Fast Forward

Me'Lea Connelly, Director of the Association for Black Economic Power, and Patrick Troska, Executive Director of the Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation of MN, discuss their partnership on the Village Trust Financial Cooperative.  http://bit.ly/villagetrustfinancialcoop The Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP) is working to establish Village Trust Financial Cooperative, Minnesota’s only Black-led financial institution. This concept was born 18 months ago in response to the killing of Philando Castile, as a way to use our economic power as a form of resistance to build the financial resilience of our communities, and insulate against extraction and divestment. This is not a new concept, but a strategy with a legacy woven throughout Black history. Financial liberation through institutional power has long been successfully used in lifting communities from economic pain into promise. With the support of The Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota, we have spent the last 12 months doing