NGIN Honors the City of Saint Paul with Luminary Award for Economic Excellence
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — New Growth Innovation Network (NGIN) presented the City of Saint Paul with the Luminary Award for Economic Excellence, recognizing the city’s leadership in advancing innovative approaches to economic development that strengthen local economies and expand opportunities for residents to build wealth.
The award was presented to Marcus Owens, Director of the City of Saint Paul’s Office of Financial Empowerment, during NGIN’s five-day LEAP event, held September 14–18, 2026, in Saint Paul. LEAP, or Learn. Explore. Activate in Place., is a leadership development and strategic learning initiative that connects community and economic development leaders with innovations across the country.
Saint Paul was selected as a LEAP host city because of the city and broader Twin Cities region’s leadership in community wealth building and shared ownership. Across the region, local government, community organizations, lenders, businesses, and residents are working together to expand ownership, strengthen community investment, and create pathways for wealth to remain rooted locally.
Owens also joined the cohort for a session exploring the role of local government, sharing how cities can use policy, partnerships, and public investment to support shared ownership and community wealth building.
Learning from Saint Paul
Over five days, LEAP participants learned directly from local leaders and practitioners through masterclasses, site visits, discussions, and facilitated reflection. The experience explored community organizing and narrative building, technical assistance, capital, employee ownership, worker cooperatives, community-owned real estate, and the role of local government in supporting community wealth building.
Participants visited organizations and businesses including Rondo Community Land Trust and Terra Firma Cooperative and learned from representatives of the City of Saint Paul, Nexus Community Partners, Shared Capital Cooperative, McKnight Foundation, and other partners working across the Twin Cities community wealth-building ecosystem.
Throughout the experience, participants connected what they saw and heard in Saint Paul to opportunities in their own communities, culminating in action planning designed to turn lessons from the trip into shared ownership strategies they can implement in their cities.
To learn more about LEAP and future opportunities to participate, visit newgrowth.org/leap.
