Madison original, District alumnus, Rotary Club of Madison member, and now School District Superintendent Joe Gothard gave a wide ranging and comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing the district as it seeks to continue and improve upon the history of excellence of education in Madison. People Purpose Pride are the themes he uses to frame his vision for MMSD’s future. Education is a shared and collective effort among many stakeholders to provide opportunities to uplift students and achieve their highest potential. For Joe, being back in Madison and leading the MMSD is deeply personal. He expressed his pride in being from Madison and his goal of making Madison schools an educational destination of choice.
November 20 was our annual Manfred E. Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award presentation. Fellow Rotarian Oscar Mireles, who has done so much for the Madison community, was the recipient of the award. Our speaker was fellow Rotarian Renee Moe, President and CEO of United Way of Dane County. She spoke to us of “The Importance of Volunteering.” When Renee was 28, former Rotarian Dr. Suresh Chandra, himself a Swarsensky Award recipient, explained to her the benefits of volunteering. It inspired her. She inspired us with the knowledge that volunteering can bring us personal happiness as we help our community. United Way helps people find opportunities to help others.
For decades, Oscar Mireles has dedicated himself to volunteer community leadership and public service in the Madison area. Deeply inspired by his heritage and the values of social justice, equity and education, Oscar has been a tireless advocate for underserved communities, particularly the Latino population in Madison. His commitment to empowering others through education, poetry and civic engagement embodies the values of unity, compassion and inclusivity.
As a community leader, Oscar has significantly impacted Madison’s cultural and educational landscape. He is the long-serving Executive Director of Omega School, where he has helped thousands of marginalized individuals obtain their GEDs and unlock opportunities for a better future. Under his leadership, Omega School has become a beacon of hope for adults seeking to further their education. Furthermore, he founded the culture and arts focused non-profit, Latinos Organizing for Understanding and Development (LOUD) to share art from BIPOC artists with the community. Oscar has been a key figure in promoting arts and culture in Madison, most notably through his work as a poet and as Madison’s first Latino Poet Laureate, with three published anthologies.
Oscar’s influence extends far beyond his professional life. He has served on numerous boards and committees, lending his leadership and vision to organizations including, but not limited to, the City of Madison Cultural Planning Committee, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art(MMOCA), the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, the Friends of PBS Wisconsin and the Latino Consortium for Action.
His contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and accolades over the years, including the Dane County Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award, the Literacy Advocate of the Year Award from Wisconsin Literacy, the Outstanding Educator Award from the 100 Black Men of Madison, the Friend of Education Award from Gov. Tony Evers.
In addition to his leadership and advocacy, Oscar is a passionate mentor to young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. His work as a mentor has inspired countless students to pursue their dreams and give back to their communities. His poetry, often centered on the Latino experience and issues of social justice, has touched the lives of many and created greater awareness of the challenges faced by marginalized groups.
Described as someone who brings different groups together, despite, and because of their differences, the Rotary Club of Madison congratulates Oscar Mireles on receiving the Manfred E. Swarsensky Humanitarian Service Award for his lifetime of service and leadership.
Michael Wagner is a faculty affiliate at the Elections Research Center at UW-Madison and provided a fresh analysis of the election. His data centric presentation emphasized the impact of voters’ low approval ratings of the current administration (41%) and voter indifference to a rebounding economy. Biggest surprises? 65% of people do not want to talk about politics, Harris lost the popular vote due to weak voter turnout in bright blue states and people who consume information from diverse sources split their ticket, re-electing Tammy Baldwin. Wagner’s presentation is easily followed in the video recording on our club’s YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/_sb3EH5ntOg.
Do you want to hear more about the election results? The Elections Research Center at UW-Madison is hosting a 2024 Elections Symposium on Friday, Nov. 22. If you are interested, here is a link for more information and how to sign up: https://elections.wisc.edu/2024symposium/.
Steven Bartlett and fellow Rotarian Gary Peterson spoke to the Club about Honor Flight, which is solely engaged in flying military veterans to Washington, D.C., so that they may tour and engage with the memorials created in their honor.
All veterans, whether they served in wartime or not, are eligible. All expenses are paid for. It’s an emotional and fulfilling experience for the vets, one of whom, in a short video, referred to it as “A Dream Trip.”
Gary described the welcome he received in Washington as “unbelievable.” He urged all veterans to sign up.
Zach Brandon opened his presentation by giving a snapshot of Greater Madison in 1999 and then made some comparisons to where things stand in 2024 before ultimately projecting out to 2050.
He delivered a master statistical, fast-passed, data-driven storyline that mapped fifty years of actual and projected changes.
As an example, a house in Madison was advertised for $173,000. The same house today is listed at $461,000. Epic’s MyChart was in development. Epic’s current annual revenue is valued at $5 billion in 16 countries and MyChart is now the dominant entry point for all medical records.
Madison now ranks third in concentration of software developers and was one of 12 places to receive funding through the Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs program. Coincidentally, its housing market, even inadequate, and Madison’s amenities help rank the city among the top 20 best places to live that are also technology hubs—no wildfires, hurricanes, or major flooding. It is well-positioned with respect to current climate changes. New rapid transit buses help linear expansion throughout Dane County. Moreover, the addition of key jobs creates a multiplier of complementary services and additional residents.
And so to “Outsight: 2050” . . . For work and living, Millennials’ influx has been followed by Gen Z. Madison ranked 9th in the country, according to data released in 2023, in Gen Z net migration. Brandon uses an estimated projection for Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area 2050 population at 1,000,000, a potential increase of 300,000.
Rotary Club of Madison, Wisconsin 