Building Communities That Work for Everyone for Nonprofits & Community Organizations

For community organizations this is home turf — told by someone who organized the youth council and knocked the doors before he governed the city. The through-line is practical: what belonging actually requires of institutions, and what communities can demand of the people who lead them.

Brooklyn Center is one of the most diverse cities in Minnesota — Liberian, Hmong, Latino, and African American communities sharing a working-class suburb. Leading it meant building coalitions across communities that rarely shared a table.

His community-centered approach predates office by years: before running for mayor, he organized and established the Brooklyns Youth Council — a joint youth council for Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park — serving as its original advisor and facilitator.

This talk is about the practical work of belonging: how institutions can genuinely include the communities they serve, why representation changes what a city prioritizes, and what 'community engagement' looks like when it's more than a checkbox.