ActionPapers

LEADERSHIP & POLITICAL PARTICIPATION:
SUCCESS MODELS

“I hope that WW=P will uncover success models in every region of Wisconsin that can be shared and replicated region-by-region. I hope to be surprised by what we learn from one another.” - Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton

WHY: To make Wisconsin the best state in the nation for women to live and work, women need to advance models that spark innovation and embolden us to dream and design the dramatic changes needed.

WHAT: Use the talent, ideas and experience of those enrolled in WW=P to create solutions and lead initiatives supporting women’s prosperity in Wisconsin. Those enrolled in WW=P constitute a deep pool of broad-ranging talent, ideas and experience, available for consultation and participation in projects. Early enthusiastic response to organization of a Women’s Caucus in the State Capitol heightens our possibilities.

HOW: Use your life and the stories below to formulate break-through solutions in practices and policies that can benefit your community. Be confident that you have the talent and knowledge to lead change. The power exists within all of us to raise the grade for women, men and children across all of Wisconsin.

• Ingrid Mahan, as executive director of Viroqua’s Chamber of Commerce and their Main Street Program, oversaw the successful revitalization of their downtown, filling storefronts, creating jobs and attracting investment. The great majority of those new businesses are owned by women. When business owners discovered they were in line—with 22 other communities—for a highway bypass, they turned to the only visible, easily accessible champion of women’s success for help: WW=P. Notified of the dilemma, the Lt. Governor convened State officials to analyze the planning process and to develop a prototype for planning state transportation improvements that will support the community’s economic development goals – and to support the growth of women-owned businesses.¹
• Many Wisconsin corporations show a bottom-line understanding of the value of women’s contributions with their practices instituted to develop and support women’s success in the workplace, through all the seasons of their lives. Current models include creating women’s networks that meet and advise top leaders male and female on women’s business perspectives; accountability measures that hold supervisor’s responsible for increasing gender diversity at all levels through productivity metrics; family-friendly policies that are measured by the number of women and men who use them. The best practices foster a “culture of inclusion” and empowerment, with training and promotion that target women and people of color at every level. The Lieutenant Governor’s WW=P Corporate Advisory Board is at work to share effective practices by developing a home-grown “catalog” to be available to businesses of all sizes in every part of the state.
• Milwaukee’s Mount Mary College² demonstrates exemplary institutional commitment with its innovative Women’s Leadership Curriculum, and has embraced a partnership with WW=P.
• Alverno College teamed up with WW=P and the League of Women Voters to lead candidate forums designed to reveal candidates’ positions regarding policy that defines the lives of women in Wisconsin.
• Milwaukee Women, Inc³., a bold initiative to increase the participation of women on corporate boards among Wisconsin’s top 50 corporations provides an excellent model of respectful and honest progress. Their president serves on the WW=P Corporate Advisory Board.
• WW=P will highlight the Milwaukee Area Technical College’s nationally recognized professional childcare curriculum at a conference in the fall. We will bring together representatives of tech colleges, UW campuses and private colleges from every corner of the state to examine quality, affordable childcare as a strategy for regional economic growth.
• Oakwood Village, a long-term care facility in Madison, and the Service Employees International Union, which represents the majority of their employees, called while in the middle of contract negotiations. They asked for a WW=P presentation to employees and management in a joint meeting of effective practices that contribute to work-family integration and women’s success in the workplace. Later they came to the Lt. Governor’s office to sign their contract and celebrate successful incorporation of many of those practices.
• The Lt. Governor has just named a Task Force on Women and Depression that brings together some of the state’s best talent to advance cutting-edge policy recommendations to improve Wisconsin women’s mental health.
• Forthcoming research on women in the corrections system, a WW=P partnership with Mount Mary Professor Dan Campagna, will help us better understand how to lower the census, reduce recidivism and increase the chances of health and independence of the women after they are released.
• More plans: Women and the Trades, one of the thornier lingering challenges, needs to be addressed. “Women in the Media,” an emerging professional group will take a critical step toward empowering women by actually covering them in the news and having their voices be heard as guest experts and opinion page leaders.

Anything is possible. Think about what you can do.

¹ To learn more, see “Hear Us Roar: Women and Wisconsin’s Economy” in the Winter 2005 issue of the Wisconsin Academy Review.
² Mount Mary College women’s Leadership Institute http://www.mtmary.edu/leadership_institute.htm
³ Milwaukee Women, Inc.: http://www.milwaukeewomeninc.org/