- Alliance for Metropolitan Stability

Ensuring
Equitable
Outcomes
2012
Annual Report
2012
Annual Report
From the Director
Together we are ensuring equitable outcomes in
growth and development in the Twin Cities region!
Thank you for helping advance the work of the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability in
2012. Because of your ongoing support and our alliances with diverse partners and
communities, we were able to secure tangible wins toward our vision of an equitable
region.
From our work to advocate for increased hiring goals for people of color to our
efforts to increase the organizing capacity of grassroots leaders, the Alliance is
transforming the way our region functions. In everything we do, we are proving that
it is possible to build an equitable region free of racial, economic and environmental
injustice.
This work benefits all of us. Equity grants the people of our region better access to
transportation choices, affordable housing, a healthy environment and employment
opportunities, thereby contributing to a more sustainable, viable economy. All of the
work you will read about in this report is bringing about that vision of a region that
allows everyone to thrive. Thank you for joining with us in that work. Together, we will
realize the equitable region that we all hope for.
Russ Adams,
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability executive director
2
Ensuring Equitable Outcomes through
2012
Community Engagement
Our transit system will only be equitable when low-wealth communities and communities of color have a
meaningful role in planning the infrastructure investments made in their neighborhoods. That’s why the Alliance
is committed to making sure that these voices are elevated at transitway decision-making tables around the
region. In 2012, the Alliance made significant progress in achieving this goal through our partnership with
organizations on the Corridors of Opportunity Community Engagement Team: the Minnesota Center for
Neighborhood Organizing and Nexus Community Partners.
In 2012, the CET funded and provided capacity-building support to community organizing projects along
emerging transitways. Over the last two years, our partnership has recommended 19 grants for community
organizing work in the amount of $720,000 along four different transitways. This year, the CET also set aside
some funding for small capacity-building grants, which enabled community organizations with limited resources
and scope to begin to build their power around transitway issues.
We also continued to support the work of the Community Engagement Steering Committee, a group that is
working together to establish regional standards for community engagement. The steering committee
identified a lack of consistency in community engagement processes across the region. In response, they
developed a series of recommendations, such as strengthening the role of Community Advisory Committees,
that they presented to key decision-makers with the Metropolitan Council and Metro Transit. Everyone has a
stake in this work, because better community engagement will lead to less community resistance to new transit
projects and to stronger projects that truly serve and benefit the communities they affect.
The important role of all of this work is to ensure that at the end of the Corridors of Opportunity project in
2014, our region is a different place. Pushing for better decisions project by project isn’t enough; we have to
change the way our systems work. The work that the CET and our allies are doing in engaging these
communities will ensure that this happens throughout the Twin Cities region.
The Alliance has helped New American Academy establish solid relationships and
partnerships with other nonprofit allies who are doing similar work within the Twin
Cities. The Alliance has also helped us to understand complex issues and processes,
which allows us to better serve our immigrant community in Eden Prairie.
- Asad Aliweyd, New American Academy executive director
3
Ensuring Equitable Outcomes through
2012
Hiring Equity
It is becoming common knowledge that Minnesota has one of the largest racial employment gaps in the nation. As
of the third quarter in 2011, the black unemployment rate was 27.4 percent compared to 5.9 percent for whites,
meaning black people in our state are more than 4.5 times more likely to be unemployed than white people. Racial
disparities like these are too large to ignore. They require powerful solutions.
HIRE Minnesota’s goal remains the same as when we came together in 2009: to end racial employment disparities in
Minnesota. This year, the Alliance and our partners in the coalition refocused our campaign strategy, determined to
take our state from worst to first in employment equity.
Our first win of 2012 came early, when the Minnesota Department of Human Rights increased its workforce
inclusion goals for people of color on state construction projects. After years of HIRE Minnesota advocating for
goals that reflected the state’s demographics, MDHR Commission Kevin Lindsey raised the hiring goal from 11
percent to 32 percent in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. With these new goals the state of Minnesota took an
overdue step toward ensuring our state’s construction workforce looks like the people who live here.
This was an important win, because major construction projects are on the horizon. One of those is the new
$975 million Minnesota Vikings football stadium, which is expected to create 7,500 construction jobs. While HIRE
Minnesota coalition members did not all agree on whether a stadium should be funded by public dollars, we all held
firm in our conviction that any large-scale development receiving public investment should equitably benefit workers
of all races. With that in mind, HIRE Minnesota worked with the Minneapolis City Council to pass a Stadium
Equity Plan, which will ensure racial equity in employment is a central goal of the project. The city of Minneapolis
also showed leadership in passing a resolution acknowledging institutional racism and calling for the city to adopt
tools to increase equity in employment.
