WILD Program Areas
WILD envisions communities free of anti-Black racism and all forms of racism. Working within an anti-racist framework, WILD provides direct support to community-based organizations and coalitions that are already doing the important work to make the Twin Cities more equitable. WILD works under four key program areas:
WILD works in four program areas:
Voting Rights
The Voting Rights program area engages in non-partisan initiatives to protect and expand access to voting, with a specific focus on Black communities.
While Minneapolis has one of the highest voter turnouts in the country, it also has a growing racial gap in voting turnout. According to MN Compass, in 2018, the Twin Cities saw a gap in turnout of 13.7% in 2018 between voters of color and White voters. This racial disparity grew to 25.1% during the 2022 elections.
WILD’s Voting Rights program area projects included hosting nonpartisan voter education and registration events, as well as nonpartisan candidate forums on issues that directly impact Black and other communities of color in Minnesota and nationally.
Education Equity
Racial and income gaps in standardized test scores and college readiness have increased over time, while gaps in graduation rates have decreased. Minnesota test scores and college readiness continue to rank above the national average, but a 2019 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis found that Minnesota has some of the worst racial and socioeconomic education gaps in the country. Nearly 70 years after the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Minnesota’s education system still has a negative disparate impact on BIPOC students, especially Black and Native American students.
The Education Equity program area combats the growing racial disparities in education by identifying and amplifying programming and policy solutions.
Economic Justice
Homeownership and high-quality affordable rental housing are critical tools for wealth building and financial well-being in the United States. Despite one of the nation’s highest overall homeownership rates, when broken down by race, Minnesota Housing’s 2021 Disparities report found that Minnesota’s racial and ethnic homeownership gap is the fourth-largest in the nation. WILD works to break down the barriers that exclude Black, Indigenous, and other households of color from wealth generating opportunities.
In this program area, WILD’s goal is to examine laws and policies that continue to perpetuate economic and housing disparities. We advocate for solutions that provide Black communities and business owners with the resources needed to (re)create wealth and prevent gentrification across the Twin Cities.
Community Safety, Healing, and Justice
The purpose of this program area is to examine and make recommendations about how to eradicate racism in policing and create community safety for all.
In Minnesota, and across the nation, the disproportionate rate of police-related deaths and injuries among Black Americans is a bitter reality with a multitude of implications. While only 7% of Minnesotans are Black, they accounted for a disproportionate 27% of police-involved deaths. Data collected from the Minneapolis Police Department also show the disparate impact of use of force, with Black people subject to the use of force 7x more than White people.
Through its work with community-based organizations, WILD aims to support projects with a focus on ensuring due process, healing, and justice for victims of police encounters.