Community Change-Maker Awards: Thursday, September 19, 2024

Change-Maker Award Winners

Mary Berryman Agard, nominated by Bayview Foundation
Winner of the Liesl Blockstein Community Leadership Award

Mary Berryman Agard is President of the Bayview Foundation and a board member of the Madison Senior Center Foundation. Professionally, Mary taught preschool, performed in and directed youth theatre, established the nation’s first municipal support system for early education and care, and managed arts development programs. She consulted in strategic, cultural, and civic planning, philanthropic management, and nonprofit development. Mary served on the Madison Police and Fire Commission, the Madison Arts Commission, the City-University liaison committee, several committees for the public schools, the boards of two experimental schools, and numerous political campaign steering committees. She also founded the Monona Bay Neighborhood Association.

Brandi Grayson, nominated by Urban Triage
Winner of the Sally Sunde Family Advocate Award

Brandi Grayson is a revolutionary leader who founded Urban Triage in 2019 to address issues such as state violence, mass incarceration, housing shortages, and police brutality. Under her leadership, the organization has grown to over 20 employees and secured major contracts to assist and support vulnerable communities in Madison. Brandi has been widely recognized for her contributions and transparent leadership style, rooted in her commitment to core values. She is also involved in leadership roles and community initiatives outside of Urban Triage. Her ability to navigate complex challenges and her deep connection with the community she serves makes her a powerful community advocate.

Maria I. Rodriguez, nominated by American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin
Winner of the Linda Sundberg Civil Rights Defender Award

Maria I. Rodriguez has been a dedicated member of the ACLU of Wisconsin board since 2021. With a 30-year career at Milwaukee’s Housing Authority and as Director of the Election Commission, Maria has worked to improve housing and ensure fair elections. She volunteers with United Way and the League of Women Voters, and has received the distinguished Gwen Jackson Community Service Award. Maria’s commitment to community service and family values continues to inspire many. Maria has also been honored by UMOS with the Wisconsin’s Hispanic Woman of the Year award in 1989 and by the Women’s Fund with the Lynde B. Uihlein award in 2009.

Community Shares of Wisconsin Collaboration Award Winners

This award recognizes CSW member nonprofits that demonstrate the power of collaboration with their coordinated efforts to lead impactful social justice change within our community.

This year’s winners are Tenant Resource Center and Legal Action of Wisconsin.

In 2021, the Tenant Resource Center, Legal Action of Wisconsin, Community Justice Inc., and the UW Law School partnered to set up the Eviction Diversion & Defense Partnership (EDDP) with federal emergency funds distributed by the City of Madison and Dane County.

The EDDP improves housing stability for Dane County tenants by providing housing support, housing counseling, court navigation, mediation services, and rental assistance. The program also refers eligible tenants whose housing stability is at risk to partner attorneys who provide legal representation at no cost to tenants.

TRC and LAW collaborate to support low-income tenants’ housing stability through three primary avenues with the EDDP. First, TRC refers tenants who have an eviction filing to LAW for representation. TRC contacts every household with an eviction filing to inform them of their court date, how to appear for their online hearing, and resources available to them. TRC staff also attend every eviction hearing and trial to provide resources and services. Second, as part of the services they provide for tenants referred to them by TRC, LAW attorneys help tenants remove their names from online court records. Third, TRC and LAW partner for tenants’ rights education events.

Community Shares of Wisconsin Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

Michele Erikson

Michele Erikson believes literacy is a basic human right and has been working to improve literacy for nearly 40 years. After college, Michele volunteered as a literacy tutor at the Stateline Literacy Council in Beloit. Here she learned how literacy transforms lives and engaged with people learning to read and write for the first time as well as immigrants and refugees wanting a command of the English language.

Since 1985, Michele has worked in literacy at the local and state level as a tutor, board chair, workforce development director, English language instructor, and executive director. At Wisconsin Literacy she supported, developed, and advocated for 70+ community-based literacy organizations statewide. Under Michele’s leadership, the statewide coalition steadily increased, and Wisconsin Literacy members now serve more than 11,000 adult learners.

Early in her time with Wisconsin Literacy, Michele began working in health literacy by directing small projects with local literacy agencies to improve health understanding. In 2010, after receiving additional funding, Wisconsin Health Literacy was launched under her leadership. That work continues in Wisconsin and beyond with a focus on improving health outcomes and reducing health care costs by educating providers and patients on effective ways to communicate through a health literacy and health equity lens.