While this new work happened, HIRE Minnesota did not let up in our ongoing efforts to hold the Minnesota
Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council accountable to meeting their hiring goals. That work
yielded exciting results: By the end of 2012, two major contractors building the Central Corridor LRT had exceeded
the Met Council’s 18 percent hiring goal for people of color. While MnDOT fell short of its goal to hire 11 percent
people of color, the agency made improvements, hiring 21 percent more people of color over the same period last
year.
We all want to live in a place where our ability to get a job has nothing to do with our skin color. HIRE Minnesota will
continue to hold our leaders accountable and to raise public awareness about racial employment disparities until this
becomes a reality.
MUUSJA has been actively working for equity in employment since joining
HIRE Minnesota four years ago. The Alliance has been such a great partner
and leader in building the strengths of HIRE Minnesota, and in supporting
MUUSJA and the other coalition members in deep analysis of problems and
solutions. Having the knowledge and experience of Alliance staff is a tremendous
asset. -Ralph Wyman, HIRE Minnesota coalition member
4
Ensuring Equitable Outcomes through
2012
Transitway Planning
The Alliance is committed to building the power of low-wealth communities and communities of color so that
they are able to meaningfully voice their opinions as major transportation projects are being planned in their
neighborhoods. Each year, the Alliance partners with communities across the region to help them understand
how the complicated process of planning a new transitway can be leveraged for significant community-defined
benefits.
The Harrison Neighborhood Association was one of the earliest partners in that work, and we continue to
stand by them as they protect a plan developed in partnership with city of Minneapolis to bring more jobs and
affordable housing to this North Minneapolis neighborhood. Threats persist years later, the most imminent
of which is a Hennepin County plan to use a portion of the neighborhood’s developable land for commuter
rail storage. The Northside Transportation Network is another partner in this work. In 2012 we continued to
support the community’s vision to have a voice in the development of the Bottineau Transitway. We provided
community leaders and residents with technical assistance so that they would be able to best leverage transit
investment for community benefits.
Kenya McKnight, a Bush Fellow and resident leader with NTN, believes that the Alliance has been instrumental
in helping community groups like NTN understand the transitway development process. “Without the Alliance,
I don’t know if I would know how to look at the connectivity issues and challenges that we have in our
community,” she said. “The Alliance has helped us frame all of these initiatives, and has helped us create
stronger connectivity while obtaining equity.”
The Alliance also helped to increase the capacity of other communities that are in the beginning stages of
navigating the transitway development process. We connected community residents and organizations to
federal, regional, and local officials. We also provided various communities with technical assistance to help
them navigate complex processes, and provided residents with tools and resources so that they could become
powerful decision-making for their neighborhood’s futures. Connections like these build power. And with more
power, communities will be able to secure more equitable outcomes in the development of our region’s
transitways.
The Alliance uses its relationships and reputation to build bridges, further racial equity, and at
the same time, promote sustainable development. They have been a key partner in Harrison’s
train storage fight and have helped us highlight it as an issue that the region needs to know
about. Sometimes I wonder how differently the Twin Cities region would look if the Alliance
were not around. Perhaps the work would still get done, but it would look drastically different
and not reflect the true vision and goals of the community.
-Malik Holt-Shabazz, Harrison Neighborhood Association executive director
5
Ensuring Equitable Outcomes by
2012
Supporting the Regional Equity Field
In 2012, the Alliance held firm in our commitment to connect groups of various backgrounds and constituencies
to the regional equity movement. With the help of our partners, we provided grassroots organizers, community
leaders and others with resources like roundtables, research and tools to help advance the field.
Throughout the year, the Alliance gathered 333 people for our Organizer Roundtables. These gatherings are
designed with the intention of building connections between community leaders so that they feel supported in
their work and see how closely their work is tied to the regional equity movement.
Working with our allies, the Alliance also provided direction and leadership to EquityNow Twin Cities, a network
of nonprofit, public sector and philanthropic partners that is exploring ways to create a fair and just region that
benefits everyone. We believe that by working together, a diverse group of passionate people can advance equity
in the Twin Cities region. We are doing this by creating platforms for discussion, amplifying the work of our allies
and developing a shared narrative, so that we all have a common language.
Last year, EquityNow Twin Cities published A Mile in Our Shoes, a book that highlights the daily challenges facing
people who rely on public transit in the Twin Cities. The idea for the book stemmed from our collective desire
to connect the larger systemic issue of transportation inequity to the stories of residents who experience these
problems every day. These stories bring to life the case for more transit investment in Minnesota, through the
eyes of the low-wealth communities, people of color and disabled people who need it the most.
