Over the past year, the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families has been undergoing an extensive rebranding process. On Tuesday night, they will unveil a new name, a new look, and a renewed mission with a big party at the Majestic Theater in downtown Madison.
“Those who have loved us in the past, hopefully, they will see that we aren’t discarding what they like about us but we also know that we need to continue to change to be effective in the future,” Wisconsin Council on Children and Families Executive Director Ken Taylor tells Madison365.
Founded in 1881, the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families is the oldest multi-issue child advocacy organization in the country. “1881 is the year that the shootout at the OK Corral happened,” Taylor laughs. “It’s amazing to me that I work in an organization that has this history.”
WCCF has gone through a handful of name changes and has taken on various roles over its 100-plus years of advocating for Wisconsin’s kids and their families.
“We know that the challenges that were being confronted back in 1881 have eerily parallels to challenges we face today,” Taylor says. “One of the things that we worked on early in our history was around water quality. Guess what? One hundred and thirty-six years later, water is still an issue. We can never rest on these things.
“We do need to remain vigilant because it is so easy to backslide. Another thing that we worked on early in our history was around juvenile justice … well, guess what? Different aspects of it, but we’re still working hard on juvenile justice. Health care, education, employment. Those have been threads throughout our history,” Taylor adds. “It’s because they are the building blocks of any successful society. We’re constantly working on those kinds of things because we know that’s what leads to successful communities, successful families, and successful individuals.”
Madison365 has been sworn to secrecy, but if you come out to Majestic tomorrow night, you will find out WCCF’s new name, new look, and new mission. The evening will be emceed by Madison Magazine editor Karen Lincoln Michel and will be hosted, in part, by Intellectual Ratchet (IR), a lifestyle group with a mission to connect young, urban, professionals who seek an alternative to Madison’s typical nightlife experience. IR routinely partners with local businesses and agencies to expose their guests to a uniquely Madison experience with their creative and exciting events and get-togethers.
“We are excited about the partnership with Intellectual Ratchet. It’s really about engaging with different folks in different ways and we are experimenting with that,” Taylor says. “It’s new territory for us and we are really excited about it because in order for us to be successful, we, as the old folks that write policy reports, need to connect with younger people in other ways. We’re having a celebration that will hopefully connect with a different kind of audience than might not otherwise come to one of our events.”
(In His Eye Photography)
Taylor says that the event, and the new WCCF, is about building relationships.
“We’re hoping that through this that we can get to know some new people and we can learn,” he says. “It’s really conversation number eight, not conversation number one, where you get to the crux of things. You’re not going to share with people you don’t know. You have to build over time and we’re hoping that this can do that.”
It will be a new era for WCCF, but rest assured they will be keeping their long-term commitment to children and to equity issues.
“We hope that we continue to evolve to stay relevant,” Taylor says. “Sometimes when people hear ‘old,’ they feel that’s not current, that’s not dynamic, that’s not action-oriented … and we want to be all of those things.”
The organization – like an older person can sometimes be – can be awfully stubborn at times. “I think stubbornness is a component of our organization. What I mean by that is sticking to it … not giving up,” Taylor says. “Knowing that you have to show up to make a difference and sometimes it takes years and sometimes it feels like we’re not making headway and then the window of opportunity opens and you have to be ready for that. You have to have that kind of stubbornness and stick-to-it-ness in a positive way.”
As the organization evolves they want to make sure that they have every child and every family in Wisconsin in mind, but especially children and families of color and those furthest from opportunity. Driven by the findings of the Race to Equity Project in 2013, the organization hopes to play a more prominent role in addressing the disparities (racial, ethnic, income, etc.) that exist in Wisconsin.
“That’s been a big area of growth for us over the last four years, but we also know that we are not where we would like to be on that both internally as an organization but also as a community and a state,” Taylor says. “So, we’re trying to increase and improve our contributions to that effort which I believe is one of the fundamental challenges of our country and our community here in Dane County.”
It will take effort over time.
“How do we better engage with affected communities – particularly communities of color – and have deeper and stronger relationships so that we are working on the right things in the right ways and are contributing to a larger partnership and movement?” Taylor asks.
Ultimately, Taylor says, it’s about creating more action on equity.
“I think we’re talking about this more as a community; I don’t think we’re talking about it much as a state. In Dane County, we are definitely talking about it more. We are acting on it a little bit more but nowhere near at the scope and scale that this challenge requires,” Taylor says. “Ultimately, it’s about building power and that we collectively are answerable and accountable for the progress that we are making when it comes to racial and ethnic equity.”
WCCF has a strategy for this and part of that will be unveiled at the party at Majestic on Tuesday night. The official program starts at 6 p.m. and the unveiling of their new brand will follow shortly. “Party for the People” will start at 7 p.m.
“Former members of [UW Office of Multicultural Arts] First Wave will be performing. There will be a Wisconsin trivia event. There’s a couple phases for the event,” Taylor says. “When you get the Majestic Theater, you get it for the whole night. So the party will go on through the night with a DJ [M White] and live music.
“We’ve been around for 136 years and I think the reason that we continue to exist is because we’ve worked hard to evolve and continue to evolve to stay relevant,” Taylor adds. “This is a part of that process. We want to honor where we’ve been but we also know that we need to work differently as an organization in order to have the impact that we want to have.”
