Category Archives: Madison WI

April 10: Highlighting the Changing Face of Labor Migration

Posted on April 12, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Sharyn Alden

“Today, the majority of Latinos living in Wisconsin were born in the state or in the U.S.,” said Dr. Ibarra at the April 10th Rotary meeting.

Wisconsin has become a destination of choice for labor migration. Latinos now live in each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. There are as many Latinos living in Brown County, home to Green Bay, as there are in Dane County noted Armando Ibarra, UW-Madison Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the School for Workers |Department of Labor Education and Chicano and Latino Studies.

Wisconsin has seen a shift in social demographics. “Latinos choose Wisconsin because of opportunity but also because they have generational connections here,” Dr. Ibarra said.

He spoke about his own family’s history of labor migration working in the fields of California. He came of age living in migrant camps, picking peaches and kiwi fruit. This type of generational migrant work continues to this day.  His parents continue to work in the fields despite his father being 81 years old.

“In my estimation, labor migration is a very beautiful process,” he said.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/8WvkM7wUUj0.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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April 3: “Nobody Knows Who Will Win”

Posted on April 5, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Ellsworth Brown

“Nobody knows who will win,” said Professor Ken Mayer in anticipation of the universal question. Thus, he provided a framework for understanding the current presidential campaign.

Once, United States politics honored democratic systems relying on a public ethos of virtue. This “democratic bargain” honored the winner but has succumbed to a new ecosystem fueled by unlimited and unregulated social mediums, falsehoods, AI, punishment in defeat, loss of regulatory structure, and asymmetric polarization.

The forecasting model, however, depends on stable inputs and outputs, so . . . nobody knows.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/zemNwK94qj8. We’d also like to thank WisEYE for livestreaming and videotaping our guest speaker this week.

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Posted in 2. Meetings, Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker, UW-Madison

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March 13: Madison’s Startup Climate

Posted on March 15, 2024 by | Leave a comment

Submitted by: Joy Cardin

Why should we care about startups?  The CEO of StartingBlock, Scott Mosley, asked and answered that question in his presentation before the Rotary Club of Madison.  Mosley says startups are the economy’s net job creators, not small businesses as is commonly believed.  He says small businesses tend to stay small, while startups grow. 

That’s been the case with one of the startups that has benefited from the programs, funding, mentorship, office space and other services made available through StartingBlock.  Rehab Path is an online service that matches patients with mental health providers.  CEO Ben Camp says StartingBlock helped his company grow from five employees in 2019 to 60 employees today. 

Mosley also noted that Madison’s startup ecosystem is thriving and is considered the number one potential growth center in the nation.

If you missed this week’s program, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/S9TnOZnGyc0.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Weekly Rotary Guest Speaker

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February 14: The Madison Forward Fund

Posted on February 16, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Larry Larrabee

On February 14th, our Rotary Club was privileged to hear a presentation by Blake Roberts  Crall.  She is the Program Manager for the Madison Forward Fund which in 2022 launched the Basic Guaranteed Income Experiment granting individuals $500 per month for one year.  The participants’ income was below the poverty level of $14, 580 per year.  Of the 3000 individuals who qualified, 2000 applied for the program with 150 being selected at random.  Of the participants, 82% were women with 49% being Black and 18% being Latino.  The yearend analysis is not yet complete, but the 8 effectiveness measures included such things as financial stability, mental and physical health, work force participation and housing security.

If you missed this program, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/w2Lpd1lrTz4.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker

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January 10: A Refugee Family’s Journey to America

Posted on January 12, 2024 by | Leave a comment

–submitted by Jessika Kasten

Professor Nam Kim spoke about his family’s refugee journey to flee danger and pursue the American Dream. Dr. Kim’s father was born in Korea and was separated from his family during the Korean War; his mother was born in Vietnam. They met and married in Vietnam, and fled to the Philippines, Guam and eventually the United States during the evacuation of Saigon. Ultimately, this is a story of hope and resilience, even through unfathomable adversity. Dr. Kim asked the group to consider the many ways of being “American,” as well as the complex identities and heritages of others.

If you missed our meeting this week, you can watch it here:  https://youtu.be/bQzzT3oSUPw.

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Posted in Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison, Rotary Club of Madison Guest Speaker, Rotary Weekly Guest Speaker

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2023 Mitch Javid Award Recipient: Ron Luskin

Posted on December 13, 2023 by | Leave a comment

–presented by Jason Ilstrup on December 13, 2023

Our Member Recruitment Team continues to encourage all of us to think about individuals in our circle of friends, work colleagues and family members who would make good additions to our Rotary Club. 

The committee created an award in 2014 to recognize a member who is excelling at sponsoring new members into our club.  The award is named after Rotarian Mitch Javid (jah-VEED) Award as a way to honor him for holding the club’s record for sponsoring the highest number of new members. We annually recognize the member who has served as the primary sponsor to the most new members for the past 3 years–and who are still in our club. 

Here’s a little background on Mitch Javid.  He was a member our club from 1968 until his death in 2021.  Mitch sponsored 56 members and co-sponsored another 10 members.  This distinguished and very busy member who was chairman of the UW Department of Neurosurgery said, “I love Rotary.  It is very dear to me. I believe in it and so I want to share it with other good people.”   

Ron Luskin (right) pictured here with Club President Charles McLimans

This year’s recipient, for a third year in a row, is Ron Luskin, who joined our club in 2014. 

Since joining, Ron has been active on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and is a past co-chair.  He has been involved in planning our Ethics Symposium, Program, Rotaract, Rotary Scholar Mentoring, Vocational Opportunities and Swarsensky Award Committees. Ron is a past Member Recruitment Officer for our club as well.

Ron has served as the primary sponsor to 12 new members since 2020.  They are: 

Kalvin Barrett, Jason Beloungy, Shawn Carney, Bill Connors, Baltazar De Anda Santana, Kai Gardner Mishlove, Jason Fields, Peter Gray, Alan Klugman, Kyle Nondorf, Jara Rios-Rodriguez and Jeremiah Robinson.

Let’s congratulate Ron, on receiving the Mitch Javid again this year!  

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Posted in 8. Honors, Club Service Award, Madison WI, Rotary Club of Madison

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