The Alliance knows that to advance regional equity we need a shared understanding of the policy decisions that
have contributed to the racial disparities that exist today. To bring about this understanding, we released a series
of papers titled Race and Regionalism: How Growth and Development Policies Shape Racial Disparities in the Twin Cities
Region. This series explores a history of public policymaking that has favored, either intentionally or as a
byproduct of poor decision-making, the needs of white people over those of people of color and indigenous
people. Our goal is to show how public policy has contributed to racial disparities in our region, in the hopes
that we can make better decisions for everyone who lives here in the future.
These relationships, products and activities build on one another and give people an opportunity to think
differently about regional equity. We believe that as people begin to change their mindset about how we all
benefit from more equitable decision-making, it will lead to a stronger economy and better growth and
development decisions for the Twin Cities region.
I trust the Alliance to create equitable outcomes because of their deep community
engagement practices and their reliance on grassroots leaders and community
organizers that help to shape and inform their work from start to finish. I believe
that their commitment to equity will prevent my children from having to work to
change the same inequitable issues we are addressing today.
-Danielle Mkali, Nexus Community Partners program officer
6
2012 Board, Staff and Members
Board Members
2012
George Garnett, Summit Academy OIC
Larry Hiscock, President, at large
Tina Homstad, Treasurer, Twin Cities Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Mona Langston,Vice President, at large
Joo-Hee Pomplun, Asian Economic Development Association
The Alliance is one of the only organizations
Eleonore Wesserle, Secretary, Women’s Environmental Institute
I’ve encountered that not only speaks the
Daniel Yang, Native American Community Development Institute
equity language, but makes decisions
internally and externally to take the actions
Staff Members
to support equity on the ground. The Alliance
Russ Adams, executive director
does this by applying its policy and technical
Ebony Adedayo, program coordinator
expertise at the request of grassroots
Tracy Babler, development and communications director
leaders, using its resources to amplify voices
Maura Brown, associate director
and helping to actualize the priorities of
Owen Duckworth, coalition organizer
communities directly impacted by policy
Joan Vanhala, coalition organizer
Avi Viswanathan, HIRE Minnesota coalition organizer
Members
All Parks Alliance for Change
Asian Economic Development Association
Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation
Catholic Charities Office For Social Justice
Community Stabilization Project
District Council Collaborative of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota
Envision Minnesota
The Family Partnership
Fresh Energy
Harrison Neighborhood Association
HOME Line
Housing Preservation Project
Jewish Community Action
League of Women Voters Minnesota
Twin Cities Local Initiative Support Corporation
Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers
MICAH
Minneapolis Urban League
Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy
Minnesota Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Alliance
Native American Community Development Institute
New American Academy
Saint Paul Area Coalition for the Homeless
Sierra Club
Somali Action Alliance
Summit Academy OIC
Transit for Livable Communities
Women’s Environmental Institute
decisions on regional growth and development.
-Eleonore Wesserle, Secretary,
Women’s Environmental Institute member
As an organizational coalition member and
former board member of the Alliance for
Metropolitan Stability, both myself and my
community have benefited greatly from the
cross-sector equity work that they advance.
The Alliance and their incredible staff are
regional leaders that ensure all community
voices are at the table.
- Daniel Yang, Native American Community
Development Institute community
engagement specialist
7
Individual Donors
8
Andriana Abariotes
Mel and Marty Adams
Russ Adams
Babatope and Ebony Adedayo
Bob Aderhold and Audry Kingstrom
Mindy Ahler Olmstead
Luke and Tracy Babler
Bethann Barankovich
Robert and Angie Barduson
Barbara Bearman
Thomas Bedard
Shayna Berkowitz and Phyllis Wiener
