In March 2021, the Bush Foundation announced their commitment to put $100 million toward two community trust funds aimed at addressing wealth disparities caused by historical racial injustice. In late 2021, the Bush Foundation entrusted Nexus Community Partners with the task of redistributing a $50 million Black Community Trust Fund (BCTF) to Black individuals and families in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota. For more information about the fund, please visit the Black Community Trust Fund page.

In 2022, Nexus began a partnership with Research in Action (RIA) — a Black queer female-led, multi-racial and gender-diverse social benefit corporation created to reclaim the power of research by centering community expertise and driving actionable solutions for racial justice. In Spring 2023, we anticipate launching an application for Black individuals and families who identify as descendants of enslaved African peoples to apply for a grant award. 

Recently, Nexus and RIA have engaged an advisory council of Black community members as leaders in defining Black wealth and devising a plan to re-distribute the $50 million community trust fund. So far, the advisory council has discussed a general definition of Black Wealth, as well as what Black wealth means in different aspects of life (e.g., health, housing, community). We reference these different life aspects as “Black Wealth Themes.”

To further center community expertise in designing this program, we invite Black individuals 14 years of age or older who identify as descendants of enslaved Africans in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota to complete a survey about how you define Black wealth. Your responses will directly influence decisions on how the funds are distributed amongst Black individuals and families.

Completing this survey is voluntary. This survey is divided into six sections and has a combination of multiple choice, rating scale, and open-ended “short answer” questions. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. While responses to questions are required to submit the survey, you have the option to select “prefer not to say,” for any multiple choice/rating scale question or type “N/A” for any short answer question.

Outline of the survey:

1. Demographics and Eligibility to Complete the Survey
2. Name and Contact Information (so we can contact you if you win a gift card; this will only be available to Nexus and RIA)
3. Defining Your Community's Strengths
4. Financial Wellbeing
5. Defining Black Wealth (giving your feedback on our draft definition of Black wealth based on what Black wealth means to you)
6. Black Wealth Themes (the different parts of our lives that Black wealth can impact, e.g., health, education, housing). You do not need to provide feedback on all eight of the themes to submit the survey. 

To show appreciation for your time and insight, Nexus will enter your name into a drawing for a chance to receive a $50 gift card. This survey is open to the community from 1/4/2023 until 1/25/2023. Nexus will randomly select those that fill out this survey for a gift card and contact them about this reward no later than February 3rd, 2023. We ask for your name and contact information for purposes of the gift card drawing. 

To maintain your privacy and confidentiality, only RIA and Nexus staff will have access to your name and contact information. Your name, contact information, and anything else that could identify you will be removed before we share your responses with the BCTF Advisory Council. If you have any questions about the fund or the gift cards, you can contact: Nexus Community Partners at BlackTrustFund@nexuscp.org. For questions about the survey, you can contact: Cecely Hoyt, Data Research Manager with RIA at cecelyhoyt@researchinaction.com. Thank you for taking the time to share your expertise.  If you would like to complete the survey, you may proceed to the questions now.