What does it mean to be a civic leader or to even have political power? Understand and explore civic engagement, by learning more about grassroots organizing, mobilization, and advocacy that can build the political power of the next generation of young people: You! 

Presenter bio: Maia Pearson, a graduate of Madison West High School, is the Vice President of Madison's Board of Education, serving on the board since 2021. Maia has over a decade of organizing experience, including running successful grassroots campaigns focused on engaging young people and communities of color. Maia has and continues to work directly with the community, government agencies, and local and national nonprofit organizations, focusing on issues around education, food and housing access, and equity in development. Maia received her bachelor's degree in International Relations and East Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Rep. Francesca Hong will lead a discussion on the important intersection of youth politics and governance. This workshop intends to explore how students and activists can use their identity and lived experience to enact change in their communities and effectively lobby policy makers to act on important issues. 

Speaker bio: Francesca Hong is the representative for the 76th Assembly District in the Wisconsin State Assembly. 

Representative Stubbs, through guided activities and sharing her experiences in the legislature, will teach students about some ways in which elected officials and community members can work together to ensure more equitable outcomes for Wisconsinites and promote restorative justice. Rep. Stubbs will also discuss ways students can become more involved in their state government. 

Presenter bio: Wisconsin State Representative Shelia Stubbs is honored to serve the 77th Assembly District, which includes parts of South and West Madison, the Village of Shorewood Hills, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison College’s Goodman South campus, and Edgewood College. Representative Stubbs has previously worked as a worked as a special education teacher, an adjunct professor, a probation and parole agent, and a match support specialist and served as an elected member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors. Representative Stubbs has a strong background in equity work and criminal justice, which guides her in creating legislation to improve the lives of Wisconsinites. 

This Spanish/English workshop will briefly explain potential immigrant and non-immigrant benefits that semi/undocumented students might qualify for. We will not provide individual legal advice but give a general overview of Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, Asylum, U-Status, and others. We will also provide students with resources in the community that students can reach out to for further assistance.

Presenter Bio: Valeria Martinez (and friends!)  

Valeria is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and law student in her final year at the University of Wisconsin Law School. Prior to law school she worked and volunteered for immigration attorneys in Madison for over 3 years. Since September 2022 she has been a part of the UW's Immigrant Justice Clinic and is now the Immigration Advocate for The Crossing Ministries. She is dedicating her career to obtaining a legal path for migrants and refugees to the United States.

Know Your Rights is a workshop designed to serve as a guide to LGBTQ+ students, families, educators, and allies. You will learn more about federal, state, and local policies that are in place to protect you so that you can better advocate for yourself as needed. We are not lawyers and are not giving legal advice, however we are here to support you and share resources that might help you. 

Presenter Bio: Katie Rickert (she/her) is the Associate Director of Youth Leadership and Advocacy at GSAFE. Before stepping into this role, Katie facilitated district-wide LGBTQIA+ advocacy efforts for the Madison Metropolitan School District, and worked as a classroom teacher at Sherman Middle School on the northside of Madison. Katie felt drawn to work with GSAFE to continue her work around advocacy in education, and she is driven by the urgent need for LGBTQIA+ youth of color to see themselves represented in leadership and feel supported as they navigate their identities.

Katie is a Milwaukee native and moved to Madison to attend Edgewood College. She holds a degree in K-12 Education and has experience teaching Spanish at all levels, as well as ESL in the U.S and abroad. Katie is a queer woman and an Indian-adoptee. In her free time, Katie loves hiking, kayaking, writing, traveling, painting and spending time with her family. 

Can reading a book transform your world?  Why are those behind bars denied the right to read?  We will talk about Wisconsin Books to Prisoners and how you can get more involved! 

Presenter Bio: John Peck is one of the founders and longtime volunteers of Wisconsin Books to Prisoners.  He also has family members who are formerly incarcerated. 

Every community in Wisconsin is affected by hate, hate crimes, and violence. We may not know where or when violence will occur, but we can plan how to respond with strength and resilience. This workshop will introduce students to recent stories of hate crimes from across the state and begin a discussion about what students can do to work against hate in our communities. 

Presenter bio: Benny Witkovsky (WHS class '08) is the coordinator of the Youth Powered for Unity project on hate crimes and hate motivated violence in Wisconsin. 

In this workshop, participants can choose from 3-4 selected topics, such as cultural appropriation, 'color blindness,' reparations, affirmative action, or controversial speech on college campuses. Each participant will choose an issue based on their interests and comfort level. Students will then engage in small group discussions on their selected topic.

