When downtown Minneapolis advocates want advice, they turn to Gabrielle Grier. Toward the end of 2022, Mayor Jacob Frey tapped her to serve as co-chair of his downtown retail work group. This past fall, the Minneapolis Downtown Council asked her to lend her insights to help develop a 10-year plan for the city’s urban core. Grier says her work on these panels often boils down to finding ways to “make parts that don’t speak to each other speak to each other.” Oh, and that’s all in addition to her day job at the African American Leadership Forum, where she works on novel strategies to address inequities.

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