Becca Brackett
Jeffrey and Virginia Brooks
Louise and Peter Brown
Maura Brown
Jamie Buss
Denise Butler
Candace Campbell
Cindy Carlsson
J Michael Cline
Dan Cornejo
Jay Cowles and Page Knutson Cowles
Dan and Cassie Cramer
Phil Deering and Carol White
Raymond Dehn
Shari Dion
Bill Droessler
Diane Dube and Peter Gorman
Owen Duckworth
Caroline Duffy
Rachel Dykoski
Steve Elkins
Kathy Farmer
Lorraine and Peter Fischer
Yvonne Forsythe
Sarah Gleason
Elizabeth Glidden
Robert Halbach
Lois Hamilton and Harry Lando
Larry Hampel and Mary Kopet
Eric Hauge
Jeffrey and Lucy Heegaard
Bernie and Vickie Hesse
Larry Hiscock
Joel Hodroff
Tina and Kevin Homstad
Tina Homstad
John Hottinger
Joshua Houdek
Susan Hoyt
Jennifer Jimenez Wheatley and Parker Wheatley
Heidi Johnson McAllister
Jean Jones
Frank Jossi
Phyllis Kahn
Richard Keiser
Louis and Beverly King
Margaret Kirkpatrick
Barron Koralesky
Robin Kunze and Steve Raymond
William Lerman
John and Anne Levin
Daniel Liberman and Suzanne Fenton
Andrea Lubov
Patricia Mack
Julie Madden
Allan Malkis and Diane Wanner
Howard and Lynn Markus
John Marty
Sue Matthews
Steven Mayer
Lisa Middag
Karen Monahan
Phil Morton
Eric Muschler and Karen Lundegaard
Gretchen Nicholls
Lezlie and Dale Nordquist
Nicole Nordquist and Dan Majeres
Sean and Ellie O’Brien
Tom O’Connell
Patrick O’Connor and Carol Blackburn
Larry Olds
Sacha Peterson
Rebecca Quirk
Hilary Reeves
Karen Reid
Alisa Revou
Nora Riemenschneider
Leigh Rosenberg
THANK YOU
Funders
Donors, continued
Lisa Schlingerman and Craig Christenson
Katie Severt
Brett and Katherine Smith
Vladimir Sulc
Carol Swenson
Rose Teng
Timothy Thompson and Linda Vieira
Karen Utter
Mary Ann Van Cura
Arthur and Virginia Walzer
Lynnanne Warren
Sue Watlov Phillips
Robert Weidman and Kate Hoff
Luke Weisberg
Matt Welbes
Mason Wells
Eleonore Wesserle
Anne White
James Wilkinson
Ralph Wyman
Daniel Yang
Grants and Contracts
Ford Foundation
Headwaters Foundation for Justice
Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota
Jim and Linda Lee Family Foundation
The Minneapolis Foundation
Otto Bremer Foundation
REAMP
Stephen and Lusia Hornstien Family Fund #2 of the Greater
Cincinnati Foundation
Still Ain’t Satisfied Foundation
Summit Academy OIC
Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock
Winthrop A. Wyman Family Fund of the Fidelity Charitable
Gift Fund
In-Kind Donors
Café Latte
Guthrie Theatre
Hungry Dog Designs
Lindskoog’s Florist
Locke and Key Creative Longfellow Grill
Pizza Luce
studioTart
Surly Brewing YMCA of the Twin Cities
The Alliance is a standout among those working to build cross-sector
coalitions around regional growth issues. One of its strengths is
organizing leaders and networks around values-driven principles
that are also important to McKnight — promoting sustainable
communities regionwide, advancing smart growth practices,
inclusive decision making, and maximizing the power of grassroots
organizing. After more than 10 years of partnership, we are proud
to support such an effective organization.
-Sarah Hernandez, McKnight Foundation program officer
THANK YOU
9
2012 Financials
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION - DECEMBER 31, 2012
ASSETS
Current Assets
Cash and Cash Equivalents
261,493.34
Accounts Receivable
562.39
Prepaid Expenses
10,903.16
Contracts Receivable 5,415.00
Grants Receivable 150,000.00
Total Current Assets
428,373.89
Other Assets
Fixed Assets
Office Equipment
Accumulated Depreciation
Total Assets
9%
36%
18,818.83
-18,818.83
429,573.89
16%
29%
EXPENSES
Current Liabilities
Accounts Payable
Accrued Expenses
5,496.96
23,920.98
Total Liabilities 29,417.94
EQUITY
Restricted Net Assets
Operating Reserve
Unrestricted Net Assets
Net Income
Total Equity
3%
1,200.00
LIABILITIES
7%
Total Liabilities & Equity
247,260.56
50,000.00
247,153.76
-144,258.37
Transit Equity
HIRE Minnesota
Capacity Building
Management
Fundraising
Lobbying
400,155.95
429,573.89
14%
STATEMENT OF ACTIVITIES - DECEMBER 31, 2012
3%
1%
1%
REVENUES
Contracts Grants
Donations
Earned Income, Interest and Other
Membership Dues
Total Revenues
62,500.00
355,000.00
14,841.23
5,730.02
2,200.00
440,271.25
Total expenses
Net Income
10
REVENUES
Grants
EXPENSES
Management
Fundraising
Lobbying
Equitable Development Organizing Project
HIRE Minnesota Transit Equity
Capacity Building
Total EDOP
81%
53,252.23
42,118.55
16,469.65
170,801.21
206,924.45
94,963.53
472,689.19
584,529.62
- 144,258.37
Contracts
Donations
Earned Income, Interest and Other
Membership Dues