2019-2023 Organizational Highlights

Despite the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and the pain and trauma our communities experienced resulting from the murder of George Floyd, the Center persisted in our relentless pursuit of economic inclusion. Highlights include:

  • Launched the Indicators of an Inclusive Regional Economy™ and a corresponding digital lab to equip local and regional governments and employers with a multi-dimensional illustration of economic inclusion in the MSP region that disaggregates key measures of race, place, and income to make data-informed decisions.

  • Partnered with 7 cities and counties to embed principles of racial equity and inclusion in their comprehensive plans, including Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul.

  • Developed and launched the Racial Equity Dividends Index, a comprehensive tool to help businesses measure their progress towards building racially equitable and inclusive workplaces in Minnesota.

  • Hired by Ramsey County to facilitate community engagement analysis and design of racial equity and implementation strategies for the first county-wide economic competitiveness and inclusion plan to advance equitable housing, economic development, and land use policies and investments.

  • Supported over 55 regional and national employers in embedding anti-racist talent, procurement, investment, and philanthropy, and building inclusive systems in the Center’s Regional Anti-Racism and Economic Justice Trust and employer cohorts.

  • Educated and equipped more than 15,000 leaders to build racially equitable and inclusive workplaces and economies in our online Powering Inclusion workshops and Summit and Reckoning to Rise event series.

  • Developed a racial equity and inclusion report and 10-year analysis for Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare.

  • Advised FSG on embedding anti-racism and inclusive economic growth principles in its Shared Value Initiative for corporate action.

  • Advised more than 30 public- and private-sector employers, foundations, and government entities to make racially equitable and inclusive investments and policies in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

  • Hired by Ramsey County to support the investment of CARES Act funds in organizations closing racial employment gaps and to strengthen the counties capacity for scale.

 Our Approach

We help leaders build the capacity to assess opportunities and challenges through the experiences of race, place, and income and to move from awareness about disparities to taking anti-racist actions in solidarity and shared accountability with Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian communities. 

Our approach is intentionally designed to disrupt and dismantle systemic racism and bias to construct and sustain an inclusive, equitable and growing regional economy for all Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian individuals, businesses, and communities throughout the region.

We use data as a driving force to identify economic gaps that require strategically collaborative public- and private-sector solutions, with a deep understanding that resources are the foundation for achieving inclusive and equitable growth. The economic imperatives for closing racial wealth gaps also illustrate the opportunity for leveraging racial inclusion to build more resilient and competitive regions.

We are in relentless pursuit of achieving an inclusive regional economy.