With great community support, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture reaches its $31M goal for its historic capital campaign

Throughout the United States today, Americans are celebrating the major historic milestone of Juneteenth, a federal holiday that recognizes the freedom of formerly enslaved Black people. On that very same day, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture chose to announce that it has officially achieved its $31 million capital campaign goal for a fully funded, debt-free construction of its transformational cultural education and economic center “intended to realize Black excellence embedded in the greater Madison community.”

The milestone comes exactly one year after the official groundbreaking for The Center and just over three years since launching the campaign. Dr. Alex Gee, founder and CEO of The Center, gave Madison365 and other area media outlets a “first look” inside the historic building as it is being built on Wednesday, nearly one year after it officially broke ground. 

“On June 19th, 2024 — Juneteenth — we broke ground with shovels and throwing dirt, saying, ‘We’re going to build this Center for Black Excellence and Culture.’ One year later to the day, we are here having raised a historic amount — $31 million — to completely pay for the construction of this facility,” Gee said. “There will be absolutely no debt on this facility, and I want to say that I did not raise that money … the community did.”

The Center for Black Excellence and Culture  will be a place to cultivate and celebrate African American culture when it is finished, which Gee tells Madison365 will be “in December of this year.” Over 300 Black donors helped kick off The Center’s campaign in late 2021, creating a groundswell of support from the Black community.

“The listening sessions, the architect, our advisors, our board, all came around to make this happen,” Gee said. “Most importantly, the broader community understood that this was important, not only to the vitality and the sense of flourishing for the Black community, but [for] our well-being, our mental health and our physical health.”

Upon completion, the Center for Black Excellence and Culture will be a 37,000 square-foot cultural center where Black residents and others throughout the community can gather to plan for and celebrate current and future growth and advancement.

“I’m proud to be a southsider. I’ve lived, worked or owned property in South Madison for the last 50 years. This is where my family raised me. I went to college from this community. I worked for this community, and now I get to give back to a community that has given me so much,” Gee said.

“We have ended our construction campaign. We need to now pivot and start thinking about programs and building maintenance, but from this point on, there’s no more money to raise for this facility,” Gee continued. “Now my work and the work of my team is to make sure that our programs are ready to run when this building is completed in December this year.”

Gee, 61, tipped his hat to the younger generation of Black leaders whom he says he will be “handing that baton over to” and will be leading Madison and beyond for decades.

“I have served this community in a number of capacities, as a paper boy, as an admissions officer for the University of Wisconsin, as a nonprofit leader, as Madison’s longest-serving faith leader,” he said. “And I’ve always thought about generations behind me because of those who thought about me as they were working, but I feel that I stand on the shoulders of the people who have served this community so well.

“But there are brilliant young adults who I think are more innovative, more creative. They’ve got technical savvy. I think that they can take this even further. It’s been important for us to walk them through this space to say, ‘This is not for my generation. We’ve had our time. We’re about to retire, but we need to make sure this works for you.”

The campaign had numerous lead contributors who gave $1 million or more, according to a press release from The Center, including the State of Wisconsin, Dane County, Ascendium, American Family Insurance Dreams Foundation, Summit Credit Union, TruStage, and federal grants championed by Senator Tammy Baldwin and Representative Mark Pocan. Summit Credit Union’s $2 million gift, presented by president & CEO Kim Sponem at the capital campaign launch, was instrumental in generating early momentum. Ascendium was another of The Center’s early lead donors. During the final stretch of the campaign, Ascendium provided a monumental second gift earlier this month, contributing $626,000 to complete The Center’s capital campaign and ensure a debt-free opening.

Upon completion, the lower level of the Center will have a theater, an art production studio and an event space. The main level will feature a multi-level lobby space, meeting rooms, a recording studio, a senior center, a gift shop, and a gallery. The upper level will be comprised of offices for the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development, conference rooms, a kitchen, a coworking space, a women’s center, as well as a private lounge and patio.

“We still need the same community that got us this far to continue supporting us. It’s taken us about three and a half years to do this, and we open our doors in six months,” Gee said. “We want the community to know that their commitment and philanthropy and belief in our vision and our community got us here. We want to maintain this, and we want this to be sprawling with programming that will make this a destination, not only for the state of Wisconsin, but the region, because nothing like this exists.”