Carl Hampton has become the newest member of One City Schools’ leadership team having recently started the position of vice president of government relations and policy.
“I’m fortunate to be at the elementary school every day at the school offices as well as at the preschool once a week and so I’m able to see these scholars and interact with them and see their bright eyes and smiles and really see the future of the Madison area, which is something I’ve been always a part of since I came here 16 years ago,” Hampton tells Madison365.
“One City Scholars are our future leaders and future community contributors and so I feel honored to be their advocate and work on government relations policy for these scholars as well as the greater community in Madison,” he adds.
One City Schools is a Madison-area public charter school with the mission to “seed a new model of public education that ensures children and teens are on track to succeed in a college or career preparatory program from birth through high school graduation.”
“We are excited to have Carl join our team,” One City Schools CEO Kaleem Caire tells Madison365. “With the current challenges public schools and early childhood education face locally and nationally, it helps to have someone on our team with Carl’s education and legal background, and broad experience working at various levels of public policy, guiding our government relations, public policy and compliance efforts.
“Carl is well known and well-connected in public service across Wisconsin, and we will lean on his expertise to help us solidify financial and policy support for One City, and independent public charter schools and early childhood education, in our state,” Caire adds.
In his new role, according to a press release from One City, Hampton will lead the planning, implementation, oversight and management of all policy and governmental relations initiatives, including policy strategy, analysis, and development; legislative engagement; government relations and communications; compliance with all relevant laws, policies, and regulations; and community education about policies affecting One City’s schools and PK12 education in Dane County and Wisconsin.
“The role is basically a chief advocate for the school working with the DPI (Department of Public Instruction), for instance, and working with the state and federal government entities and moving One City’s priorities as far as policy as well as government relations priorities,” Hampton says.
A legal complaint filed last month that alleges Wisconsin’s decades-old school choice program violates the state Constitution is something that would affect One City Schools.
“We have an external threat as far as this lawsuit that is happening. It’s trying to claim that we are unconstitutional,” Hampton says. “So really advocating for that and working with government entities…. obviously, the lawyers will handle that but I think the key thing is really working with community input to make sure people know about the lawsuit.”
Before joining One City Schools, Hampton served as the division administrator for Policy Development at the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS). In this role, Hampton was responsible for providing policy guidance and executive support to professional boards across Wisconsin by facilitating Board meetings, serving as a liaison between the Boards and DSPS, and managing the administrative rule promulgation process for self-regulated professional careers. Hampton was also responsible for continuing education and examination requirements for regulated professions, and administration of DSPS’ Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).
Hampton has also been a senior leader at the University of Wisconsin reporting directly to the president.
“He served as the chief strategist, senior thought partner, and primary liaison to advance the president’s vision of educational excellence across all 13 four-year and 13-two-year UW campuses,” One City said in a press release introducing Hampton. “He collaborated with key stakeholders internally and externally, particularly in support of the Universities of Wisconsin pre-college programming. He also built and maintained strong relationships with representatives of historically underserved and marginalized communities, government agencies, the private sector, and community-based organizations across Wisconsin.”
Hampton holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Law and earned a bachelor of arts in political science from Stanford University.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to make connections on every level of government,” says Hampton. “I think the experiences I have had and the connections I have made will help One City as far as our policy agenda, our compliance agenda, and being able to prepare us proactively for the future challenges we have as a growing charter school.”
Before the Universities of Wisconsin, Hampton was a senior-level Chief of Staff to a University of Wisconsin-Madison Vice Provost responsible for management, strategic direction and leadership responsibilities of the division which had oversight of institutional-wide strategic educational excellence initiatives. Prior to the UW-Madison, Hampton served as an administrator, policy advisor, and legislative aide to a governor, United States Senator and Dane County Executive.
“I was really interested in this position from seeing Kaleem’s leadership as far as charter schools in our community. I believe my experience in government relations on the state, federal, and local level, as well as the UW system, prepares me for this role to be an advocate for what’s best for these scholars at One City,” Hampton says.
Hampton began his official duties at One City on Oct. 16, succeeding Latoya Holiday, who now serves as executive director of the Minority Student Achievement Network, an organization administered through the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“My goal is to help us continue to grow as a charter school and to be compliant as far as what we need to do to be successful as a charter school to teach these future leaders in our school that are so needed in our community,” Hampton says.
