ALLIANCE FOR METROPOLITAN STABILITY

Regional equtiy project: through the regional equity project, the alliance builds and convenes coalitions that advance equity in the twin cities region. Our regional equity work is comprised of multiple bodies of work, including the business resource collective and equitable development principles & scorecard. Additionally, it includes our internal culture-building work to internally live the values we espouse for our outward-facing work, and exploratory work for new initiatives - which in 2024 included an exploration into narrative. Business resource collective (brc): the business resource collective is a coalition of community development and wealth-building organizations that envisions a minnesota where thriving bipoc-owned businesses build and sustain the culture, wealth, and economic vitality of our communities. In 2024, the brc worked with deed to assess and map the small business ecosystem to identify the strengths and gaps of the ecosystem and recommend strategies to best meet the needs of bipoc small businesses and entrepreneurs. Equitable development principles & scorecard: the alliance convenes an equitable development principles & scorecard practitioners table formed of people interested in using this tool to help residents, community-based organizations, and local government plan for development that will repair past harms and contribute to a stronger, more inclusive, and thriving community. This tool provides a framework to reclaim power and ensure that development is not isolated projects but rather becomes an integral piece of a collective commitment to create wealth, opportunity, and livability for historically and systemically marginalized communities. In 2024, we held two convenings - spring convening focused on minneapolis park & recreation board indigenous acknowledgement and reconciliation action plan efforts to integrate truth, reconciliation, and acknowledgement of indigenous land, people, and nations into our work, policies, procedures and spaces. Then a fall convening focused on thirdspace action lab's research into an anti-racist paradigm in community development and dominant narratives where racism shows up that perpetuate inequitable systems, structures, and practices in the field.. Narrative project: with alliance partner organization, alliance explored what a new narrative for the region may look like for equitable development that is visionary and that communities can collectively build towards. The exploration of narrative by this advisory is informing the work of alliance as it adapts to the everchanging political landscape in 2025. Internal culture building: alliance looks to be a regional equity leader and can only be successful if we live the values that we put into our work. Therefore, since covid's impact on organizational cultures - shifting expectations, shifting daily stressors, and how relationships get built, alliance has put significant investment and intentionality into adapting and building a new culture to the new times. Culture building has included staff retreats, use of consultants, and investing in the time we spend as a team. This effort has paid off with retention remaining steady through these efforts.