Events
YWCA Southeast Wisconsin hosts overwhelmingly popular and distinctive events, as well as more intimate community gatherings. Event sponsorship support and presenting partnerships are always welcome and provide remarkable public profile opportunities. Take a look at our list of signature and community focused events.
Signature Events
Advocacy
The purpose of the series is to bring awareness to YWCA SEW’s current programming initiatives, while also supporting the Racine community’s commitment to racial justice. “Evicted” highlights Desmond’s personal experiences regarding the issue of evictions and its intersection with race and class illustrated his personal encounters with his neighbors.
Join us for our first annual Boutique Bash!
Be our guest as we host a shopping event featuring designer clothing, shoes and handbags (many new with tags!), raffle prizes, refreshments, entertainment and mingling. Bring your friends and family and make a night of it! 100% of proceeds will support our work to build hope and opportunity for Racine area women. Shopping for good!
Featured brands include: Talbots, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Coach, Michael Kors, boutique brands and more—we’re loaded with great finds!
Registration for the 14th Annual An Evening to Promote Racial Justice is now open!
Keynote Speaker: Symone D. Sanders
Keynote Address Topic: “Women Behind Campaigns: Racism & Sexism in Politics”
How to Register: To register for this year’s event or purchase a program ad for this year’s souvenir booklet, click here.
Congratulations to our Racial Justice Award Winners
Meet August M. Ball, Cream City Conservation
Eliminating Racism Award Recipient
August M. Ball, founder of Cream City Conservation. Her two-prong social enterprise helps organizations institute strategies that attract and retain top talent from diverse candidate pools, making their workforce stronger, smarter and their programs more sustainable and relevant. Simultaneously, Cream City Conservation Corps cultivates the next generation of land stewards by engaging traditionally underrepresented youth in environmental career pathways. With over 14 years of program management and design experience, August has connected thousands of youth and young adults to hands-on service to public lands, outdoor recreation and first time employment experiences.
Meet Rachel Wilcox, LOTUS Legal Clinic
Empowering Women Award Recipient
Rachel is the founder and CEO of LOTUS, a Milwaukee-based legal clinic for victims of trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence. She started LOTUS while Chair and Professor of the Justice Department at Mount Mary University, where she currently teaches in the Art Therapy doctoral program. Rachel has a private practice in mediation for trusts and estates, elder law and special needs issues, and is a frequent speaker on victims’ rights, human trafficking, dispute resolution and systems change. She received a Fulbright scholarship to study modern Greek poetry before a life in law consumed her. She received the Charles C. Dunn Award for the article “Under the Radar; Human Trafficking in Wisconsin,” the Thrive award for survivor advocacy from Aurora Health Care and was named as a member of Milwaukee Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 class in 2015, and as a Woman of Influence, class of 2018 She is a 2018 “Women in Philanthropy” honoree of Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee. In June 2018, LOTUS was named Partner Organization of the Year by the National Crime Victim’s Law Institute. Rachel enjoys distance running, her husband’s maple syrup, and their two dogs.
Past speakers wowing our audiences have included:
- Dr. Michael Eric Dyson
- Robin DiAngelo
- Julianne Malveaux
- Julian Bond
- Harry Belfonte
- Eugene Robinson
- Rebecca Skloot
- Soledad O’Brien
- Tim Wise
- Donna Brazille
- Lou Gosset
- Angela Davis
- Naomi Tutu
Purchase your tickets today!
The purpose of the series is to bring awareness to YWCA SEW’s current programming initiatives, while also supporting the Racine community’s commitment to racial justice. “Evicted” highlights Desmond’s personal experiences regarding the issue of evictions and its intersection with race and class illustrated his personal encounters with his neighbors.
Join us for our bi-monthly discussions on “We Were Eight Years in Power” by Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Shorewood Public Library.
Circle of Women is an annual spring celebration of the power of women’s vision to improve individual lives and the community as a whole. YWCA Southeast Wisconsin debuted this event in 1995, the first event of its kind in metro-Milwaukee to demonstrate that the generosity of women (and those who share their commitment) can make the impossible probable.
In April 2018, we celebrated our 125th Anniversary with a distinctive celebration, Circle of Women: Empowering Truth, which highlighted highs and lows of building the YWCA over decades and the work yet to be done to build a more just community.
Save the Date!
Circle of Women 2019 – April 2nd. A visionary evening at Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel.
Every April, YWCAs across the US invite their communities to make clear their rejection of racism and all its trappings, building community among those who work to remove the barriers caused by racial injustice. Learn more about this national initiative and its history here.
Check back in January 2019 to learn YWCA Southeast Wisconsin’s plans for Stand Against Racism for April 2019.
Check out photos from YWCA Southeast Wisconsin’s past events.
Click photo to enlarge.
