Breakout Sessions
A dynamic panel of community leaders will launch our 2023 Community Conference as we engage in dialog focused on this year's theme of "Building a Stronger Milwaukee." Breakout sessions and presentations tied to the theme will follow for further conversations and participation as we strive to face Milwaukee's challenges and come together to work toward solutions.
10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Milwaukee as well as the state have a housing crisis of out of state investors dominating sales in African American markets. Milwaukee traditionally had easy access to homeownership until now as big money crowd out workers and their families for owner renting at affordable prices. In this session, presenters will outline an alternative homeownership approach and the positive effects on neighborhoods and the city.
Participants will visit the new Alverno Greenhouse, be given a tour and a brief introduction to the facility and the increasingly important role of aquaponics in sustainable urban agriculture. Participants will learn about the many ways in which we are using the new facility to enhance education and build community partnerships. Lastly, participants will have the opportunity to plant a variety of native plant species that they may then take with them for use at their own homes.
In this workshop participants will be encouraged to practice empathy for self and others through a mindfulness exercise known as loving kindness. Loving kindness is a mindfulness practice designed to increase love and compassion first for ourselves and then for others. Loving kindness can protect us from developing and holding on to judgments and destructive feelings toward ourselves and others. The meditation will be followed by a brief conversation and art making activity where participants will create painted kindness stones to place throughout the Milwaukee community with the goal to spread positivity and healing into our neighborhoods. No experience necessary with art making or meditation.
Professional mentorship and role-models are well-documented strategies to enhance professional identity and the pursuit of careers where women and marginalized groups are underrepresented. In this session we will highlight the strategic organization and intentional design of Alverno Sisters in STEM, a professional mentoring network connecting Alverno STEM alumnae with current Alverno STEM students. The mentoring frameworks presented are not exclusive to STEM and can be applied to other disciplines or professional areas. Reactions to the program from both mentors and mentees will be shared. Participants will be encouraged to share their experience in mentoring and the impact on building a stronger, supportive community.
Virtual session
Join an interactive panel of MKE Non-Binary and Transgender activists gathering online to discuss and share basic terminology, gender pronouns, and LGBTQIA+ life in Milwaukee.
Participants will learn ways to engage and support mobilizing efforts around Non-Binary & Transgender Rights.
Session sponsored by The Civil Liberties Committee and supported by the UW-Stout Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation.
In this session participants will learn about the various programs that Dr. Mancilla has developed to support undocumented immigrant students. They will further develop their understanding of the immigration systems and how students are impacted at various educational settings. Participants will receive resources to support undocumented immigrant students in Wisconsin. Lastly, they will consider how similar programs can be developed in their communities.
Session sponsored by The Civil Liberties Committee and supported by the UW-Stout Menard Center for the Study of Institutions and Innovation.
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Join us for an interactive workshop exploring how dance can be used as a tool to promote confidence and self-worth. Participants will get a chance to view original pieces Anna created and set on community members this past year. This will be followed by a short talk back with the choreographer to illuminate how the works were constructed to inspire and convey ideals of strength, power, confidence, and self-value within the dancers and audiences. The group will then get a chance to physically explore movement developed with the purpose of supporting confidence and self-worth. No prior dance experience is necessary and movement is accessible for all abilities and ages.
Research has shown that women who chose STEM majors (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) are often motivated by STEM as a career that works towards communal goals. In this session, attendees will gain a better understanding of some of the work Alverno students are doing within the community that directly ties with the STEM discipline and curriculum and how the mixed-age design provides role models and leadership opportunities through community engagement. Examples of and reactions to recent student work will be presented. Attendees will be challenged to design a plan for their own effective citizenship project within their community.
Erica has a video podcast called The Funny Kind where she reaches out to others in the community and seeks to find humor, kindness and light in everyday places. This is an effort to show that there is more good than bad in our world and in our community. The session will use this lens to focus on improving one's ability to handle ambiguity, change, uncertainty, and consistent negative and biased information overload. There are so many people doing such great things. Whether they are non-profits, community organizations, or just regular people doing good, Erica strives to highlight the good and the commonality we all have.
Virtual session
Returning home to your heart center. Get present, stay in the here and now, care for your well-being. Explore tools and resources for nourishing, nurturing, and caring for your well-being.
Integrate mindful pauses to renew your energies and motivation for creating systemic change. Determine what tools will help you to integrate your own health and healing (e.g. self-care) while
aiming to cultivate collective wellbeing (e.g. care of the collective). In order to build community we need to center collaborations that elevate our own health, prioritize our healing, get
us into grounded consistent action, and sustain us in creating strategies for self-care success.
The Community Development Alliance (CDA) is a collaboration of housing funders, practitioners and allies that has been collaborating for more than a decade on neighborhood improvement efforts in Milwaukee. Recognizing that housing inequities are deep and broad, and prohibit families from building intergenerational wealth, the CDA narrowed its focus in 2020 to advancing racial equity by providing quality, affordable homes for Black and Latino families This work resulted in the city’s Collective Affordable Housing Strategic Plan, the first of its kind. Come learn about how the CDA is writing a new chapter for Milwaukee.
