Following the 2020 killing of George Floyd, the Minnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity (MBCRE) was born.

The collaborative effort, led full-time for three years by Tiffani Daniels of General Mills, has been a corporate sector initiative to advance opportunities for Black people.

Coalition leaders have indicated that the organization will sunset on Dec. 31. An unspecified amount of remaining assets will be used to create the Black Economic Prosperity Endowment.

“The endowment will continue MBCRE’s legacy through funding for research, programs, and advocate for policies,” MBCRE said in a written statement. “The goal of the endowment is to strengthen Black economic power, support self-determined institutions and businesses, and advance economic well-being.”

The Black Collective Foundation MN, described by MBCRE as a “Black-led philanthropic institution rooted in community and systems change,” will administer the endowment.

Lulete Mola, formerly chief strategy and innovation officer at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, serves as president of the Black Collective Foundation MN. Mola is among three co-founders of the foundation.

The other foundation founders are Repa Mekha, CEO of Nexus Community Partners, and Chanda Smith Baker, president and CEO of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.

Aretha Green-Rupert, program director of the Carlson Family Foundation, serves as board chair of the Black Collective Foundation MN.

In a LinkedIn post, MBCRE leaders thanked 28 businesses and nonprofits for being coalition members. They are 3M, Allina Health System, Apogee Enterprises, Best Buy, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota, Carlson, Children’s Minnesota, CHS, Delta Dental of Minnesota, Element Fleet Management, Fairview Health Services, General Mills, Great Clips, Land O’Lakes, M.A. Mortenson Co., McKnight Foundation, Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx, Old National (formerly Bremer Bank), Ovative Group, Piper Sandler, Pohlad Family Foundation, Target, The Opus Group & Opus Foundation, Thrivent Financial, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, U.S. Bancorp, UnitedHealth Group, and Winnebago Industries.

“MBCRE galvanized change, built partnerships, and stimulated dialogue” since its 2020 founding, the organization said in a statement. “Five years later, the Advisory Council has determined it is time to close, leaving behind a record of advocacy—and a foundation for lasting change.”

In announcing that it was shutting down, the coalition listed several accomplishments. Among them, it said that it had “built unity and allyship within Minnesota’s business community by connecting leaders across sectors—from HR and DEI professionals to CEOs, managers, ERGs, and grantmakers—for a coordinated push toward racial equity.”

Through partnerships with the African American Leadership Forum and the Black Collective Foundation, the coalition said it had seeded Black philanthropy.

It emphasized that it had trained and retained top talent through a C-suite series and the Minnesota Black Fellows Program. It collaborated with First Independence Bank, which generated $3 million in new deposits that could be used to support business loans and home mortgages in communities that were historically overlooked.

It partnered with TurnSignl to offer on-demand legal assistance to drivers of color.

“I witnessed the stewardship of The Black Collective Foundation first hand, leaving me confident in the decision to transfer MBCRE’s legacy into their care,” Daniels, the coalition’s inaugural managing director and chair of its advisory council, said in a news release. “The Collective offers a powerful home where MBCRE’s values and vision can thrive.”

The Collective’s Mola said: “This endowment is a critical step toward long-term, self-determined prosperity. Social change calls for constant revision, and we must be willing to redo, refine, and reimagine our efforts until we get it right. We are grateful to continue this work and invite all to build with us.”