New Duluth nonprofit aims to address economic inequality in northeast Minnesota

NINA MOINI: Well, this weekend, the Duluth NAACP is hosting its annual Freedom Fund Dinner, a fundraiser for the organization, as well as a related but newer organization called Ignite Empower Transform through its Economic Empowerment Center, started last year.

The nonprofit's single employee is working to address racial inequality in Duluth one community member at a time. In Duluth and across the state, Black and Native American households make less money, on average, than white households. The difference in northeast Minnesota, according to state analysis of census data, is about $30,000.

Joining me now to talk about the new center and its programs is Ignite Empower Transform's community coordinator Tiffany Fenner. Thanks for being here, Tiffany.

TIFFANY FENNER: Sure. Thanks for having me.

NINA MOINI: And also on the line, we're happy to have Amanda Lindquist, a board member of Ignite Empower Transform and the Duluth NAACP. Thanks for being here as well, Amanda.

AMANDA LINDQUIST: Yeah, happy to be here.

NINA MOINI: I'll start with you, Amanda, if it's OK. Could you briefly explain what the Economic Empowerment Center is and how it came to be?

AMANDA LINDQUIST: Yeah. So it was an idea that started about three and a half years ago. The president, Classie Dudley, had reached out to me and Aubrey Hagan about this idea to build a BIPOC community center.

So the idea was that that would be a welcoming place for people to come to see themselves represented. But it would also be a place where you could get access to services.

When we initially tried to get funding for this, it was really hard to get foundations on board because it was such a big idea. And the suggestion we kept getting was narrow down your scope and sequence.

So we did that. And we've decided to focus on the financial empowerment piece, which is how we came up with the Economic Empowerment Center.

NINA MOINI: OK. That's wonderful. Tiffany, I mentioned that you are the sole employee of Ignite Empower Transform, and a lot of your work involves more one-on-one interactions with people. How is that? I kind of love that approach of being kind of close with people like that. What does it look like for you?

TIFFANY FENNER: Yeah, it looks like meeting people where they're at, boots on the ground, and doing kind of-- introducing people in my role here and just identifying their needs and then having some one-on-one conversations with people, doing some resource navigation, and really helping them connect to the resources that they need.

A lot of these folks are in crisis, and they don't even realize it because it's been their norm. And so what's helping them stabilize is connecting them and inviting them back in for our financial classes.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. You mentioned that people might not even know how much trouble they're in financially. But what are some of the reasons that you find people are reluctant to seek help? And how does that change how you approach people?

TIFFANY FENNER: Sure. I think-- some of the biggest barriers is that the overall awareness-- many people don't even know that these resources exist. And then there's fear and distrust. People hesitate to ask for help after being let down time and time again.

And then there's the regular barriers of transportation, childcare, work schedules, and whatnot. And so just sitting with people, and like I said, they don't even realize-- this is their norm. And so helping them.

Of course, you don't have financial-- looking into the future, you don't realize what you knew. There's a lot of pain and a lot of trauma when it when it comes to finances. And so sitting there walking with them-- I'm not far removed from the struggle either, so I'm sitting right there with them in these financial classes.

NINA MOINI: For sure. I totally get that. And what you're saying is so simple but often overlooked, that it's not just the amount in your bank account, right? There's so many holistic things that contribute to financial health. Could you share an example that I have here about a woman whose car broke down and that-- you mentioned transportation. An example of kind of how this work is in action.

TIFFANY FENNER: Sure. Yeah. Again, this woman was struggling to-- I was telling her some of the resources we had. And she's like, I don't have any goals for finances. And talking to her more, it was like, well, of course. You don't even know how you're getting to work tomorrow and how you're going to pick up your kids from school.

So helping her really stabilize, connecting her to Community Action Duluth, and making those calls for her because our to-do lists are forever long. So really setting those up and following up with her to make sure that she got connected, got the help.

And then she was actually one of our first attendees to our financial class. And she said, this class was wonderful. This is resources that I never would have walked into a financial institution and would have asked on my own.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, that's a great example. Thank you for sharing that. And Amanda, nationally we see it all over the news, moves away from programs that are targeted toward addressing racial inequities and disparities or supporting people of color. What's the momentum and the support like around your project, and has that changed?

AMANDA LINDQUIST: I would say that we have been very fortunate that there's a lot of people in this community that are committed to this work. The Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation was the first group to be willing to give us that big grant that we needed to get the work started.

And then it was followed by the Northland Foundation and the Ordean Foundation. They believe in the work that we're doing, and they see the importance of targeting groups that are traditionally left behind or not focused on.

So I'm really excited about the support that we have in our community. And I will also say that the support continues to be clear because we sold all 200 tickets for our Freedom Fund Dinner this weekend. And people are enthusiastic about attending and then also continuing to support Ignite Empower Transform.

NINA MOINI: And Tiffany, why is it important to you to continue doing this work?

TIFFANY FENNER: I think-- like I said-- well, I'm a single mom of four kids. I know what it's like to struggle. I know how hard it is to ask for help. And so IET exists because nobody should have to struggle alone. And I really want to help connect, be the vehicle from resources to the community.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. And I'd ask the same question of you, Amanda.

AMANDA LINDQUIST: This is work that I've been passionate about for a long time. What I tell my kids-- it's the quote from Mr. Rogers-- look for the helpers. When things are bad or look bad, look for the people who are making a difference, because that will be how we can get through challenging times.

And I would think that-- or what I was told when we were practicing our rehearsal was that this work is ongoing. I think a lot of people are surprised by what the current climate is and how challenging things are.

But a lot of people are like, yep, this is how it's been. And the work needs to keep happening. So I think just knowing that we have to-- this is a marathon. We have to keep pushing, and we have to keep being the supports in place. We can't back off now.

NINA MOINI: And in that same kind of realm, what are the next steps for and maybe the longer-term vision for Ignite Empower Transform?

AMANDA LINDQUIST: Yeah. So some of our longer-term vision, obviously, going for some of the larger grants now that we've got proof of concept, how this is working, and how we can positively make change. We also have created an eight-year plan that talks about building up specifically BIPOC leaders in our community.

So we would run it like a cohort. And the first year we'd train in about 20 people over the course of a year. And they would learn about the skills for being a leader and public speaking and financial literacy and strategic planning.

And we would run a second cohort the next year and invite that first cohort to come back in and help train in the next one. And we would do that for three rounds with the ultimate goal of, let's get our people who have experienced these hardships into those positions where they can make the difference from their own experience. They know what it's like. How do we get them to be the voice?

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. Big things ahead for all of you. Thank you so much, Tiffany and Amanda.

AMANDA LINDQUIST: Thank you so much for having us on.

NINA MOINI: And again, thank you. And again, Tiffany Fenner is community coordinator for Ignite Empower Transform. And Amanda Lindquist is a board member of the organization and economic committee chair of the Duluth NAACP.