Like most states, Minnesota is facing an affordable housing shortage with over 100,000 residences needed for low-income residents. The Minnesota Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD), a network of community development organizations, is working to fill this gap.
MCCD advocates statewide for equitable housing and economic policies that generate wealth for people of color (BIPOC) and low-income communities. They focus on programs and initiatives that increase affordable housing, support small businesses and expand shared ownership models. In addition, MCCD empowers their members, renters, homeowners, entrepreneurs and worker cooperatives by providing opportunities and training to learn about advocating for policies and funding with lawmakers.
“We have been able to secure new funding at the state legislature for our members to carry out their work,” said Kari Johnson, MCCD’s director of policy. “We still have a housing shortage [and] we still have people that don’t have access to traditional bank capital.”
Since 2012, MCCD’s legislative advocacy has secured over $900 million in housing infrastructure bonds, providing capital to nonprofit developers and supporting the building and preservation of over 10,000 affordable homes. During that same time, MCCD secured over $90 million in small business funding to help businesses start, grow or transition into shared ownership models such as worker cooperatives.
Over the past few years, some of MCCD’s affordable multifamily housing members notified the organization that they were struggling to get and maintain property insurance. These members are forced to go to the surplus lines market to obtain property insurance, leading to much higher premiums and less coverage – something they’re also seeing in the affordable homeownership market.
“We’re trying to help advocate for an expansion of the Minnesota FAIR Plan [and] support gaps in the private market so there is an alternative to the surplus lines,” Johnson said.
Following MCCD’s advocacy in 2025, the Minnesota legislature established a task force last year to examine rising property insurance costs for housing providers, homeowners and small businesses, with plans to pursue legislation for 2027 to address the issue.
In addition to their own advocacy, MCCD is empowering members to effectively advocate for themselves with the legislature. MCCD launched a state policy cohort last year to equip BIPOC professionals with the policy knowledge, skills and confidence to engage with the legislative process.
“For far too long, BIPOC professionals have been severely underrepresented in the policy space and BIPOC leaders are often asked to provide input on legislation without the ability to learn how to do so effectively yet held to different standards,” said Johnson.
While MCCD focuses on state advocacy and policies, the team relies on the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) as an indispensable partner to track federal developments.
“It’s helpful because we don’t have a federal advocacy team,” Johnson notes. “If something big is happening, we really look to our national partners to let us know when we need to tap in and that’s a big reason why we remain members of NCRC.”
Kaitlyn Ridel is a Contributing Writer.
Photo description: Participants from MCCD’s 2025-2026 state policy cohort.
