Milwaukee Succeeds in MCW’s Community Engagement Spotlight
On October 29, Milwaukee Succeeds’ director of research, Kristen Kappelman, joined the Medical College of Wisconsin’s (MCW) community engagement team for their Community Engagement Spotlight Series podcast. The October session featured the Opportunity Youth Project - a new collaborative effort led by community organizations, local education and workforce advocates, Marquette University and MCW.
The session was facilitated by David Nelson, professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at MCW. In addition to Kristin, Gabriel Velez, associate professor in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership at Marquette University, and Bevin Christie, founder and principal consultant at Pivot Consulting, joined to discuss the project and the impact of centering young people in decision-making.
The project centers on amplifying the voices of Milwaukee’s opportunity youth - young people who are often disconnected from school and work - and training them as researchers and partners. The goal: to ensure youth define what thriving looks like and shape the changes needed to get there.
In the conversation, Kristen discussed the impact of elevating youth voice in Milwaukee, sharing how the Autonomous Youth Council grew directly from what young people said they wanted.
“It just shows the power of youth voice, leadership and development that we can have in Milwaukee when you choose to listen to what they want to learn and how we can best incorporate them,” she said.
Kristen also emphasized the importance of centering community and lived experience in research: “I can make assumptions as a researcher as to what might be needed, and I’m probably going to be wrong if I don’t have experience in that space. That’s why it’s so important to hear from the community - so I can check my assumptions and bias, and so the community can get what they need to be successful.”
The discussion highlighted Milwaukee Succeeds’ approach to combining data and storytelling - head and heart - to drive change, and the importance of using asset-based language, meeting community where they are and compensating partners for their expertise
🎧 Watch the full conversation above to hear more about how Milwaukee is uplifting youth voice and advancing community-driven research.