Milwaukee’s diversity is part of what makes it so special. But Cream City can’t reach its full potential unless all of its people – regardless of race, gender identity or sexuality – share the opportunity to thrive in every arena of their lives.
Statistics paint a grim picture in many areas, but all around our city, tireless and passionate Milwaukeeans committed to reimagining and enacting equity and inclusion are paving the way toward a brighter future.
For the fourth consecutive year, Milwaukee Magazine is honored to recognize some of the change-makers leading us to a better Cream City. Each of this year’s Unity Award winners has a unique story and mission fueling their work, but they share a commitment to seeing Milwaukee – in its entirety – flourish.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
Meet This Year’s Winners:
Felice Green
From volunteering with voter registration drives, to advocating for safe streets in Milwaukee for pedestrians and bicyclists, Felice Green is a change agent in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood. Most recently, Green has led Milwaukee Water Commons’ Branch Out Milwaukee initiative, addressing social and environmental justice by reforesting underserved neighborhoods.
The program, launched in Sherman Park in 2022, plants trees in public areas as a practical step toward addressing climate change and improving public health. Along with serving on the neighborhood tree board, a group of volunteers who help guide decisions about nearby green spaces, Green is at the helm of community programs that educate locals about environmental issues and planting and caring for their own trees. So far, three vacant lots have been transformed by locals coming together for a greener Sherman Park.
Maya Ophelia’s
The couple Chase and Jack Roldan run Maya Ophelia’s food truck, serving locally sourced, plant-based comfort food inspired by their Filipino and Mexican heritage, and the pop-up bakery Moon Cherry Sweet.
Their impact is so much more than the food they serve: The pair aims to cultivate community through food and create a safe space for marginalized people to gather and share meals at their food truck and catering events, all the while promoting a message of inclusion and acceptance to a broad audience. They’ve gained national attention in Bon Appétit for their efforts to serve food at no cost to the trans community, who often incur significant medical costs in their transition care.
Cheryl Blue
The executive director of the 30th Street Industrial Corridor, Cheryl Blue works tirelessly to expand Milwaukee’s renaissance to include an area that was once a key cog of the city’s industrial machine. The dynamic, passionate Blue has been a transformative leader for the economic development agency in a predominantly Black neighborhood, helping revitalize empty industrial sites while also maximizing the organization’s impact on housing, services and recreational resources in the area.
She’s coordinating a rails-to-trails initiative to better connect residents to the city beyond, and is working with the Community Development Alliance to build single-family homes on vacant lots. She also spearheaded an initiative that restored 25 homes in the Garden Homes neighborhood, the first municipal public housing cooperative in the country.
Dan Terrio
As Milwaukee County’s first diversity, equity and inclusion director, Dan Terrio is tasked with creating a workplace in which 4,000 employees feel like they belong. Along with promoting diverse hiring practices, Terrio – one of the only Native American and LGBTQ+ leaders within Milwaukee County – creates and implements DEI policies and education that guide the entire workforce.
In less than three years in the position, he has created the county’s first DEI Council, bringing together 45 employees from 20 departments to address workforce needs, and implemented a pronoun usage guide and gender-affirming policies for transitioning employees. A charismatic communicator, Terrio also regularly coaches county leaders and employees in DEI best practices, all with the goal of helping the workforce better serve the county.
Jerry Johnson
Milwaukee native Jerry Johnson vice president community manager at JPMorgan Chase, is on the ground equipping residents and businesses in the Black community with tools to build generational wealth. Through free resources such as weekly financial literacy workshops and home-buying seminars and connections to housing and job opportunities, Johnson empowers marginalized people to overcome systemic barriers to financial well-being.
After learning of the burden caused by criminal justice debt, he also pioneered an education program at the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center to encourage financial literacy among the incarcerated. As he fosters relationships with a community that has historically distrusted the financial sector, Johnson is evolving community banking into community revitalization.
