2019 Speakers

Director | Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago

David Axelrod is probably best known as the chief strategist for Barack Obama’s two presidential campaigns, but he has been a longtime political consultant and analyst. He is currently the host of The Axe Files, a podcast featuring key political players from across the country.

Communications Director | Media Trackers

In addition to his work at Media Trackers, which critiques the mainstream media, Jerry Bader has had a long career in talk radio, hosting a show from a conservative point of view that aired on stations in Green Bay, Wausau and Sheboygan for more than a decade until early 2018.

CEO | Father Figure

A La Follette High School alum, Andrew Bentley is a former Google employee who recently founded Father Figure, a lifestyle brand for new dads that he pitched on ABC’s Shark Tank.

Processing Educator | Oneida Nation Cannery

Jamie Betters is an enrolled member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and has been working on food sovereignty initiatives for the past 16 years. She is a certified food processor and educator specializing in the processing of heirloom white corn at the Oneida Nation Cannery.

Chef | UW-Madison

Yusuf Bin-Rella is an expert in African and African-American cuisine and is the co-founder of the Trade Roots Culinary Collective.

Inclusion and Engagement Coordinator | Wisconsin Athletics

Sheridan Blanford leads the assessment of Division of Intercollegiate Athletics programming regarding diversity issues and uses those assessments to develop strategies to foster an inclusive culture for student-athletes, coaches, administrators and the broader campus community.

Reporter | Center for Media and Democracy

Mary Bottari helped launch CMD’s award-winning investigation of the American Legislative Exchange Council. She also spearheaded the organization’s work on the 2008 Wall Street meltdown.

State Representative, D-Milwaukee | Wisconsin Assembly

State Rep. David Bowen represents District 10 in the Wisconsin Assembly and is a member of its committees on corrections as well as children and families.

Mayor | City of Middleton

Gurdip Brar, Ph.D., is a retired Agracetus senior research scientist who has been the mayor of Middleton since 2017. Prior to that, he served on the City Council, starting in 2008.

Executive Director and CEO | Wisconsin Center for Manufacturing and Productivity

Since 2011, Buckley Brinkman has led the WCMP, which represents small and medium-sized Wisconsin manufacturers.

CEO and Founder | One City Schools

Kaleem Caire is a highly respected nonprofit business and community leader. He has 20 years of senior executive experience and 23 years of experience in K-12 education/reform.

Reporter | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Milwaukee native, James Causey has been a journalist since 1987, when he was a reporter at the Milwaukee Sentinel. At the merged Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Causey has been a reporter, editor and columnist. In 2008, he was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.

Technical Assistance Specialist | Intertribal Agriculture Council

Dan Cornelius, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, is the Intertribal Agriculture Council’s technical assistance specialist for the Great Lakes Region, helping tribes in the region with food and agricultural issues. He also works for the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center on the development of producer cooperatives, supply chain analysis, and legal and policy aspects of food and agriculture.

Former Governor | State of Wisconsin

Jim Doyle was Wisconsin’s 44th governor, serving from 2003 to 2011 and was also the state’s attorney general from 1991 to 2003. He is currently of counsel in the law office of Foley & Lardner.

Mayor | City of Wauwatosa

Kathy Ehley is the 16th mayor of Wauwatosa, currently serving her second term. Before that, she served for five years as the executive director of the Village of Wauwatosa Business Improvement District.

Co-Director | Latino Academy of Workforce Development

In addition to her work at the Latino Academy, where she connects people to living wage employment and career pathways, Norma Gallegos Valles co-hosts a show at La Movida Radio and writes for Voz Latina.

Assistant Professor | UW-Madison

Brigitte Fielder works in the university’s Comparative Literature Department. Her research and teaching areas include children’s literature, 19th-century U.S. literature, African American literature, and the study of race, gender, and sexuality.

Professor Emeritus | UW-Madison

Norman Fost is professor emeritus of pediatrics and bioethics at the university and chaired the committees that led to the first guidelines on human embryonic stem cell research.

Distinguished Fellow in Law and Public Policy | Marquette University Law School

Mike Gousha serves as a distinguished fellow in law and public policy at Marquette University Law School. An award-winning journalist, he is also a political analyst for WISN-TV in Milwaukee and the host of the Sunday morning program “UpFront with Mike Gousha,” which airs on ABC affiliates statewide.

Artistic Director | Forward Theater

Gray’s directing credits at the Madison theater company include “4000 Miles,” “Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play” and “Silent Sky.”

R&D Division Manager | Epic

Seth Hain leads Epic’s analytics and machine learning research and development. This includes business intelligence tools, data warehousing software and a foundational platform for deploying machine learning across Epic applications.

Mayor | City of Appleton

Tim Hanna is currently serving his sixth term as mayor of Appleton and is also the president of the Wisconsin League of Municipalities.

Senior Vice President | Exact Sciences

As senior vice president at Exact Sciences, Ana Hooker oversees all laboratory operations for the biotech company.

Professor | University of Missouri – St. Louis

Beth Huebner is a professor in the university’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and is a UW-Madison alum.

State Senator, D-Milwaukee | Wisconsin Senate

LaTonya Johnson was elected to the assembly in 2012 and 2014, and elected to the senate in 2016. She is a member the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, the Milwaukee Child Welfare Partnership Council and the Wisconsin Center District Board.

