No matter the day or event, Katie and Jay Sekelsky have a range of affiliations: parent, volunteer fundraiser, philanthropist, business leader, alumni and caring community member. Because of their involvement in all of those roles and the lasting change they’ve created in Dane County, the Sekelskys will now also be known as Tocqueville Society Honorees. On October 8th, we celebrated Jay and Katie at our annual Tocqueville Society Membership Dinner.  

“We believe that our lives have been enriched, by the giving of our time and treasure over the years,” Jay explained that evening. “We think giving, is both a privilege and a responsibility, and we are grateful to be able to do so.” 

Katie and Jay have been United Way of Dane County advocates since beginning their professional careers, in neonatal care and wealth management, respectively. They joined the Tocqueville Society in 2001 at the invitation of Londa and Walter Dewey, and have since endowed their support through our United Way Foundation and the Tocqueville Legacy Circle. Their volunteer roles and contributions have advanced United Way’s mission, creating family and community well-being for generations. “Jay and Katie Sekelsky have made a long term positive impact in our community,” reflects Londa Dewey, CEO of The QTI Group. “They effectively and loyally contribute time, talent and generous resources to a wide variety of community organizations, humbly and often without fanfare.” 

Their volunteer involvement is lengthy. Katie was an original member of United Way’s Women’s Initiative in 2004 and has volunteered for Days of Caring projects. Jay has chaired the Board of Directors and Foundation Board of Trustees. He has served on the Basic Needs Community Solutions Team, Housing Delegation, Board Revenue Committee among other roles. Jay and Katie’s philanthropy includes other community-wide gifts for annual and capital campaigns, endowments and volunteer service.  

As initial donors to United Way’s Affordable Housing Fund, the Sekelskys’ shared how they are acknowledging their Tocqueville recognition. “In the past, recipients of the Tocqueville award have given a gift to attendees or to United Way in some way.  In keeping with the theme of our talk – Impact, Gratitude and Hope – we recently made a new investment in the Affordable Housing Fund.  We hope it may inspire others to do so.  We would be very pleased if that were to happen.” 

Their generosity uplifts many in Dane County —from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (their shared alma mater) to nonprofit organizations in healthcare, housing and family stability. When Katie and Jay invest in a cause, others take notice! They’ve inspired donors to participate in capital campaigns, endowment funds and current impact. United Way has benefitted from their thought leadership, volunteer support and financial investments —public endorsement, behind the scenes giving, current support and planned gift commitments.  

Thank you, Katie and Jay, for a wonderful evening, your long history with United Way and your hopeful investments for our community’s future! 

At the end of July, Tocqueville members came together at TruStage to learn how we work together to address family homelessness in our community and ensure that families have access to safe, affordable housing. TruStage CEO, Terrance Williams, welcomed fellow members, reflecting on the housing challenges in Dane County, and announcing their generous $650,000 gift which will provide support to ensure stability in housing for families.   

Tocqueville Cabinet Chair, Cheryl DeMars, kicked off our conversation, followed by Renee Moe, who set the scene for the ways housing fits into the Plan for Community Well-Being’s financial stability goal. Angela Jones, our Director of Community Impact, Financial Security, led a frank discussion outlining the housing challenges neighbors face across our community, including describing the embarrassing experience of eviction, the negative impacts from that, and ways we are working with families and landlords to keep families housed. She also shared powerful stories of individual families who have received critical support including rapid rehousing, increasing housing stability, and reducing school mobility. We heard thoughts and questions from many of our Affordable Housing Fund Committee members, leading to an insightful discussion about the impact we can have to ensure as our community continues to grow, our most vulnerable neighbors aren’t left behind. 

Learn more about our strategy to reduce homelessness, increase jobs skills training and provide re-entry support here. 

Thank you to BMO for sponsoring. 

I’m thrilled to share with you that our HIRE initiative’s new workforce delegation is launching at the end of this month! 

Thanks to the work of the delegation as well as a generous new grant from Ascendium Education Group to create demand-driven, short-term training programs to get people into higher-paying, specialized positions, we’re working together to help our neighbors secure reliable work making family-sustaining wages. 

At our recent Tocqueville Conversation, we discussed the rapidly increasing population and cost of living in Dane County and how that’s impacting hard-working families – especially those with children. Today, a single adult living in Dane County needs to earn $28/hour (almost four times Wisconsin’s minimum wage) to lead a stable, successful life. But we can help. 

