Chuck Mingo knew that he was being called to do something for racial justice and reconciliation. He just didn’t know what it was going to look like.
Mingo grew up in Philadelphia, the youngest of five children. Faith was a big part of the Mingo family.
“When I was young, people would tell me that they thought I was going to be a pastor, but I said no, because pastors don’t make any money! My goal was to be on the cover of Black Enterprise magazine. I loved God, so I wasn’t going to be a selfish rich guy. But I was going to be a generous rich guy,” Mingo says with a laugh.
Mingo pursued those dreams to college in Pittsburgh, majoring in business, and met his wife there. Together, they moved to Cincinnati so that Mingo could work at Procter & Gamble.
But then Mingo discovered Crossroads Church. He loved the authenticity and community he found. Despite promotion opportunities with P&G all over the country, Mingo and his wife kept saying no. “We wanted to be part of what God was doing here,” Mingo says.
In the end, he left his job at P&G to become the community pas- tor at Crossroads Oakley.
In 2015, the church went through a community-wide experience together called “The Brave Journey.” The goal was to step forward in what each person thought God was calling them to do. For Mingo, he couldn’t ignore a voice calling him to fight for racial healing.
He announced to the church that he would be pursuing this calling, and the church rallied behind him. The timing proved to be divine. After racial tensions in the city and country spiked, Mingo realized that the time to do something was now.
“UNDIVIDED” was born. The program was a six-week course that led intentionally diverse groups to share their stories about race. While it started as a ministry of Crossroads, the growth was phenomenal.
The program’s success created a need for it to become its own nonprofit. In 2020, Mingo and his team started a 501(c)(3) called Courageous Love, to continue their mission of bringing racial reconciliation to people living in Cincinnati and across the U.S. It’s now been in 168 cities.
There are two programs that Courageous Love helps bring to different communities. LivingUNDIVIDED is a faith-based experience that has reached over 8,000 individuals in churches and faith spaces across the country.
WorkingUNDIVIDED started in 2020. The first pilot started at Mingo’s former workplace, Procter & Gamble. Its success led to one of the participants reaching out to talk to his local police chief. Their conversations led the police chief to bring WorkingUNDI VIDED to his officers.
Mingo says that the program was powerful. “I got to facilitate with 10 white police officers and 10 minority citizens from Miami Township. The first night, you could have cut the tension with a knife. But over the next six weeks, to see these officers open up, be humanized and share their concerns, while also growing in empathy and understanding for the minority experience, was amazing. We got to see how this can impact a community.”
The program was so successful that the department is considering doing it again with a new set of officers. Now Courageous Love is getting asked to do both programs in places like Michigan and Chicago, nonprofits, corporations, and even the justice system.
Mingo explains what makes WorkingUNDIVIDED different. “Most experiences on race are, you go, and somebody tells you what they think. But our programs are a place where people get to share their story and hear the stories of other people. They get to learn and be on a journey. We let people know that there’s always forward progress we can make.”
For business leaders, WorkingUNDIVIDED can be a chance to empower employees. “As a leader, you recognize that leadership is that moment when you choose to move forward. We can create places where everyone can flourish and thrive,” Mingo says.
“Corporations and organizations aspire to be agents of change in the communities where they reside. This experience with WorkingUNDIVIDED gives them a new lens and set of tools to increase racial equity and justice. Then everyone wins.
“Change only happens in the context of relationships,” Mingo says. “Let’s link arms together and solve these problems.”
Want to bring WorkingUNDIVIDED to your workplace or organization? Contact Courageous Love at workingundivided.com.