Muneer Karcher-Ramos, the founding director of St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter’s Office of Financial Empowerment, will step down at the end of the month to take a position with another organization, capping five years at the helm of the mayor’s inaugural social programs.

Karcher-Ramos, who oversaw the roll-out of the mayor’s guaranteed income pilot project, as well as college savings accounts for 13,000 St. Paul newborns, said he would hold off on announcing his new role and leave that to his next employer.

“It’s just a healthy transition onto the next thing,” said Karcher-Ramos on Tuesday.

He joined the city in March 2019 after five years as director of the St. Paul Promise Neighborhood, a career-readiness initiative in the Frogtown and Summit-University neighborhoods. Among the Office of Financial Empowerment’s ongoing projects, a “Medical Debt Reset Initiative” aims to use $1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to forgive more than $100 million in medical debt this spring, with Allina, HealthPartners, Children’s Minnesota and Fairview Health Services signed on as partners.

In 2020, his office launched CollegeBound St. Paul, which has paired 13,000 babies with $50 college savings accounts in its first four years, accumulating more than $3 million in college savings, according to the mayor’s office.

Early on in the pandemic, the Office of Financial Empowerment also launched the People’s Prosperity Guaranteed Income Pilot project in 2020, a guaranteed income program offering $500 monthly checks to 150 low-income families across 18 months.

In June 2022, Carter’s office announced that it would embark on a combined second phase of both programs, offering 333 families a $1,000 deposit into their child’s college savings account — an effort dubbed “CollegeBound Boost” — on top of two full years of monthly $500 guaranteed income checks. “It’s a fascinating policy prototype,” said Karcher-Ramos, noting the endeavor had gained national attention.

A University of Michigan researcher plans to compare results to those of 333 families who were granted the $1,000 toward college savings but no monthly benefit, and 333 families who were granted college savings accounts alone without an additional deposit.

The Office of Financial Empowerment also established the $2.5 million LOCAL Fund, which aims to help worker cooperatives buy commercial real estate.

“Muneer’s exceptional leadership has made a lasting impact on our city, enhancing economic mobility and creating opportunities for community wealth building among our residents,” said Carter, in a written statement. “Under his guidance, we introduced transformative and nationally-acclaimed initiatives.”

Karcher-Ramos said the mayor’s office will open a community hiring process after his departure. Ikram Koliso, who oversees the CollegeBound St. Paul program, will serve as the interim director during the transition.

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