139. Community Development Innovator Anthony Taylor

By All Means

A chemical engineer turned community development organizer, Anthony Taylor shares the career journey that led him to founding Melanin in Motion, a Community Wellness Center program that connects children of color—and their families – with active pursuits like skiing, cycling, kayaking. Melanin in Motion was a Twin Cities Business 2024 Community Impact Award winner. “I noticed my white friends, when they think about preparing their kids for law school, they’re putting them in the woods. That’s the secret for making more lawyers,” Taylor says. “I want all communities to realize the benefits of municipal, state, federal investment in natural places that can show up in children being resilient, confident, and collaborative.” Taylor talks about how working for successful Minnesota wellness companies, Life Time and Aveda, helped him become a well rounded leader, and what he learned from his own startups, Spa One and Simply Organic Beauty, that led him to shift course and work for the Loppet Foundation and as president of equity outdoors for the YMCA of the North. “Melanin in Motion really is the culmination of that idea, where we see culture as an asset,” Taylor says. He also gives us a preview of his next venture: RiverNorth Development Partners, a social impact development group that is working to create a business district in North Minneapolis that prioritizes “equity driven employers” that agree to create skilled jobs for area residents who have been marginalized. Ion Aerospace is first to sign on, with plans to open on West Broadway in 2025. Following our conversation with Taylor, we go Back to the Classroom with the University of St. Thomas Schulze School of Entrepreneurship where associate professor Alex Johnson teaches entrepreneurship. He talks about the pros and cons of starting a venture on your own versus within a larger organization, and explains the difference between an inventor and an innovator. “Inventors create things. Innovators identify the problem, the value, and build a solution.”