Community Change-Maker Awards

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The Community Change-Maker Awards is an annual program hosted by Community Shares of Wisconsin.

media release: Thursday, September 28 at 5pm, Union South on the UW-Madison campus and online

On September 28, Community Shares of Wisconsin will celebrate local leaders and organizations who are advancing social and environmental justice in our community. Save the date for the annual Community Change-Maker Awards at Union South.

Tickets purchased in support of this event help Community Shares award six nonprofits $1,000 each. Tickets are a suggested donation of $50. To sponsor the event or purchase tickets, visit communityshares.com.

Meet the Award Winners  

Winner of the Liesl Blockstein Community Leadership Award: Marin (Mark) Denning

Marin Webster Denning, born on the Menominee reservation, is a member of the Sturgeon Clan and is enrolled in the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin. Marin served for 16 years as the Executive Director of Southeastern Oneida Tribal Services, a full-spectrum social service provider for Oneida tribal members. He is a nationally recognized leading educator, lecturer, and curriculum specialist in American Indian History and culture. Marin is currently a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and is a traditional dancer, pow wow emcee, community volunteer, and Water Protector. Nominated by Wisconsin Conservation Voices

Winner of the Sally Sunde Family Advocate Award: Anamaria Peralta

Anamaria Peralta serves as the Bilingual Resource Specialist at Nuestro Mundo Community School and has held this role in the Madison Metropolitan School District for 12 years. Anamaria works to facilitate greater family and parent involvement in the school through programming like classes, training sessions, celebrations, and the school’s food pantry. This work, and her commitment to being a cultural liaison for the families of Nuestro Mundo, are crucial to student success. Nominated by Nuestro Mundo

Winner of the Linda Sundberg Civil Rights Defender Award: Denise Jess

In her role as the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired, Denise Jess applies her leadership expertise and lived experience to promote the independence, dignity, and empowerment of Wisconsinites living with vision loss. Denise’s impact ranges widely from transportation equity to voting rights and healthcare access. Her work is guided by the belief that in a truly inclusive society, people with disabilities — including vision loss — must be full participants in conversations affecting their lives. Nominated by Wisconsin Council of the Blind & Visually Impaired

CSW Collaboration Award: Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Conservation Voices

The Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition began in 2016 when a number of nonpartisan good government organizations came together to find new ways to engage and affect public policy.

In recent years, under the leadership of Carlene Bechen, the coalition has built and maintained a grassroots activist network dedicated to creating fair maps, which has engaged in many mobilization efforts around the state.

The long-term goal of the Wisconsin Fair Maps Coalition is to create a legislative fix to a very partisan problem: severely gerrymandered legislative districts. The coalition works to connect the dots of what is or is not happening with gerrymandered districts and to develop a nonpartisan process for drawing legislative districts to effectively put an end to gerrymandering.

CSW Lifetime Achievement Award: Julie Andersen

For 40 years of work in social, racial, economic, and environmental justice

Julie’s career in nonprofit work and philanthropy has encompassed community organizing, international development, domestic violence prevention, and the intersection of inner healing with systemic change. She worked with youth in North Carolina and Washington, DC, women in Kenya, and marginalized neighborhoods in Des Moines.

She served as Executive Director, Interim ED, and in other important roles in many organizations within the Community Shares of Wisconsin network including Working Capital for Community Needs (WCCN), Wisconsin Apprentice Organizers Project, UNIDOS Against Domestic Violence, and End Abuse. She currently works as a professional life coach and co-leader at CORE.