David Michael Miller
The cells meet in small groups in private homes but sometimes they gather en masse. Just who is in charge is left intentionally murky and there are no explicit agendas. They call themselves the Hoan Group, but unless you’re on the inside you’ve probably never heard of them.
Yet, their members will likely soon run Wisconsin’s two biggest cities.
“We’ve got a generational wisdom gap,” says Ian Abston, the founder of the group. “We’ve got a lot of executives making decisions on behalf of younger generations. Massive decisions. And we’re never at the table.”
Abston, 36, is a Milwaukee public relations professional and serial networker. A decade ago he also founded NEWaukee, which describes itself on its website as, “a social architecture agency that designs memorable experiences that connect the people, places and companies within a city.”
If that description strikes you as a little opaque, then welcome to how things get done in the new millennium. In Hoan, Abston essentially has recreated the NEWaukee model but added two things: exclusivity and Madison.
Anybody can join NEWaukee, but Hoan is by invitation only.
“We’ve curated a group of thought leaders from every industry,” Abston says, and nearly all of them are under 40. There are about 100 members in Milwaukee and 60 in Madison.
If you know your Milwaukee history you might think that the name of the group refers to Daniel Hoan, Milwaukee’s Socialist mayor from 1916 to 1940. But Abston says it is a reference to Hoan’s namesake bridge, which cuts an arc through Milwaukee’s skyline. The group is all about building bridges and it is most definitely not about politics of any stripe.
By design there are no elected officials in Hoan, but former Madison Alds. Sara Eskrich and Scott Resnick are both members. Eskrich, 32, has hosted one of the group’s small dinners at her home.
“I’ve been impressed by how intentional they are about making personal connections before professional ones,” Eskrich says. “The idea is to build trust first. The conversations are super wide-ranging.”
At her dinner, where an even number of the guests came from each city, a developer talked about constructing a timber framed building. But they also discussed the challenges of raising families while holding down demanding jobs.
And, she says, a frequent topic is, “The generational transfer of power.”
Attorney Makda Fessahaye, 29, grew up in Milwaukee but has lived in Madison since she took a job with the state Department of Corrections in the Evers administration. She is also president of the Wisconsin Association of African American Lawyers.
“Hoan is a group of people that have a lot of influence,” Fessahaye says. “It’s a group of individuals from diverse backgrounds who have come together to start trying to figure out what’s next for Milwaukee and Madison and how the cities can work better together.
“A lot of it is about having spaces in which you feel that you are welcome and not just a token,” she says.
That would seem to be the case. Other young Madison executives of color in the group include Deputy Mayor Leslie Orrantia, CUNA Mutual Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Angela Russell and UW Health Business and Finance Manager Innocent Okechukwu, among others.
They also pride themselves on just a touch of diversity of age. Jason Ilstrup, president of Downtown Madison Inc., is one of the founders of the Madison side of the group and, at 40, he’s an elder. Craig Bartlett, co-owner of Isthmus, is also a co-founder. And also 40.
“Change moves at the speed of trust,” Ilstrup says. He’s quoting Abston. “You can’t change anything until you build trusting relationships. That’s what’s wrong in politics right now. Nobody trusts one another.”
All those I talked with see Hoan as a way of breaking down the barriers, some of which are generational, between the two cities.
“In both Milwaukee and Madison people are looking for diverse leadership,” says Abston. “But if you’re a 70-year-old CEO you might not know a 35-year-old up-and- coming African American female who might be perfect for a position on a board. And they can come to us for that access.”
The Hoan group’s goal is not to be in the spotlight, but its members soon will be. Viva the revolution.
