ST PAUL, Minn. — Marnita's Table is a Minnesota-based non-profit, seeking to find common ground among different races, classes, and cultures.
The organization might sound familiar because, in its 18-year history, about 100,000 Minnesotans have gone through the program and, earlier this week, the non-profit facilitated the Saint Paul School District's community conversation on keeping schools safe.
Marnita Schroedl is the CEO and co-founder of Marnita’s Table with her husband, Carl Goldstein. She explained how the non-profit got its start in her home.
"Yep. The first 14 thousand people came through this living room," Schroedl said.
Marnita's Table works with school districts, businesses, and other groups to come together across differences and find common ground.
"We developed an experience engineering model called "Intentional Social Interaction." If you've ever heard anybody, say, 'If we could just get everyone to the table.' Well, I did it and we've been doing it now for 18 years."
Schroedl's motivation goes back to her childhood.
"I grew up in the pacific northwest. I was born in 1962 and, when I was born, I was listed as white on my birth certificate until I was seven months old when my melanin came in and, my white family, I suddenly ran afoul of the anti-miscegenation laws... My body was evidence of a felony. So, I was put into the foster care system. I was in three homes before I was two and a half years old. I grew up in this little all-white town 60 miles north of Seattle. I was never accepted. I was never included... And it was violent, and I was sent home from my last month of 8th grade because they got together and locked arms and started chanting, 'Kill the N-word,'" Schroedl said. "I attempted suicide four times before I was 16 years old."
Through everything, Marnita made the decision to make a difference.
"We all need love," Schroedl said. "I got tired of being sad. I was a sad little kid."
The non-profit started in the Twin Cities and has expanded to a national organization with these truths always at top of its mind:
"Every human has the need to belong, to feel safe, and to feel like they matter. That they're significant," Schroedl said.
Click here if you're like to learn more about Marnita's Table.
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