Diversity Council to no longer fiscally sponsor local groups

ROCHESTER — As part of the transition at Rochester’s Diversity Council, the organization recently announced that it will no longer fiscally sponsor 11 local minority-focused groups that have been under its umbrella.

“In consultation with Allred Consulting, we have determined that our organization is not best suited to continue hosting fiscally sponsored organizations,” according to the statement that the Diversity Council posted on Friday afternoon.

Terri Allred of Allred Consulting is serving as the transition consultant in the wake of the abrupt departure of the former executive director Dee Sabol . She and the organization parted ways at the end of January. That came on the heels of multiple employees leaving the Diversity Council.

That fiscal sponsorship helped smaller organizations line up funding through grants and other sources.

The 11 groups that are no longer under the Diversity Council’s sponsorship include:

• Compassionate Rochester.
• InMN C.A.R.E.S.
• Journie.
• Pamoja Women.
• Rochester Cambodian Association.
• Rochester Vidhyalaya.
• Southeast MN Food Rescue and Redistribution.
• Southeastern Minnesota Interfaith Immigrant Legal Defense.
• Somali Health Advisory Committee.
• Three Rivers Restorative Justice.
• Together Against Breast Cancer.

While these groups are no longer under the Diversity Council’s organization’s sponsorship, Allred wrote that they are still working with them.
“The Diversity Council has not withdrawn support from any organization. To the contrary, this move was made to ensure the best support for the fiscally sponsored organization,” she wrote in response to questions about the change. “As soon as the Board of Directors realized that the Diversity Council was not the best place to support the FSOs, they immediately contacted another potential sponsor.”

She added that the new sponsor will be announced later this week.

These changes come as the Diversity Council appears to be struggling to find its way. The 35-year-old nonprofit organization has been undergoing changes in 2023. In addition to Sabol, other employees have left the Diversity Council in the past several months.

The Diversity Council now has three employees on staff.