East Phillips Improvement Coalition (EPIC) and the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association (MPNAI) are pursuing an organizational merger to better serve our neighborhoods.
Together, we can do more for the people who live, work and visit East Phillips and Midtown Phillips.
Merger Community Vote
Dear community,
In light of escalating terrorism and the resulting trauma in our neighborhood due to racist and illegal operations of federal agents, we are postponing the MPNAI+EPIC merger vote. However, board elections for MPNAI will be happening.​
Tonight we will still meet at Andersen United Middle School to rally together and strategize on how we can respond to this time of crisis and better support our diverse community. We will have tamales, sambusas, beverages, and whistles to share.​
Transparency
CONSOLIDATED PLAN OF MERGER
(key items in yellow)
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Who’s Merging
Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association (MPNAI) and East Phillips Improvement Coalition (EPIC) want to merge.
Both are Minnesota 501(c)(3) nonprofits with similar community-focused missions.
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What the Merger Does
When finalized, there will still be two neighborhoods, and the two neighborhoods will be represented by one organization instead of two.
The surviving organization will be named:
Midtown and East Phillips Neighborhood Association
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Before the Merger Becomes Official
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Both boards must approve the merger plan.
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Both sets of voting members must be notified and then vote to ratify it.
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After approvals, articles of merger are filed with the MN Secretary of State.
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What Happens on the Effective Date
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MPNAI and EPIC legally become one corporation.
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EPIC (EIN: 32-0036350) is the surviving legal entity.
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All property, records, funds, contracts, debts, and responsibilities automatically transfer to the surviving organization.
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No extra paperwork is needed for the transfer (except practical things like retitling accounts).
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The surviving organization becomes responsible for all liabilities.
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New board composition*:
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4 Midtown Residents,
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3 East Phillips Residents, 1 Little Earth Representative,
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3 at Large Seats.
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New Officers:
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President/Chair: Mary Jane Mansfield (Midtown)
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Vice President: Virginia Sanchez (East)
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Secretary: Pastor Hierald (Midtown)
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Treasurer: Kelly Morgan (East)
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Due Diligence (What Each Organization Promises)
Each group confirms that:
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It is legally valid and in good standing.
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It shared all bylaws, financial statements, debts, and liabilities.
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There are no hidden legal issues.
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No major negative financial changes have happened.
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Making the Merger Real
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Either group can still back out before the effective date.
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Each board supports this merger, and each neighborhood must have a majority vote to independently decide whether to merge organizations.​​
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Legal Documents
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
​​What does this mean in plain language?
It means we’re permanently joining forces to:
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reduce duplication (one board, one bank account, one insurance),
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use our funding more effectively (save $6-9K annually),
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share staff and resources, and
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better serve the whole neighborhood.
Instead of two small boards doing similar work, we become one stronger, clearer, more stable organization.
Yet, similar to MPNAI’s current districts that reserve board seats for residents in different geographies, the board will ensure there are seats specifically for residents from each neighborhood, Midtown Phillips and East Phillips.
*How do the boards transition into one combined board?
Once merged, everyone who is currently serving on the board will continue on the board until the new bylaws are set up (but with only one President, VP, Treasurer, Secretary as described above). Then, the new combined board will update the bylaws, with approval by the neighborhoods, to the above mentioned board composition.
What happens to NRP funding going forward?
NRP funds stay in the neighborhood and continue to be used for community projects within that neighborhood.Nothing is “lost” in the merger — the combined organization will manage the funds with the same rules and oversight as before. Each neighborhood will still have its separate priorities, strategies, and contracts like today, but administrated by one organization that can help bring more energy and clarity for using NRP dollars well.
What do staff do? How will that change with the merger?
Our staffing plan is not changing with the merger. Our staff will continue in their part-time roles. You can learn more about them and their roles here, but in short here’s the team!
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Daemeah Karbeah - Communications Manager (think Alley Newspaper, Newletters, Social Media, website design, etc)
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Jarumi Hernandez - Neighborhood Outreach Manager (think flyering, hosting community meetings, building relationships with partners)
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Eddy Shaw - Urban Ag and Foodways Program Manager (think community garden support, seed and tool libraries, neighborhood foodways development, and greenspace stewardship)
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David Ingold has served as the interrim Executive Director, and the Board is redeveloping their understanding of the needs for Executive Direction, Administration, and Staff Management, and how that can best be structured. We plan to continue to work with David in seeing our work go forward.
What are the highlights from the year?
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Launched Phillips Community Oral History Project to create an online web story that tells the organizing stories of Phillips residents through their own eyes on their own terms.
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Several large events to bring community members together to play soccer, paint pots, clean the neighborhood, learn about pests and pathogens in fruit trees, bike to community farms, and so much more! At our Phillips Neighborhoods Day last year we had over 300 attendees!
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Multiple meetings on developments coming into the neighborhood. Check out our development map!
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Development of Phillips’ Tool and Seed Libraries for resource sharing and food sovereignty work!
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Building collaborations with Waite House, EPNI, PWNO, Alley Newspaper, San Pablo, NACDI, Wicoie, Little Earth Urban Farm, Tamales y Bicicletas, and more to lay the groundwork for more community building in the years to come.
What’s happening going into next year?
