2022 Multicultural Leadership Award Winners
Group Awards
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Outstanding Student Organization
Outstanding Student Organization Winner: Diverse Leaders for Tomorrow
This award is designed to recognize student organizations that have contributed significantly to the campus around the issues students of color face. These organizations can be educational, political or social in nature and should serve the needs of multiple sections of the UW-Madison community of color. Organization must be registered with the Center for Leadership & Involvement. Organization must develop positive collaborative relationships with other student organizations, community organizations, staff/faculty. Additionally, it must contribute positively to the personal development of its members; support other campus events as well as other student of color organizations; host events that meet the needs of students of color; and develop campus events that build and educate the campus community.
This organization provides a space for the diverse students of this campus to learn, grow and excel. As part of this organization they offer financial literacy education, access to career development, professional exposure and opportunities for leadership experience. One of their main goals to not only stand as an incubator to produce the most successful leaders and business people of tomorrow but to also foster a sense of belonging and community for the diverse population on campus. In our courses to provide financial and professional mentoring to our members, we hope to close the equity gap that is so prevalent in the workplace between people of diverse backgrounds.
Outstanding Social Media Engagement
Outstanding Social Media Engagement: Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Incorporated
This award recognizes a student organization’s efforts on creating community, awareness, and engagement through social media avenues, in particular during the increase of virtual programs and opportunities. The organization’s engagement can be educational, social, cultural, or issue based, and centered around building community for their student organization, its members, and campus at-large.
This year’s award recipient makes sure that our page constantly stays active all year round so the community knows what they are up to, whether that is the events, promoting other events that are occurring in the community, or sharing knowledge and information. They have also done many take-overs that allows the community to ask members questions about themselves so people can see who is involved but to also learn more about our organization as a whole. As an organization they are also very innovative with the posts they create. As a chapter, they decided to educate the community on social media on what TriO is about and what different programs are. To follow up our educational post, we continued to familiarize the community by introducing a bingo fundraiser to raise money for the TriO program in Wisconsin. On their social media they continue to show support for the BIPOC community and the different organizations on our campus.
Excellence in Social Justice
Excellence in Social Justice: DREAMERS of UW-Madison
This award recognizes a student-led organization that has demonstrated excellence in social justice programming, efforts, and leadership during this academic year. Special consideration will be given to groups that have reflected programs focused on, but not limited to: Understanding Privilege and Oppression, Ally-ship, Community Organizing, Transformative Leadership, and Movement Building.
This year’s award recipient advocates for undocumented and DACAmented students on campus through providing educational workshops, outreach, and fundraising. The organization encourages undocumented students to achieve higher education through listing resources that students can reach out to via social media. The organization talks about mental health barriers, how to be a better ally for undocumented people, and also how being undocumented impacts one’s life.
Individual Awards
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Established Leader
Established Leader: Megan Wu
This award recognizes an established student leader who has shown exemplary leadership, service, and commitment to the University community. This student must show consistent leadership that is displayed through their active participation and commitment to an organization. Additionally, they provide leadership and vision for the organization; demonstrate ability to establish and maintain positive relationships with others; serves as a role model for new members and/or other students of color on campus.
This year’s award recipient never fails to do her best, especially being aKDPhi’s Vice President External. She exemplifies all the pillars of sisterhood, leadership, Asian-Awareness, and service. She has also held positions of leadership in Asian American InterVarsity (AAIV) as the worship apprentice, and Megan has organized many collaborative events between different organizations here at UW Madison. organized a Running Man event with KASA here on campus which made our bonds stronger with another organization on campus. Along with this, she continually works on strengthening our presence on campus with working on creating new and long lasting relationships on campus. Along with being an exemplary sibling of alpha Kappa Delta Phi, she has also held Academic Chair in the Multicultural Greek Council, creating fun and engaging events such as study jams and a Notion workshop. She took her leadership skills from our chapter level and brought it to the international level when becoming the Organizational Strategy Intern for alpha Kappa Delta Phi’s International Leadership Board.
Social Justice Initiatives Leader
Social Justice Initiatives Leader: Tamia Fowlkes
This award recognizes an individual student who has demonstrated a passion for social justice education, advocacy, and dialogue within communities of color on campus. This individual has provided leadership through taking initiatives focusing on identity intersectionality, social justice awareness, and inclusion on campus.
This student has been involved through the wide variety of activities on campus. Whether she was registering students to vote, writing an article about her community, in conversation with policymakers and activists or advocating for legislation on Student Council, she remained highly aware that her work grants her a unique power to educate and shape the minds of the public and serve as a critical tool in their pursuit of positive change and action. In her time at UW-Madison, she have served as Google News Initiative Fellow for Isthmus, a Reporting Intern for The Wisconsin State Journal, and as a Fellow for NBC News. She was also the Big 10 Voting Challenge Intern for the Morgridge Center of Public Service and Andrew Goodman Ambassador for The Andrew Goodman Foundation, and then also got involved with The PushBlack Electoral Innovators Program which specifically worked towards mobilizing black voters and addressing barriers facing the community in having access to the ballot. She also holds additional leadership roles as the Outreach Coordinator for The Black Voice, as a member and International Constitution Committee Member for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, and as Undergraduate Student Representative for the SJMC Diversity and Inclusion Committee. We could not include all her efforts and achievements, but lastly she also served as an intern at the Office of Precollege and Youth Programming and focused on creating programs, events, and digital content to engage and serve young students and high schoolers and grant them tangible life and work skills as they continued their academic journey.
