THE LEGACY STABILIZATION COLLABORATIVE
ROOTED IN LEGACY.
RISING TOGETHER.
The Legacy Stabilization Collaborative is a cross-organizational partnership where legacy institutions across Saint Paul and Minneapolis strengthen each other through shared resources, direct funding, and coordinated operational support — so they can serve their communities for generations to come.
MEET THE FOUNDING MEMBERS
Aurora St. Anthony NDC
Founded in Saint Paul's historic Rondo neighborhood. Advances housing stability, economic mobility, and community-led revitalization.
Est. 1929HALLE Q.
BROwN
Founded in Saint Paul's historic Rondo neighborhood. Advances housing stability, economic mobility, and community-led revitalization.
Est. 1924phyllis
wheatley
community center
North Minneapolis's first organization dedicated to supporting African Americans. Serves youth, families, and cultural programming.
Est. 1924urban league
Twin cities
A regional anchor for workforce development, education, and advocacy across the Twin Cities.
Est. 1980WHY THIS MATTERS
76%
The four institutions in this Collaborative are no exception. This gap is structural, not incidental —decades of philanthropy that consistently under-resourced Black-led organizations doing the same work as their peers.
Staff burnout, stalled succession planning, and aging systems are the symptoms.
less unrestricted net assets than comparable white-led peers
¹Echoing Green and The Bridgespan Group (2020). Overcoming the Racial Bias in Philanthropic Funding. Stanford Social Innovation Review, May 2020.
²National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (2020). Black Funding Denied: Community Foundation Support for Black Communities. August 2020.
wHAT GETS LOST WHEN AN ANCHOR GOES UNDER
A neighborhood without its own institutions gets decisions made about it rather than by it. These five things took generations to build, they are held by these organizations and no others, and a replacement cannot be funded into existence.
One
community trust
Relationships built over decades. Families walk in already knowing they will be treated well.
Lost: the head start that comes from being known in the neighborhood.
four
cultural legacy
Traditions, programming, and history carried forward rather than reinvented every few years.
Lost: continuity between generations
two
place & Space
Buildings and grounds these neighborhoods rely on for gathering, care, and daily life.
Lost: space the community can use on its own terms.
five
economic resilience
Local jobs, contracts, and dollars that stay in the community instead of leaving it.
Lost: paychecks and contracts that leave the neighborhood for good
three
institutional memory
The most under-valued asset: knowing what has been tried, what worked, and who to call.
Lost: decades of hard-won knowledge
“WE ARE NOT BUILDING SOMETHING NEW. WE ARE FINALLY GIVING SOMETHING ESSENTIAL THE FOUNDATION IT HAS ALWAYS DESERVED.”
“Legacy invokes history, durability, and irreplaceability. That is what these institutions are, and that is what this Collaborative is designed to protect”
TATIANA FREEMAN – PRESIDENT, AURORA ST. ANTHONY NDC
how it works
THREE WAYS THE COLLABORATIVE HOLDS INSTITUTIONS UP
01
GENERAL OPERATING
SUPPORT
Participating institutions receive flexible support to strengthen long-term sustainability.
Staff stabilization and retention
Financial reserves
Systems modernization
02
leadership capacity
The Collaborative invests in leadership sustainability.
Planning and reflection time
Peer learning across institutions
Joint decision-making
Reduced burnout and transition risk
03
shared infrastructure
Reducing duplication and strengthening coordination across the cohort.
Cohort design and facilitation
Baseline organizational assessments
Shared back-office capacity
The legacy preservation work done through the LSC initiative is significant because it creates a framework to better understand the significant and historic contributions of black community innovation, enterprise, and social service.”
This collaborative provides legitimacy and evidence to our radical black past, which informs our vision for a radical black future, a future where we lead, serve, and solve critical needs for all humanity and in a way that honors our culture, which is globally influential."
BENNY ROBERTS – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HALLE Q. BROWN COMMUNITY CENTER
invest in what lasts
Keep four anchors standing
Your support helps four Black-led legacy institutions stay rooted, stay strong, and keep showing up for the communities they have anchored for generations.
Leaders are already at work and the Collaborative is gaining momentum. Continued support now keeps their programs, services, and community trust strong.
Press and partnership inquiries: get in touch.
Our Founding Supporters
Early support from these founding partners is making this work possible.