Our boards are planning to:
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audit all programs, look at what’s working and what needs improvement,
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simplify and clarify our goals so our work is easier to understand and more effective,
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strengthen communications, and
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host regular monthly multi-lingual community meetings.
We will start the year fresh, with clear priorities and a stronger shared mission.
What happens to the websites?
Both websites will stay active during the transition.
Over time, they will be merged into one updated website with clear information. Event information across Phillips will be hosted at unitedphillips.org, where we also partner with Phillips West.
Nothing will suddenly disappear — we’ll transition carefully so people can still find what they need.
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How does this change things?
This merger lets us accomplish more because we are stronger together.
We can:
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reach more residents,
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organize bigger projects,
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support more voices, and
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respond more effectively to community needs.
In a time when neighborhoods face real challenges, coming together helps us protect our community’s future.
Community matters — and unity makes us more resilient.
What if the vote doesn’t go through?
MPNAI and EPIC will still be partners.
Both organizations already collaborate on programs, outreach, and advocacy.
The merger simply formalizes a partnership that already exists.
If it doesn’t pass, we will continue working together — just as two separate legal entities and two separate boards instead of one.
See this extended Q&A that responds to all the questions raised at the community meeting on August 25th.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Have other neighborhood organizations done this?
A. Yes! Here are a couple examples of other neighborhoods served by one organization:
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Beltrami and Northeast Park neighborhoods, now jointly served by Lower Northeast Neighborhood Association (2024),
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Hale, Page, Diamond Lake (merged since inception),
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Near North, Willard Hay (merged since inception),
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Q. Wait…does this mean there won’t be an East Phillips or Midtown Phillips? A. No! East Phillips and Midtown Phillips will still be their own neighborhoods. This potential merger is about the neighborhood organizations merging, not the neighborhoods themselves. There will still be an East Phillips and a Midtown Phillips, but if we merge then there will be one neighborhood organization serving both neighborhoods. This will allow the neighborhood organizations to share resources and focus more energy on serving our neighborhoods.
​Q. Will city funding increase with more community outreach? Why can’t we afford to do things like we did before? A. No, funding from the City is based on neighborhood demographics. See more information here. In the past, EPIC and MPNAI were volunteer run and most funding went directly to partner organizations. In recent years, maintaining the minimum requirements for operating a 501c3 non-profit has become less manageable by a volunteer board of directors. Additionally, unlike in the past, partner organizations now get funded directly from the City of Minneapolis through the Partnership Engagement Fund (in part inspired by the strong partnerships MPNAI developed over the years). MPNAI used to channel its city funding to partner organizations, but now these organizations must apply directly with the City.
Q. Are the organizations for the neighborhoods of Phillips West and Ventura Village also merging? A. No, only EPIC and MPNAI have agreed to pursue a merger conversation with their organizations. EPIC, MPNAI, PWNO, and VV do collaborate on things like Phillips Clean Sweep. Aside from EPIC and MPNAI, no other mergers are planned. PWNO, EPIC, and MPNAI are discussing a programming collaborative, but are not working on a corporate merger.
Q. Where did this idea come from? A. In October of 2022 MPNAI began having internal conversations about joining forces with EPIC. In February, 2023 they initiated a connection with EPIC to further pursue that idea. This is what lead to the MPNAI-EPIC Staff Collaborative that has brought new energy into our neighborhood organizing.
Q. This is feeling fast! What’s the urgency? A. We understand this may feel fast! But this is a conversation that started in October of 2022 and the boards and staff of the neighborhood organizations have been working towards this potential merger since then. [Midtown annual meeting last year, feels fast now that we’re closer to the end]. We are eager to move this process forward so that staff and board members can focus on the work of bringing neighbors together towards our shared vision and mission.
​Q. How will we ensure that each neighborhood will be invested in equitably with resources and outreach? A. This question is core to our commitments to work towards equitable engagement towards the diverse communities of our Phillips neighborhoods. In addition to ensuring both Midtown Phillips and East Phillips residents are being served by the neighborhood organization's activities, we believe it is the responsibility of the board(s) and staff to regularly assess and evaluate who is and who is not being represented, because there are many classes of people and communities that often get overlooked (e.g. housing status, various ethnic and language communities, age, ability/disability, etc.). When we do better outreach to the Spanish-speaking community in our neighborhood, we are serving residents on both sides of Bloomington Ave at the same time.
What's A Neighborhood?
A neighborhood is the place where each of us live, work, and play. It's where life, community, and connections happen.
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The City of Minneapolis has named and defined the boundaries for the 83 Minneapolis neighborhoods, which are served by 70 different organizations.
EPIC + MPNAI Merger
The East Phillips Improvement Coalition (EPIC) and the Midtown Phillips Neighborhood Association (MPNAI) are the connective tissue between organizations and residents in Phillips. We provide resources, funding, and organizing with and to our residents!
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We believe that a merger between EPIC and MPNAI would drastically increase our ability to serve you by decreasing our administrative costs and growing our staff capacity to apply for additional funding and ultimately reach more neighbors.
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Phased Plan
In order to thoughtfully test out our partnership and get community feedback,
we've developed a phased approach.
Resources & Updates
The MPNAI and EPIC boards requested the community to come out and give input on the proposed merger.
Please update your communication preferences to ensure you don’t miss a thing (including voting links!).
If you have ideas, please send them to the board and subscribe to stay tuned for meetings.
​Additional documents: