practitioners and leaders with the tools required to carry out targeted strategies, with a focus on cooperative economic models.
Community Wealth Building Initiatives
Business Conversions to Worker Ownership
Nexus is partnering with the Neighborhood Development Center (NDC) and Oakland-based Project Equity to change the face of business ownership in the Twin Cities through conversions of privately-held businesses to worker cooperatives. The partnership models Project Equity’s national work by raising awareness, building a pipeline of potential conversions, securing sustainable sources of capital and providing technical assistance to current owners and future cooperatives members. Click here to learn more about Business Conversions.
Community Wealth Building AmeriCorps VISTA Cohort
The project is a partnership with the Phillips Family Foundation’s C3 Twin Cities VISTA program that engages a cohort of four organizations focused in the areas of food justice, social enterprise, people-centered workforce development and housing and commercial land trusts. Cohort organizations include Appetite for Change, City of Lakes Community Land Trust, Merrick Community Servicesand the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON). The project works to build the next generation of leaders who will carry forward CWB as a means to eliminate racial and economic disparities.
Cooperative Development Fellowship
The seven-month program is targeted at training and coaching individuals who would like to become cooperative developers, organizations wanting to incubate a cooperative, and other professionals (e.g. lawyers) interested in supporting cooperative development. Click here to learn more about the Cooperative Development Fellowship.
Cooperative Learning Series
A 2-part learning series highlighting culturally-rooted cooperative economics, the role cooperatives play in society and are exposed to the phases of development. Attendees also have the opportunity to network with people of color and indigenous leaders engaged in cooperative efforts.
North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship
North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship is a 4-month, cohort-based program, which will provide participants with a history of cooperative economics in the Black community, while receiving technical skills and support for emerging cooperative business ideas. Click here to learn more about the North Star Black Cooperative Fellowship.