A large group of community members came together last night at Bandung Indonesian Restaurant on Madison’s near east side to celebrate talented black women making some amazing transitions in the greater Madison area.
“We decided to highlight the various promotions of women in our community because we felt it presented a powerful and positive narrative of black women. More and more of us are being recognized for the talents and skill-sets we contribute to our employers and our community, and we are being considered for key positions,” Nia Enemuoh-Trammell, one of the women being honored at the event, tells Madison365. “More importantly, though, when people that look like us move into positions that give us a seat at the table, it opens opportunities to influence policy and change the face of our workplaces in ways that might not have otherwise been considered. Moving forward, my hope is to continue highlighting the many rich ways black women make a difference in this city and our county, and connect black women who are interested in enhancing and advancing their careers.”
The celebration was about all black women in the community and about #blackgirlmagic, in general, but it was specifically to recognize area women for their recent promotions and advancements in the community.
◆ Dawn Crim has been appointed as the Assistant State Superintendent for the Division for Student and School Success at the State of Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This Division strives to ensure that all children attain proficiency in meeting the Wisconsin Academic Standards. Through the appointment, which begins in August 2017, Crim will oversee four units within the Division, including the Office of Educational Accountability, the Office of Student Assessment, the Title I and School Support Team, and the Wisconsin Educational Opportunity Programs and Urban Education Team.
◆ Nia Enemuoh-Trammell has been appointed as the Senior Administrative Law Judge – Training for the Office of Worker’s Compensation Hearings (OWCH) within the State of Wisconsin’s Division of Hearings and Appeals. Trammell will continue presiding over hearings and adjudicating the rights of injured workers. Her added responsibilities include overseeing the recruitment and retention efforts of OWCH and shepherding the training needs of administrative law judges and staff at OWCH. This promotion will make Trammell the youngest and first African-American woman to hold a Senior Judge position at OWCH.
◆ Christina Outlay, an assistant professor in the Information Technology & Supply Chain Management Department at UW-Whitewater, has been approved for promotion and tenure. In addition to her teaching duties, Outlay is the creator of Colorcoded, an enrichments program that encourages girls, minorities and low-income kids to take an interest in programming. Additionally, she has helped run the CyberGirlz and CyberHigh summer camps at UW-Whitewater. These camps aim to address the lack of diversity in the IT field by exposing minorities and low-income youth to the sector.
◆ Annette Miller will be transitioning from MGE to launch EQT by Design, which will offer “design thinking for inclusive, equitable people-centered outcomes”. Among other things, the business will offer consulting services to help design, grow and build organizational capacity to meet corporate and organizational equity and inclusion objectives and vision. EQT by Design is poised to be a strategic advisor to help organizations and companies understand how to develop and design their engagement and inclusion outcomes to meet their needs of diversity today and tomorrow.
“I was excited to share and celebrate. If we are going to work hard for each other and this community, let us also celebrate and revel in the success together as sisters,” Miller tells Madison365. “Many times we keep our nose to the ground without truly taking time to celebrate the real effort and intention in working to be leaders in our own ways in the work we do. I also think it is important that this community know that we have talented men and women of color at high levels who get important, vital work done for everyone in this community. We have a lot to be proud of and so let’s share it and shout it out!”
Omega School Executive Director Oscar Mireles, Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson and Carl Hampton, the special assistant to the UW System President Ray Cross for Diversity and Inclusion, presented each of the women with a plaque with their pictures on it to commemorate the day.
“Each of these women plays a crucial role in our community from being great mothers, board members, and community leaders,” Johnson tells Madison365. “They are mothers who balance work and family life activities and are examples of mothers who are thriving and doing well. It was an honor to provide them with a small token of our appreciation from a few good men in the community.”