Please note that the workshop will include a content warning, as discussions may involve viewpoints that some find challenging or offensive. This is not a role-play; you will not be advocating but presenting perspectives, some of which you may agree with and others you may not. We are committed to creating a space where participants can explore differing opinions while feeling supported throughout the process. 

Presenter Bio: David Ross is a former West High School social studies teacher. He taught numerous courses, including Philosophy, APUSH, the Middle East, and Social Issues. 

An estimated 300 youth in Dane County are homeless every night. In this workshop, we will explore why this is the case, what is being done to prevent youth homelessness, and how we can further address this issue. 

Presenter Bio: Will Altaweel is a Youth Counselor in the Runaway and Homeless Youth Program at Briarpatch Youth Services, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the lives of youth and families. Will is also a West High alumnus, having graduated with the class of 2017. 

Learn how the past century of urban planning and street design has prioritized people who work office jobs in downtown over everyone else. This practice is inequitable, and makes walking, biking, and using transit more challenging and unsafe for women, children, people of color, and people who work non-office hours. We will also explore some street transformations on www.urb-i.com/before-after 

Presenter Bio: Sonia Haeckel is a transportation planner at Toole Design, a firm that is a leader in planning and engineering for walking, biking, and transit across North America. At Toole Design, Sonia typically helps cities figure out where future bikeways and sidewalks should go. She also makes bicycle wayfinding plans, and recommends ways to make it safer for kids to walk or bike to school. She is also a mother of a freshman at West. 

Uncover your strength within at 'Resilience Revealed'— Discover the power of resilience while exploring the dynamics of racism, restorative justice, mental health, housing challenges, and the transformative influence of equity. Join us for an interactive conversation led by Myesha Thompson, who has and continues to conqueror life challenges and will share insights to help amplify your voice and resilience in today's ever-changing world. 

Presenter Bio: Myesha Thompson, a driven Chicago native, is a trailblazer in finance, government, all things life skills, advocacy, and real estate. Although she was a teen mother, she continuously defies the odds. “I proudly disrupt the status quo. My journey is a testament to breaking barriers and redefining norms, continually pushing boundaries to create meaningful change." Stepping into real estate, included building a family home and acquiring an investment property less than a year after the completion of her new construction home. She's a supportive landlord and public servant in Wisconsin, championing equality. Through the creation of a life skills focused based program called the 'Circle of Life Balance,' Myesha empowers individuals towards true self-sufficiency in life skills coaching, housing, health equity, and financial autonomy. Her mission is clear: "Empower, build wealth, and advocate for all, no matter the circumstances." 

In this workshop we will be talking about our campaign called Police Free Schools. We have fought to get police free school since 2016 and was successful on taking them out in 2020 during the uprising. Our fight do not end here, there are still things we are demanding for. Come and learn about how you can be a part of our next fights. 

About the presenters: Youth Justice Team from Freedom - Inc. includes Selena Yang, Mai Thao Yang, Shyra Adams and Milcah Rimmer. We are the organizers from Freedom, Inc that works alongside with young people to build them up to be leaders and create a better world where they will want to live in. 

Through storytelling and interactive activities, this workshop will expose the differences between the traditional criminal legal system (which focuses on punishment and exclusion) and a restorative justice approach (which seeks to recognize impacts, repair harm, and address needs). This workshop will discuss the perspectives of harmed parties and responsible parties, as well as the ripple effects and impacts of harm on both individuals and communities. Students should be aware that this is a space where harm, violence, and serious and sensitive crimes may be discussed in the context of restorative justice and the criminal legal system. 

Presenters: Shana Toor, Claire Carey, Haley Swanson, Grace Kraimer, Larz Guider, Jodi Klagos 

Organization Bio: The Restorative Justice Project (RJP) at the University of Wisconsin Law School facilitates restorative justice dialogues between harmed parties and responsible parties in the aftermath of serious and sensitive crimes. RJP is committed to serving the community by promoting restorative practices, developing alternatives to the traditional criminal legal system, and reducing racial disparities in the criminal legal system. 

Opportunity is not distributed equally in most cities, including Madison. Decisions about where and how we invest in things like housing, highways and schools can have a big impact on life outcomes in neighborhoods. This session will review 20th century urban planning practices that damaged BIPOC communities and current challenges and solutions for the equitable city. This will be a discussion - be ready to share something from your own experience. 

Presenter Bio: Jason Valerius, AICP is Executive Director of the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission. He has worked as a community planner for the past two decades helping communities across the Midwest address topics like housing, recreation, population change, sustainability and urban design. He enjoys community engagement efforts, finding ways to get people involved in guiding the future of their community.