Coming in 2026: Our new training series
We have some amazing news to share! In 2026, Voices for Racial Justice will begin a brand-new series of trainings to help passionate people become powerful community leaders, storytellers, and changemakers.
WHERE WE’RE COMING FROM
Since our founding in 1993, our north star has always been the same: Black, brown, and Indigenous people in Minnesota deserve to live with joy, freedom, and care in healthy, well-resourced communities. Over the years, we’ve trained hundreds of organizers who continue to make real change.
From our evolution from the Organizing Apprenticeship Project to Voices for Racial Justice, we’ve always celebrated adaptability to changing times as one of our greatest strengths. As political, social, and movement landscapes have evolved over three decades, we’ve changed with them.
But by 2024, we found ourselves contending with the impacts of racism and white supremacy on all sides. We saw how systemic disinvestment and discrimination make it harder for us to organize effectively and sustainably. Inside our organization, we had to acknowledge that we were deeply impacted by the collective trauma our communities have experienced, both historically, and more acutely in the five years since the COVID-19 pandemic and global uprisings for racial justice.
FINDING OUR NEXT PATH
So we made a choice to slow down, heal, and grow. We decided to take a deep look at who we are and who we want to be, so we can keep building a world where everyone thrives.
In 2025, we partnered with the Wilder Foundation to listen to our community. Our partners in movement shared their stories, dreams, and challenges with us. Listening to, and truly hearing, our community has been an essential approach, and has helped us deeply understand who we have been, who we are, and who we need to be. From those honest conversations, we worked with Equity & Results to create a new strategic plan — one rooted in love, strength, and solidarity.
FROM 2026 AND BEYOND, VRJ’S PROGRAMMING WILL:
Support Black, brown, and Indigenous leaders to organize for justice
Provide lasting support for local organizing efforts
Ensure leaders of color have what they need to stay powerful, healthy, and inspired
Build deep connections and solidarity across all communities of color
We are here to spark powerful, joyful, and lasting movements for justice across Minnesota. Through our new trainings, we’ll lift up the voices and stories of Black, brown, and Indigenous leaders — connecting them with the tools they need to organize, lead, and create change.
Our new programs — focused on community organizing, inclusive policymaking, and storytelling for change — will begin in summer 2026.
We can’t wait to grow, learn, and dream alongside you. Follow us for updates, applications, and ways to get involved — because when we work together, our power becomes unstoppable. 🌿