African American Leadership Forum
Mission
The Twin Cities African American Leadership forum is a movement of African Americans mobilized to address challenges and create long-term solutions for a vibrant and sustainable community.
Want to get involved?
Contact David Nicholson at:
david@headwatersfoundation.org
612-879-0602 x11
Background
The African American Leadership Forum is a movement of African American leaders that understands, values, and leverages “the power of the collective.” We are committed to bringing about positive change in the Twin Cities African American community.
We are engaged in deliberative dialogue and collective action to address the most critical issues affecting the economic, social, educational, and healthy well-being of all African American individuals and families in the Twin Cities community.
Our Participants
So far, approximately 650 seasoned and emerging leaders in the Twin Cities African American community are participants in the AALF. Leaders across community sectors — nonprofit, grassroots, faith, political, government, business, philanthropy, education, health, arts — are involved in this work. We anticipate and welcome many more participants.
Participants are engaged not only in their professional roles bus also as community members who have a personal investment and responsibility in the Twin Cities’ African American community.
Our Focus
Our work is to craft, agree upon, and implement an Action Agenda that will move African American community problem solving efforts forward in a unified way. We want to create new opportunity structures. We are looking for ways to bring new energy and support to existing programs that are working well. We are exploring new partnerships and collaborations. We are tapping into our cultural values and strengths as resources and guides.
The Action Agenda will focus on four pillars that represent the issues, challenges, and opportunities in the Twin Cities African American community. These core pillars are:
Economic Development (Community Building) – To encourage and support long-lasting, ongoing investments to build wealth in the African American community.
Education and Lifelong Learning – To close the achievement gap for African American children in pre-K through 12th grade in the seven-county metro area.
Family, Culture, and Spirituality – To ground our work in our cultural principles, creating a tipping point that maximizes our potential.
Health and Wellness – To promote healthy living — mind, body, and soul — in the African American community.
Guiding Principles
We believe that…
- We each have a responsibility to engage and contribute in our community.
- We must act as if “every child in my community is my child.”
- We have a collective obligation to invest in our community and in our children.
- We can build on and utilize our cultural wisdom.
- Strengthening families in the best leverage for building strong African American communities.
- The health of our institutions and our families are inextricably linked.
- We must hold institutions within our community accountable for action and follow through.
- Our differences and similarities form a rich tapestry of assets.
We believe in…
- Community ownership and personal responsibility
- Collaborating to optimize our efforts
- The new possibilities we can create
Our Foundation Supporters
Otto Bremer Foundation
General Mills Foundation
Grotto Foundation
Headwaters Foundation for Justice
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The Minneapolis Foundation
Northwest Area Foundation
The Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota
The Saint Paul Foundation
