Building Communities That Work for Everyone for Universities & Students

For campus audiences the talk leans into the arc — refugee camp to city hall — and what it asks of students deciding what their work will stand for. Works as a commencement address, a public policy lecture, or a student-government keynote, with time built in for the questions students actually ask.

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.