On Wednesday evening, 200 people celebrated Milwaukee Magazine’s Unity Awards at Pilot Project Brewing. For the second year, the inspiring event was emceed by Judge Derek Mosley, the Director of the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education at Marquette University Law School.
This year’s honorees included: Damian Buchman, the founder of The Ability Center; Jim Gaillard, the founder of WHIRE and Vice President of Ezekiel HOPE; Mary Joy Hickey, the Executive Director at Girls Rock MKE; the Pathfinders’ Power of Paths Youth Action Board; andVenice Williams, the Executive Director of Alice’s Garden and Founder of The Table.
Read more about the honorees here.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
Mosley spoke with each honoree about their remarkable work:
“We are listening to those young people that will be our future,” said DeShanda Williams-Clark, Pathfinders’ Chief Program Officer. “When we invest in elevating the voices and empowering the voices of youn people, we’re investing in all of our futures.”
“Pathfinders definitely has compassionate people. They’re so understanding and supportive,” said Zee Hull, a member of the Power of Paths Youth Action Board.
“Never does one person stand on a stage and receive an award,” said Venice Williams. “In this case especially, it’s about a city that knows how to come together and knows how to build bridges and not walls and knows what it means to be resilient and strong and loving and compassionate in spite of every single thing that goes on in this country and this world.”
“There’s something about when you are in a space – when you are surrounded by supportive mentors and peers and allowed to be truly yourself and encouraged to express that … you learn to face the challenge ahead of you and overcome it and get on stage and do something you never thought you could do,” said Mary Joy Hickey.
“I learned that we have more in common than we have differences,” said Jim Gaillard. “I believe we all are great. We all have something that we do better than anyone else in the world.”
“I think one of the coolest things I’ve seen in the disability community is that it embraces everybody,” said Damian Buchman. “Unity reigns in our gyms, in our spaces, in our places.”
Our thanks to the event’s sponsors – Quad, Aon, US Bank, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Outpost Co-op, Ezekial HOPE, Barry J. Goldman CPA LCC, Horwath Family Builders and Milwaukee Airwaves – for making the night possible.
Photos:
PHOTOS BY SAMER GHANI
