The Coven: A Twin Cities co-working space created for women, POC and LGBTQ workers

With the legislation passed this year, Minnesota politicians have heralded the state as a safe haven for members of the LGBTQ community, whether that be transgender people seeking gender-related health care or minors and vulnerable adults needing protection from conversion therapy.

But when it comes to the private workplace, many LGBTQ employees in Minnesota still struggle to feel supported on the job. The Coven is trying to provide an alternative.

The idea for the co-working community in the Twin Cities came from the four co-founders who met while working in advertising. They commiserated about feeling unwelcome in the industry because of their sexuality, race, gender identity or socioeconomic status. Some focus group interviews confirmed this wasn't an isolated phenomenon.

"We started to realize, maybe this is not an advertising problem," co-founder Liz Giel said. "This seems like it's a problem across a lot of industries."

The Coven opened in 2017 and now has three metro locations: in St. Paul on Cathedral Hill and in Minneapolis on Nicollet Avenue and E. Lake Street.

"We really thought about how we could build a space where you could show up as your whole self and feel empowered," Coven co-founder Alex West Steinman said.

Brittane Geleske, an employee of Creative Kuponya, was working with a coworker at the Coven on Nicollet Avenue last week and said she felt the welcoming vibe.

"Working for years and years as one of the only Black, femme bodies in a working environment was exhausting," Geleske said. "Seeing other people that look like me makes a huge difference."

The Coven and Twin Cities-based LGBTQ consulting firm Mossier conducted a survey that found 79% of LGBTQ respondents in Minnesota said anti-LGBTQ legislation impacted their mental health, while one-third said it impacted their work performance. Minnesota employers ranked 33rd out of 40 responding states for supporting LGBTQ workers internally, according to the survey of more than 2,000 respondents.

Though Minnesota's new laws double down on some LGBTQ rights, employers aren't taking direct action to support transgender employees, like setting guidelines for gender transitions and safe travel for LGBTQ workers, according to the study results.

Of Minnesota respondents, 67% said their employer hasn't responded to the national wave of anti-LGBTQ legislation "in a meaningful way."

After researching and interviewing other professionals in their networks, West Steinman and other Coven founders found common themes for workplace changes to help employees feel safer and more comfortable. They implemented those at the Coven.

The locations have all-gender bathrooms, size-inclusive seating, accessibility to public transportation and other amenities for workers who feel left out in a traditional corporate environment.

Quynh Akers, a strategist at a consulting firm, was working on a design project at the Coven last week and said she can feel the impact of the company being Black- and women-owned.

The co-working space "is warm and welcoming beyond what normal co-working space is," Akers said.

Adaptability to community needs has been key to creating an inclusive space, West Steinman said. For example, the Coven at first called nursing rooms "mother's rooms."

When nonbinary clients asked if the company would change the language to "parent's rooms" to include parents who don't identify as mothers, West Steinman said making the switch was a no-brainer.

"Part of creating physical and psychological safety is being OK with taking risks," West Steinman said. "Sometimes that might look like something as simple as a language change or signage change."

The three co-working locations are purposefully visually vibrant and feature art by artists who are LGBTQ, people of color or indigenous.

The Coven also has professional development resources for in-person and online members. They offer individual and team pricing for workers of all identities, as well as scholarship memberships for those in need.

Individual passes range from $14 to $249 per month. A team membership starts at $550 per month for three group members. Day passes are also available for about $30.

Offering networking opportunities for members is also imperative for people from marginalized communities to pursue their business interests, and the Coven offers this collaborative environment.

"The economic empowerment of women, nonbinary and trans folks really came to life in the form of physical space," West Steinman said.

In an industry like advertising, Giel said she was used to working 50 to 70 hour weeks in the office. Feeling unwelcome in a work environment — where employees spend a "significant portion" of their lives — can be taxing, she said.

"When you don't have access to resources that allow you to sort of feel like you can be a whole human at work, it really does take a toll on people," Giel said.

So far, Giel said community members have really resonated with the Coven's mission, and the general response has been overwhelmingly positive.

"We're always humbled when people are shocked that a space like this exists," Giel said. "It affirms and validates that there really is a need for a community like The Coven in the world."

Sara Stamschror-Lott, Geleske's coworker, said the Coven has accomplished what other co-working spaces have not.

"We've been in working spaces where we didn't feel safe, and our clients didn't feel safe," Stamschror-Lott said. "We knew it felt important to be in a space welcoming to all humans."

Star Tribune staff photojournalist Alex Kormann contributed to this story.