Organizer Of Minnesota Church Protest Earned Over $1 Million Leading Anti-Poverty Nonprofit, Tax Filings Show

Nekima Levy Armstrong, identified on her website as a civil rights attorney and "scholar-activist," helped organize a protest that interrupted a church service at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. The demonstration targeted reported ties between a church leader and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and was one of several local protests over recent federal immigration enforcement activity in the region.

Compensation And Nonprofit Spending

Tax filings for the Wayfinder Foundation, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit focused on civil rights and anti-poverty work, show that Armstrong served as executive director from 2019 through 2024. According to the filings reviewed by Fox News Digital, Armstrong received more than $1 million in total compensation during that period.

Compiled filings from 2019–2024 indicate Armstrong earned $936,395 in salary as executive director and received approximately $201,313 in health benefits and other compensation. Over the same six-year span, the Wayfinder Foundation reported roughly $5,246,387 in revenue and disbursed about $700,052 in grants.

Cities Church is seen in St. Paul, Minn., where activists shut down a service claiming the pastor was also working as an ICE agent, Monday, Jan. 19, 2026 in St. Paul, Minn.

Year-By-Year Highlights

In 2024, Wayfinder reported distributing $158,811 in grants while Armstrong's salary was $215,726; the filing also lists $40,548 in health benefits, benefit plan contributions and deferred compensation for her. In 2023 the foundation awarded $133,698 in grants while Armstrong's salary was $170,726 plus $44,300 in other compensation. The 2022 filing shows a similar pattern: $161,325 in grants paid out and $175,000 in salary for Armstrong, plus about $33,126 in additional compensation.

Donors And Programs

Tax records show several notable donors to Wayfinder. The Walton Family Foundation reportedly contributed $2,340,000 to Wayfinder between 2018 and 2024, according to Walton's filings. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is listed as a donor; BLM's 2023 tax filing records a $20,000 grant to Wayfinder "to conduct activities to educate and support Black communities."

Archived pages of the Wayfinder Foundation website—reviewed by Fox News Digital—describe the organization's Community Activist Fellowship (CAF) as a program that "intentionally invest[s] in Black women and Latina activists, organizers, and change agents" who work to challenge existing power structures. An archived donor message from Armstrong framed the group's approach as investing in mothers as a fundamental unit of change for children.

An anti-ICE agitator holds a sign while attending an "Americans Against Islamification" rally near City Hall in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 17, 2026.

Other Activities And Responses

Armstrong is also listed as the founder and CEO of a cannabis company called Dope Roots. She has been active in other local campaigns, including organizing boycotts of Target over reductions in diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

The article notes Armstrong posted praise on September 26 for Joanne Chesimard (Assata Shakur), a figure convicted in the 1977 killing of a New Jersey state trooper; Armstrong called Chesimard "a brave, wise, powerful, and revolutionary Black woman," according to reporting.

Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Armstrong and the Wayfinder Foundation for comment but did not immediately receive a response. Representatives for the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, the Walton Family Foundation and Walmart (which is related to the Walton donors) also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Note: All compensation and grant figures referenced are drawn from publicly available tax filings for the Wayfinder Foundation for 2019–2024, as reported by Fox News Digital.