One of the ways United Way is working to empower more people to find pathways out of poverty is through our HIRE Initiative – fostering opportunities for our neighbors to gain financial security through better jobs. Thanks to Tocqueville leaders and investors like Jack Salzwedel, Diane Ballweg, Dave Beck-Engel and many more, we launched HIRE in 2013. 

Alongside community partners, we’ve helped more than 3,000 people secure reliable work making family-sustaining wages. But there’s still so much to be done. That’s why I’m thrilled to share with you that our HIRE initiative’s new workforce delegation is launching at the end of this month! 

The delegation, chaired by fellow Tocqueville member Lisa Barton, CEO of Alliant Energy, and Seth Lentz, CEO of the Workforce Development Board of South-Central Wisconsin, is made up of 21 individuals across sectors including educators from MMSD and Madison College. Together, these community leaders will take an in-depth look at existing strategies, how they respond to current needs and gaps in our workforce and make recommendations for the future.  

Additionally, HIRE has been awarded a generous grant from Ascendium Education Group to create demand-driven, short-term training programs to get people into higher-paying, specialized positions. Through this grant, we’ll design programs that will not only provide stable employment but fill critical gaps in the workforce.  

Many of you have a critical role to play in this process as employers. If you’d like to get involved, please reach out to Bill Clingan, Program Manager, Community Impact at bill.clingan@uwdc.org. 

Your continued investments have allowed us to break down barriers and prepare people for employment. Thank you for continuing to champion this work through Tocqueville! I’m so proud of what we’re accomplishing together.

The conversation was facilitated by Tocqueville Cabinet Chair Cheryl DeMars, and lead by our Community Impact Director of Health, Uchenna “Uno” Jones BSN, RN, CLC. Uchenna was recently honored as a BRAVA Women To Watch and in Madison365’s Most Influential Black Leaders for 2023 List. She shared the impact Tocqueville members are having in creating a healthy community through United Way, specifically through Youth Mental Well-Being Programs, Maternal Child Health Programs and Other Health Programs, in addition to her lived experience as a doula, a nurse and an executive director. Renee Moe provided context for how this fits into the entirety of United Way’s Plan for Community Well-Being.  

Many asked questions and shared ideas for propelling the work, and called on local experts in the room to help provide more context. We were grateful for the authenticity and vulnerability of those who attended.  

You can see a summary of the impact of United Way’s Health work here. 

Thank you to BMO for sponsoring and to Findorff for hosting.  

The Schlageters have carried those lessons forward to their blended family of six adult kids (with four in-laws) and eight grandchildren. Mary has fond memories of volunteering with her sons, ensuring that Madison’s most vulnerable families had access to meals and other basic needs. Today her sons maintain their community service living in Madison and Milwaukee. Meanwhile, one of Mike’s daughters is a development director for a large nonprofit on the East Coast. 

After college, and into their busy careers while raising their families, Mike and Mary found that financial donations were how they could best give back. Mary graduated from UW-Eau Claire and spent nearly 30 years working in public utilities in facilities management. Mike’s 35-year career in investment management followed his degree from the University of Notre Dame. They became United Way Loyal Contributors through the ease of workplace giving and their employers’ endorsements. At Alliant Energy/Wisconsin Power & Light, Mary first ‘gave at the office’ in 1983 and was a regular Days of Caring volunteer. Mike led the way at Madison Investment Advisors. 

Their household joined the Tocqueville Society in 2002. “We continue to give to United Way,” the couple explains, “as we see first-hand their successes and believe them to be wonderful stewards of our charitable dollars.” Mike and Mary’s belief in United Way extends to future giving, too. When asked to establish a named fund in the United Way Foundation and to endow their support, they agreed to join the Tocqueville Legacy Circle. “We have put United Way in our estate planning, as we want their excellent work to continue well after we are gone.” 

While future needs are yet to be determined, Mary and Mike recognize the significant roles for collaboration, partnership and philanthropy today: “Like many places, divisiveness in the community can threaten to tear us apart. There is also a large gap between the haves and have-nots. To us, United Way tries to bridge these gaps and has had great success.” 

Even as the Schlageters give generously in retirement, they also have found that once again they have time to volunteer. “I decided to volunteer on the Tocqueville Cabinet,” Mike says, “as many potential members have faced the same decision-making process that we have gone through. We want to give back to a community that has been so good to us and our family, and who better to know the biggest needs than United Way?” 

We invite you to learn more about Tocqueville Legacy Circle and partnering with the United Way Foundation! Contact us at foundation@uwdc.org or 608-246-4399.