Greg Jones and Nia Trammell will be honored with 2019 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Equal Opportunity Awards at the Urban League of Greater Madison’s Urban Cabaret 2019, which will be held Friday, Oct. 11, at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.
The Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award is given by boards of directors of Urban League affiliates across the country in memory of the great civil rights leader and former head of the National Urban League. Young was one of America’s most charismatic, courageous and influential civil rights pioneers. He worked tirelessly to gain access for African Americans to good jobs, education, housing, health care and social services.
Among the past winners of the prestigious award are Madison civil rights activists and community members like Stephen Braunginn, LaMarr Billups. Addrena Squires, Rev. Alex Gee, Karen Seno, Mona Adams Winston, Sydney Forbes, Dr. Charles Taylor, Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, and Dr. Muriel Simms.
Greg Jones has held positions in higher education and Wisconsin state government since graduating from college. Jones worked as an admissions counselor and minority student advisor at UW-Eau Claire and financial aids counselor at UW-Madison. In Wisconsin government, he worked for the Governor’s Office, Departments of Public Instruction, Health and Social Services, Corrections, Employment Relations, Workforce Development and Commerce. Jones has held positions as budget and management analyst, program and planning analyst, equal opportunity specialist, training officer, supervisor, and administrator.
Jones has served on a variety of boards and committees including the SS Morris AME Steward Board; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); Urban League of Greater Madison; UW Eau Claire Alumni Association; Wisconsin Association of Black Public Sector Employees; Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Wisconsin Partnership Committee; and Wisconsin Association of Equal Opportunity.
Jones currently serves as president of the Dane County NAACP. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute, Chair of the NAACP Wisconsin Conference of Branches Political Action Committee, Dignity at Work Steering Committee, Chair of the Dane County Equity and Inclusion Advisory Board, Tri Chair of the Wisconsin Poor Peoples Campaign, Co-Chair of the United Way Law Enforcement Leaders of Color Collaboration, Past Co-Chair of the United Way Community Solutions Team on Income, and former Chair of the City of Fitchburg Police and Fire Commission.
Nia Trammell joined Governor Tony Evers’ administration in 2019 and is the Deputy Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. Previously, she served as an Administrative Law Judge for the State of Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Division, making her the first African-American woman to hold that position.
Trammell is a Commissioner and the President of the Madison Police and Fire Commission, as well as a member of service-based organizations Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., and the Madison Metropolitan Chapter of the Links, Inc. She has also served as the President of the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission. Trammell has been a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters and a board member of Dane County Court Appointed Special Advocates, where she volunteered with the courts to represent the interests of abused and neglected children. She helped found the Madison Network of Black Professionals, which focuses on connecting and creating professional development opportunities for members.
Trammell has been recognized as one of “44 Most Influential African Americans in Wisconsin” by Madison365 in 2017 and was acknowledged as part of the “Changing Face of Madison’s Leadership” by Madison Magazine. She is a YWCA of Dane County Woman of Distinction and a Brava Magazine Women to Watch.
