Anti-Displacement Community Prosperity Program (ACPP) Board

Victoria Karpeh serves as vice chair of the Anti-Displacement Community Prosperity Program Board. She is executive director of the Legacy Family Center, a nonprofit providing West African refugee and immigrant families with support services focused on education, workforce development and wellness building. 

Here are highlights from a recent conversation with Victoria to talk about her background, her perspective on the board’s purpose, key accomplishments, and what she sees as priorities moving forward.

Tell us a little bit about your background and what drew you to serving on the ACPP Board.

I’m a social worker and an educator by background. Throughout my career, I’ve worked with Hennepin County in various ways -- through social service agencies, educational settings, family assessment, mental health, early education, and college environments. I now run a nonprofit organization that I started myself.

My involvement with the ACPP board began before it was actually a board. The University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Rural Affairs (CURA) reached out to me during a community engagement phase when the project was still gathering information and shaping its foundation. I’ve been connected since those early conversations, even before anything formal existed. That’s what drew me in -- being part of the work from its inception.

What makes this board unique in your perspective?

What makes this board unique is its specificity: we are intentionally centering communities along the corridor and asking: How do projects of this magnitude affect people? 

Yes, these transportation corridors can bring prosperity, but that prosperity shouldn’t come at the cost of displacement. It doesn’t have to be either/or — it can be both.

We also consider the entire timeline of construction — before, during, and especially after. When the cameras go home and the ribbon is cut, real people are still living with the impacts. That long-term thinking is a defining feature of this board.

And while we center corridor communities, the ripple effects extend beyond just those immediate neighbors and businesses. Prosperity, displacement, and community impact don’t confine themselves to a single geographic line.

What accomplishments stand out to you so far?

One thing I’m proud of is that most of the board members have stayed. That consistency matters. It means we’ve learned to communicate, listen, and work with one another. A group with stability can make better decisions.

Another accomplishment is getting funding into the hands of organizations and community members. The first round — our pilot program — focused on businesses along the corridor. I’m hoping the next round will broaden out to include more community members directly.

What lessons or insights have you gained from serving on the board?

When people come from different lived experiences, they see things differently. One person may say the leaves on a tree are green; another might insist they’re dark green. Instead of arguing over who is right, I’ve learned the value of finding the shared part of the tree — the bark everyone agrees is brown.

Listening to different perspectives, respecting each other’s viewpoints, and finding common ground is essential. Despite our differences, everyone on the board seems to want the same thing: to ensure that people along the corridor aren’t displaced and that their needs and voices are represented — even when they can’t be in the room.

We give each other space for disagreement, but ultimately, we return to our shared mission.

Looking ahead, what do you see as top priorities for the board this year?

My biggest priority is getting the remaining $8 million out the door — not just to businesses, but also directly to community members.

I want the next RFP to be inclusive of people who may not be affiliated with large organizations, but who still have great ideas or emerging projects. Some folks just need startup funding; others need a boost to finish something they’ve already begun. We should support that whole spectrum.

We also need to think long term. This isn’t the only funding that will ever come — it’s just the first $10 million. When more money is available in the future, we want to use it effectively.

Gentrification has already started along the corridor. It’s going to happen — but how do we make it good for the people already here? How do we support them instead of displacing them? Those are the questions I hope we continue to focus on.