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Wednesday, May 24, 2017
As reported by Henry Sanders in Madison365
Over the last two years, we have published lists of the most influential African Americans and Latinos in Wisconsin. I intended these lists to highlight the beauty of the diversity in our community. I wanted kids here in Wisconsin to see role models of people who are succeeding, to know that it’s possible for people of color to achieve great things here, and to highlight people of color doing great work in a variety of fields and pursuits.
That’s exactly what our previous lists accomplished, and what we hope to continue with this week’s list — the second annual list of the state’s most powerful Latinos.
This list couldn’t possibly include every Latino doing good work in the community. It does, however, introduce you to some people you’ve never heard of who are doing great things in other parts of the state or simply working behind the scenes, doing the work without the accolades.
It was important for us to expand the way we think about influence, and to highlight more of the people doing what it takes to improve their community. That’s one reason this list is entirely new — we considered anyone named on last year’s list to be ineligible for this one, even though most of them continue to wield considerable influence.
Over the next five days, I pray you learn something you didn’t know about some of the real leaders in communities throughout Wisconsin. Now more than ever, it’s critical to recognize and highlight our neighbors whose stories begin elsewhere, or who trace their roots to other parts of the world. Only then will we truly appreciate the contributions we all make to the prosperity of our communities, our state and our nation.
This is the first in a five-part series highlighting Wisconsin residents of Latino heritage who have accomplished great things and made a real impact in business, education, government, media and the nonprofit sector.
Brenda González (Above) has worked for many years to help healthcare organizations move toward health equity. She is currently diversity manager at Agrace, Wisconsin’s largest nonprofit palliative care and hospice agency. She works to implement strategies for Agrace to improve access to diverse and underserved patients and assist the agency in ensuring that its staff and volunteer workforce reflects the diversity of the communities they serve. Gonzalez also oversees Agrace’s minority Certified Nursing Assistant and Emergency Medical Technician scholarship programs for graduating high school seniors and non-traditional students. Gonzalez previously served on the Agrace Foundation’s board of directors and the staff of Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin (GHC-SCW), where she served as community marketing and health equity manager. She has more than 20 years’ experience collaborating in the Madison community helping people navigate the complexities of our healthcare system, especially among linguistically and financially isolated communities. She’s also a passionate and energetic dancer and shameless evangelist for local music and dancing, serving several years on the Board of Directors of Dane Dances.
To read the rest of the article on Madison 365, click here. Para leer en español, haga clic aquí.
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