Urban Small Business Alliance (USBA):  The USBA is the inaugural program of the Twin Cities Innovation Alliance, receiving seed funding from the Phillips Family Foundation, in addition to funding and technical support from Nexus Community Partners.  Since 2014 the USBA has brought together emerging entrepreneurs and local and small business owners to share information, identify needs, provide training and skill building, such as networking and negotiating contracts.   

Between 2012 - 2019 USBA also played a critical role in the founding  and growth of the Blue Line Coalition (BLC), the USBA actively engaged in policy advocacy and community engagement efforts to ensure voice, community benefits and participation in decision making for historic communities of color, immigrant/refugee and disability communities along the Bottineau Corridor-Blue Line (Minneapolis, Golden Valley, Crystal, Robbinsdale and Brooklyn Park), understanding that the build-out of the Blue Line light rail will be the most significant economic investment in the northwest region of the Twin Cities  for the next fifty years and must not result in the exclusion of those presently living along the line. USBA was selected to represent the Blue Line Coalition on the Metropolitan Council’s Blue Line Corridor Management Committee contributing to the oversight of the engineering design and build-out of the rail.  The BLC held two community seats, a first in the history of the Met Council, previously these seats were held by elected officials and their staff representatives.  This too was a space for the USBA to advocate for entrepreneurs of color accessing professional contracts to provide services associated with the rail, during and following the build out of the line.  Representatives of the USBA provided leadership in the role of Co-chair for six years across the inception, design and development of the coalition, navigating and negotiating critical relationships and opportunities.