St. Paul Neighborhood Network chooses Xavier Vazquez as executive director

The board of the St. Paul Neighborhood Network has named Xavier Vazquez as its next executive director. He will replace Martin Ludden, who has led the cable access station for six years.

Vazquez, currently the director of program management at the youth mentoring nonprofit Bolder Options, moved to Minnesota from Puerto Rico in 2017. While working for Bolder Options, he was hired as a consultant with Mentor Minnesota and started Familia Free Planning Services, a nonprofit that supports community members with tax preparation and immigration processes.

As director of program management at Bolder Options, he created four of the organization’s five core initiatives and raised more than half of the annual programming budget.

Under Ludden, SPNN managed the Community Technology Empowerment Project, which assigns AmeriCorps members to libraries and nonprofits around the Twin Cities to help bridge the digital divide by teaching computer education, technology literacy and media skills.

The nonprofit also offers “Fresh Vantage” grants to support documentary works by emerging filmmakers, and the New Angle Fellowship, a seven-month documentary filmmaking fellowship geared primarily toward ethnic filmmakers.

Vazquez will begin his new role as executive director of SPNN on June 5. Ludden has agreed to remain available in a consulting capacity to smooth the transition. Both men will meet community members at SPNN’s annual celebration, which will begin at 6 p.m. Monday and is free to attend.

Related Articles

Advertisement