On Wednesday, 200 people celebrated Milwaukee Magazine’s Unity Awards at GATHER at Deer District. The inspiring event brought this year’s honorees together for a panel discussion about how to make Milwaukee a more diverse and equitable city, moderated by Tammy Belton-Davis, the founder and president of Athena Communications.

“What I love about this conversation is the diversity of perspectives,” said Belton-Davis. “We can continue to have conversations and dialogue about what we think is critical and important, and we may not see it the same way. … I’m a native Milwaukeean and I recognize that my city is faced with a lot of challenges. But what I will not do is engage in a conversation that is only focused on the challenges. Most of you that are in this room tonight have been people who’ve been engaged in solutions, who’ve been engaged in real change, and if you haven’t, I hope that you feel inspired to do something different.”

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This year’s honorees spoke about ongoing systemic problems in the city and ways to contribute to the positive work being done to improve things. They included TRUE Skool, Bishop Walter Harvey, Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Adam Carr and Tammy Rivera. Deanna Singh was also honored with a Unity Award this year, but was unable to attend the event due to prior commitments. Read more about the honorees and their remarkable work here.

Our thanks to the event’s sponsors – Quad, Stella & Chewy’s, Church Mutual, HGA, Alverno College, Graef, Aon and Parnell Accounting Solutions – for making the night possible.