We Win Institute is an African-American empowerment youth organization that focuses on leadership training to encourage academic success among African-American youth in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. ¹

Activities

Afrocentric Black Empowerment

Programs at the We Win Institute include youth focused Afrocentric educational activities, including the We Win When We Read program, the Women of Distinction program, a summer school, and a focus on celebrating Kwanzaa. ²

The We Win Institute teaches a philosophy of African American empowerment in young people deriving from the African Deservability Statement. The Institute affirms the mantra of “I am a deserving young African! I deserve all good! My New [sic] thinking becomes my new experiences. I am deserving! I accept it! I know it to be true!” This statement is recited by girls in the We Win Institute’s Women of Distinction program to “teach them that they are African, that they are brilliant.” Students in the We Win Institute are also taught that Africans were “first people to read, write, and do mathematics and science.” ³  

The We Win Institute hosts an Afrocentric summer school program, offering classes on “oral tradition and learning in community,” classes led by an herbalist who teaches science, classes led by a local rapper who teaches students about “hip-hop as a reflection of history and culture,” and classes that teach math and physics concepts by learning to make African instruments. ⁴

Akoko Nan Men of Distinction is a youth program directed at boys aged 8 to 12. The program is focused on helping young men develop manhood skills, ease “cultural trauma,” and develop resilience “in face of systemic and social trauma.” Program activities include circle drumming, journaling and bonding activities. ⁵

We Win Institute places special emphasis on the celebration of the holiday of Kwanzaa. In 2022, the theme of their Minneapolis Kwanzaa celebration was entitled “We Wear the Crown.” ⁶ The founder of We Win Institute, Titilayo Bediako, says the celebration of Kwanzaa is part of how she intends to “help black students do better in class.” ⁷ Kwanzaa was created in 1966 by Californian Black nationalist and Afrocentric education advocate Ron Karenga, who served prison time for torturing Black women who were members of his organization, including beating the women while naked with cords, batons, and searing them with hot irons, all to force false confessions of conspiracy against him. ⁸

We Choose Us Partnership

We Win Institute is one of the partner organizations listed on the We Choose Us website. We Choose Us is a coalition of left-of-center advocacy groups, unions, and groups pushing for “multiracial democracy” in the state of Minnesota. ^{9 10} Partner organizations include ISAIAH, a left-of-center faith-based group that organizes for left-wing causes using churches in Minnesota, and associated with the Gamaliel Foundation founded by Saul Alinsky. ^{11 12} In the 2023 Minnesota legislative session, We Choose Us pushed for reforms such as voting rights restoration for convicted criminals, automatic voter registration, a permanent absentee voting list, and pre-registration for 16 and 17-year-olds. ¹³

Financials

We Win Institute had revenues of $806,210 and assets of $923,987 in 2022. ¹⁴ Major donors include the Minneapolis Foundation, the Pohlad Family Foundation, and the Jerome Foundation. The Minneapolis Foundation, which had $115,302,787 in revenues and assets of $1,039,176,403 in 2023, donated $75,000 to the We Win Institute in 2023. ^{15 16} The Pohlad Family Foundation, which had revenues of $14,132,029 and assets of $100,632,579 in 2022, donated $75,000 to the We Win Institute in 2022. ^{17 18} The Jerome Foundation, which had revenues of $6,385,622 and assets of $108,766,911 in 2023, donated $27,000 to We Win Institute in 2023. ^{19 20}

In 2022, We Win Institute was one of 15 organizations that received grants from the Black Collective Foundation, which began after the death of George Floyd in 2020. ²¹

People

Titilayo Bediako is the founder and executive director of the We Win Institute. Bediako was a Minnesota Steppers Association Community Leadership Award recipient in 2018. Bediako has a background in education. ²² After a series of carjackings in the news, Bediako criticized the police force for chasing the criminals, claiming that police “can’t go down the middle of streets chasing at high speed 13, 14, 15-year-olds.” ²³

1. “Programs.” We Win Institute. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.we-win.org/programs.
2. “Programs.” We Win Institute. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.we-win.org/programs.
3. Lydia. “‘I Deserve All Good.’” Minnesota Women’s Press, March 20, 2023. https://www.womenspress.com/titilayo-bediako-i-deserve-all-good/.
4. Klecker, Mara. “New Afrocentric Minneapolis Summer School Program Aims to Help Black Students.” Star Tribune, August 3, 2021. https://www.startribune.com/new-afrocentric-minneapolis-summer-school-program-aims-to-help-black-students/600084372.
5. “Support We Win Institute Inc on Givemn.” GiveMN. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.givemn.org/organization/Wewininstitutempls.
6. “We Wear the Crown – A Kwanzaa Celebration in Minneapolis.” Eden Prairie Local News, November 30, 2022. https://www.eplocalnews.org/events-archive/we-wear-the-crown-a-kwanzaa-celebration-in-minneapolis/.
7. Williams, Brandt. “MPLS. Teacher Empowers Black Youth with Kwanzaa.” MPR News, December 23, 2016. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/12/23/mpls-teacher-empowers-black-youth-kwanzaa.
8.  “Opinion: The Dark Side of Kwanzaa’s Founder Can’t Extinguish the Holiday’s Beacon.” Los Angeles Times, December 23, 2018. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-griffin-kwanzaa-20181223-story.html.
9. “What Is We Choose Us?” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/about-we-choose-us.
10. “Partners.” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/partners.
11. “Partners.” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/partners.
12. “Gamaliel Foundation, Form 990.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/362657863/202323489349301552/full.
13. “2023 Big Wins for Democracy.” We Choose Us. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.wechooseusmn.com/big-wins.
14. “We Win Institute.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/we-win-institute,411820991/.
15. “We Win Institute.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/we-win-institute,411820991/.
16. “The Minneapolis Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/the-minneapolis-foundation,416029402/.
17. “We Win Institute.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/we-win-institute,411820991/.
18. “Pohlad Family Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/pohlad-family-foundation,411768558/.
19. “We Win Institute.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/we-win-institute,411820991/.
20. “Jerome Foundation.” Cause IQ. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/jerome-foundation,416035163/.
21. Smith, Kelly. “Minnesota’s First Black-Led Community Foundation Gives First-Time Grants of More than $1 Million.” Star Tribune, November 25, 2022. https://www.startribune.com/minnesotas-first-black-led-community-foundation-gives-first-time-grants-of-more-than-1-million/600229612.
22. Lydia. “‘I Deserve All Good.’” Minnesota Women’s Press, March 20, 2023. https://www.womenspress.com/titilayo-bediako-i-deserve-all-good/.
23. “Authorities, Parents Discuss Concern about Rising Youth Car Theft.” KARE 11. Accessed August 5, 2024. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/crime/hennepin-county-youth-auto-thefts/89-eb85826a-1766-44cf-bca4-424c651fa069.