Minnesota senator mistakenly listed as board member of nonprofit seeking $15 million grant

A small Minneapolis nonprofit that would receive $15 million under a proposed bill at the Legislature says it made a mistake by listing Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, as a board member on its tax filings.

A DFL Senate spokesman said Mohamed was never a board member of WE WIN Institute, although a Zaynab Mohammad is listed on the organization’s most recently available tax filing for 2023.

The Senate spokesman shared a statement from the organization’s executive director Titilayo Bediako apologizing for the confusion.

Bediako’s statement says the organization asked Mohamed to serve on the board, but she declined. Mohamed’s name was mistakenly included on the tax filing — spelled incorrectly — and the organization is taking steps to amend the filing to remove her name, her statement said.

The connection between Mohamed and the organization was first reported by the conservative website Minnesota Free State using an online database of government appropriations to nonprofits called Data Republican.

That’s when Mohamed became aware she was listed on the organization’s 990 and asked to be removed, according to a statement shared by a spokesperson.

WE WIN Institute is seeking $15 million under a bill (SF1140) authored by Sen. Omar Fateh, DFL-Minneapolis, to renovate its facilities and buy additional property in Minneapolis “for a meeting and gathering space to work with and support community-based organization partnerships.”

The organization provides “academic, social, and culturally specific programming and food services for Black students in the city of Minneapolis,” according to the bill.

That appropriation would dwarf the small nonprofit’s annual budget: its expenses totaled just $756,272 in 2023.

A spokesman said Fateh plans to pull the bill.

State agencies typically award grants to organizations after performing background checks and analyzing proposals, but state lawmakers also can direct funds to specific groups through “legislatively named grants.”

WE WIN Institute received $3.5 million from the Legislature in 2024 through a bill authored by Fateh as part of a $1.1 billion bonanza of such legislatively named grants.

Legislators funneling taxpayer dollars to specific organizations has raised concerns about wasteful spending and the potential for fraud; the Office of the Legislative Auditor has urged lawmakers to stop the practice.