Emerging Leader
Emerging Leader: Mai Chada Vang
This award recognizes a first or second year student who has shown their ability to be a leader on campus and in the surrounding community. This student shows strong interest in furthering their involvement in a student organization, program, or cause and to create a unique mark on the UW community. Additionally, they demonstrate commitment to a cause/organization; potential for future contributions to the organization and to the rest of the campus community of color; outstanding leadership characteristics and skills
And this year’s award recipient has been recognized by their work in AHANA-MAPS, and the nominator said : As one of AHANA-MAPS’ conference chairs this year, she has put in hours of hard work and dedication to plan her first ever conference, AHANA-MAPS’ 10th Annual Health Equity Conference–Changing the Face of Science and Medicine. For this conference, she delegated tasks to her eboard members, contacted healthcare professionals of color, organized the event, provided transportation inorder to have breakfast items served prior to the event, and successfully executed a hybrid conference. Not only has she impacted the UW campus however is in the process of extending her leadership skills outside of UW. Mai currently works in research at the UW-School of Nursing where she has put in efforts to enhance the health of the Hmong community–more specifically by creating a Hmong-English medical terminology dictionary.The Hmong community is not the only community she is putting efforts into improving however she is also involved in the Wisconsin Idea Fellowship where her and her peers will be going to a native reservation with the intent to promote higher education and observe reward-seeking conceptions.
Campus Legacy
Campus Legacy: Jessica Gomez
This award recognizes a graduating senior for an exemplary track record of leadership, service, and commitment to the University community over their entire collegiate career. This award acts as the capstone leadership award for a senior who has worked throughout their collegiate experience to better the UW community (and beyond) and their own leadership skills.
This student co-founded two organizations that exemplify advocacy and ally-ship for underrepresented groups. She saw a gap in student orgs for BIPOC queer students as well as an org for pre-law Latinxs. Jessica founded Club Q and LPSA (Latinx PreLaw Student Association) and both are thriving orgs. She can always be counted on to get her academics done (3.3 GPA with two majors and three certificates. Aside from founding two orgs on campus, she is involved with many more including Sex Out Loud, ChiLaCSA, AIR, Lambda Theta Alpha, Latin Sorority Inc., LPSA, and Club Q. Jessica also interned at the Dane County Juvenile Detention Center. She is a pre-law mentor for the Legal Studies major. Lastly, Jessica has always worked 2+ jobs while in undergrad.
Outstanding Student Organization Leader
Outstanding Student Organization Leader: Shaniya Auxier
Given to the president/leader of a registered student organization that is also affiliated with the MSC as an organization serving students of color and multicultural students. The award recognizes the student leader’s commitment to campus involvement, upholding their organization’s mission, and their own leadership development. Nominees must one the leadership team of the organization as listed on the WIN page for the organization, and be an active and affiliated organization of the MSC.
The recipient of this award has done an outstanding job in creating a space that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds. As the head of an organization that focuses on the experience of mixed race/multiracial people, it is essential be able create a space that is safe for individuals of all ethnicities and backgrounds. It is difficult to create this for one community but she has done this for multiple communities in our singular student organization. Although it is difficult to pick one moment, she has spearheaded the efforts to make multiracial people feel more welcomed and included in other larger student organizations. Multiple members of our org have expressed feelings of exclusion and ostracization due to being more than one ethnicity. They have felt not wanted or included within these larger orgs.She has been reaching out and working with the leaders of these student organizations advocating to make these orgs for marginalized people even more inclusive and welcoming to all in people within their respective communities.
Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award
Outstanding Faculty / Staff Award: Megan Bailon
The award recipients in this category are faculty and staff members who go above and beyond the call of duty to guide and support students of color on the UW-Madison Campus. The recipient of this award for Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award serves students with commitment and conviction through their words and actions well beyond the office walls or the classroom.
This outstanding staff member currently teaches CLS 201, 210 and 33. She is patient and kind. Especially during the pandemic. She recorded lectures, adjusted deadlines, and was ALWAYS willing to help a student out no matter what the circumstance. She always has an open door policy and is meeting students where they are at. She meets with me (the CLS Advisor) for background on students to best help them through what they’re struggling with. She promotes mental health awareness and encourages students to be their best selves. Many lecturers and/or faculty don’t lead by example. They expect students to be perfect. She understands they need patience and reassurance.