CEO | United Way of Greater Cincinnati

Before starting work in Cincinnati this year, Michael Johnson was the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County for eight years.

Former Lieutenant Governor | State of Wisconsin

Barbara Lawton was Wisconsin’s lieutenant governor 2003 to 2011, the first woman to serve in that post. In office, she was chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association, and her women’s economic development initiative, Wisconsin Women = Prosperity, became a model. She now serves on the advisory boards for the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service and the Millennial Action Project. She is also a trustee for Lawrence University, her alma mater.

Reporter | Cap Times

Erik Lorenzsonn is the Cap Times’ tech and culture reporter, and also its podcast producer. He joined the team in 2016 after having served as an online editor for Wisconsin Public Radio.

Senior Vice President and Partner | Dezenhall Resources

A Wisconsin native, Anne Marie Malecha directs the firm’s client services and public affairs, crisis communications and advocacy strategy for a wide range of companies, trade associations and nonprofit organizations.

Professor | UW-Madison

Young Mie Kim works in the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, where she studies media and politics in the digital age.

Chair | University of Wisconsin Athletic Board

In addition to his position on the board, Peter Miller is a professor in the university’s Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis Department and also a former captain of Notre Dame’s men’s college basketball team.

Journalist

James Edward Mills is a freelance journalist who specializes in telling stories about outdoor recreation, environmental conservation, acts of charitable giving, and practices of sustainable living. He is the author of the new book “The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors.”

President | Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin

In addition to leading the statewide firefighters union for the past seven years, Mitchell is a lieutenant in the Madison Fire Department and was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2018 gubernatorial race.

Managing Director | Outrider Foundation

The Madison-based Outrider Foundation advances science-based literacy about global risks to humanity, and Tia Nelson manages the foundation’s efforts around climate change. Earlier she spent 17 years with The Nature Conservancy and was the first director of the Global Climate Change Initiative. For this work, she received the EPA’s Climate Protection Award in 2000.

Associate Editor | Cap Times

In addition to his work at the Cap Times, John Nichols is the author of several books about politics and the media, including “Horsemen of the Trumpocalypse.” He writes about electoral politics and public policy for The Nation magazine.

President | Badger Institute

Prior to leading the Badger Institute (formerly the Wisconsin Public Policy Research Institute), Mike Nichols spent almost 20 years as an award-winning reporter and columnist for newspapers in Illinois and for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he often wrote about Wisconsin policy, politics and people.

Chief Creative Officer | Filament Games

Dan Norton specializes in crafting educational game design documents and storyboards that originate from learning objectives.

Actress

Karen Olivo won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Anita in “West Side Story” on Broadway and played the part of Angelica Schuyler Church in the Chicago production of “Hamilton”.

U.S. Representative, D-Wisconsin | U.S. House of Representatives

Mark Pocan represents Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District, which includes Madison. First elected to that post in 2012, he also serves as co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.

Associate Professor | UW-Madison

Kevin Ponto works in the University’s Design Studies Department and at the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, where his specializes in the study of virtual reality.

Author

A former editor at Isthmus, Dean Robbins’ children’s books include “Two Friends: Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass,” “Miss Paul and the President: The Creative Campaign for Women’s Right to Vote” and “Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing.”

Vice President | CUNA Mutual Group

Angela Russell has led the company’s diversity and equity efforts since 2015. Earlier this year, she was chosen by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the top executives in that field nationwide.

News Anchor| WTMJ-TV

Shannon Sims is a news anchor at WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and also the president of the Wisconsin Black Media Association.

Dean | School of Education, Edgewood College

In addition to leading Edgewood’s School of Education, Tim Slekar has published in top educational research journals including Teacher Education Quarterly, Theory and Research in Social Education, and the Journal of Thought. He also hosts a podcast called “BustED Pencils: Fully Leaded Education Talk.”

Founder and Head Chef | Abaaso

Kristina Stanley, a member of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is the founder of Abaaso LLC, an all-vegan venture offering community classes wholesale sales and catering, and eventually an all-vegan deli. “Abaaso” is an Ojibwe word that means “warms in the sun.”

President | Wisconsin Technology Council

Tom Still leads the council, which is a nonprofit, bipartisan science and technology policy advisory board for the governor and the Legislature. Among other groups, Still serves on the Governor’s Council on Workforce Investment and the UW System Business Council.

State Representative, D-Madison | Wisconsin Assembly

Chris Taylor is the representative for Assembly District 76, which is centered on Madison’s isthmus. She is also the ranking Assembly Democratic member of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee.

Features Editor | Cap Times

Rob Thomas is the Cap Times’ features editor, film critic and the author of the popular “Yeah, I Ate That” column.

Associate Professor | UW-Madison

Michael Wagner works in the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. His areas of research include perceptions of media bias.

CEO | Intuition Productions

As a DJ, Martinez White is a southern Wisconsin favorite, known for his unique, intergenerational blend of hip-hop and soul. He is also an inspirational speaker.

Vice President | WEAC

Peggy Wirtz-Olsen was elected vice president of the statewide teachers union in 2016. Prior to that, she was an English teacher at Marshfield High School.

Science Writer | UW-Madison

Kelly Tyrrell has been a scientist and a journalist and now she is a science writer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She covers everything from atmospheric science to zoology.