Phillips West Neighborhood Organization

The Phillips West Neighborhood Organization (PWNO) is made up of community members who call the Phillips West neighborhood home in some capacity. PWNO is a 501(C)3 nonprofit and is the officially recognized Citizen-Participation Neighborhood Organization with the City of Minneapolis. Our mission is to engage the diverse voices of all those who live, learn, work, and play in Phillips West in order to advocate for greater individual well-being and community empowerment. PWNO aims to be an inclusive and accessible hub of resources, information, and connection for all in Phillips West.

PWNO Should represent the general sentiment of all Phillips West residents, not just those in formal leadership or committee capacities, or those who have more capacity to regularly engage with the organization. We strive to be a trusted connector, communicator, and convenor for neighbors in addition to being a hub for information, resources, and advocacy. PWNO is committed to being transparent about the organization positioning on issues (if any), how the organization operates, and organizational structure and composition.

PWNO acknowledges that our neighbors work, study, and build lives on lands violently taken from communities Indigenous to the area; further, we acknowledge that racism, in all its forms and as borne out of the atrocities of slavery in this country, is a real and pervasive threat to the lives and livelihoods of our neighbors locally and globally. We thereby commit to increasing our knowledge of Indigenous sovereignty, equity, and antiracism, and to apply these principles in everything we do on behalf of our community.

In mid-2021, the PWNO Board approved a new strategic plan that outlines 4 core priorities for 2022 - 2024: community safety, housing & food access, community connection, and organizational capacity. These priorities were developed through the 2021 Phillips West Community Survey which PWNO conducted in partnership with the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.

The Phillips West neighborhood consists of 42 square blocks in South Minneapolis, bordered by 35W to the West, Chicago Avenue to the East, 22nd Street to the North, and Lake Street to the South.

As of 2020, Phillips West is host to 5,056 residents. One of the most racially diverse neighborhoods in Minneapolis and home to the largest, per capita East African community in the county, Phillips West is 23.7% white, 49.3% Black or African American, 1.3% Asian and Pacific Islander, and 15.1% Hispanic/Latine, with 36.2% of all residents being foreign-born. Financially, over half of our residents live below $35,000 annually with the median household income being $31,655 (2022 USD). Renters make up over 3/4 of residents and nearly 50% of all households are considered cost-burdened.

In 1849, the Phillips neighborhood—named after prominent slavery abolitionist Wendell Phillips—was established as a single neighborhood before being split into four neighborhoods during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, the four neighborhoods (Phillips West, Midtown Phillips, East Phillips, and Ventura Village) make up the city's smallest Community District, the Phillips Community. The Phillips Community has long been a major cultural epicenter in the city as the founding site for the American Indian Movement and home to the American Swedish Institute, Norway House, Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, and the Midtown Global Market. For over 100 years, the Phillips Community, including today's Phillips West, has been organizing on behalf of residents and has continued to advocate for their communities and serve as loving stewards of the land.

The board of directors is the entirely volunteer-based, governing body of PWNO. Board members are community members—elected by fellow community members—who live, work, play, pray, study, and volunteer in the neighborhood. PWNO is proud to have a board made up of neighborhood locals who have a personal commitment to supporting and uplifting the place they call home.

JEN JANG (she/they)
PWNO Board Chair
jen@phillipswest.orgGENNA MASTELLONE (she/her)
PWNO Board Vice Chair
genna@phillipswest.orgKELLY MUELLMAN (she/her)
PWNO Board Secretary
kelly@phillipswest.orgSTEVE ROOS (he/him)
PWNO Board Treasurer
steve@phillipswest.orgBECKY GAZCA (she/ella)
PWNO Board Member At-Large
becky@phillipswest.orgAPRIL NESKE (she/her)
PWNO Board Member At-Large
april@phillipswest.org

Though small, the PWNO staff are mighty! Our three staff members are the folks you'll see organizing neighborhood events, heading our community initiatives, hosting informational sessions and trainings, and advocating on behalf of the neighborhood at the local and state levels.

J RANDOLPH (they/any pronouns)
Executive Director
j@phillipswest.orgELLA KAMPELMAN (she/her)
Community Organizer
ella@phillipswest.orgHANNAH JERRIE (any pronouns)
PWNO AmeriCorps Tenant Organizer
hannah@phillipswest.org