2023 Community Conference

James Causey

Idea Labs Reporter
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

James Causey is a highly sought-after panel moderator in the city, bringing a depth of knowledge of Milwaukee that stretches back to his student days at Marshall High School, when he started a reporting internship with the Milwaukee Sentinel.

He has been covering his hometown ever since then, generating community conversations on urban youth, mental health, employment, housing and incarceration.

He was a health fellow at the University of Southern California in 2018 and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 2007.

Mei Ling Hansen

Student
Alverno College

A native of Hartland, Wisconsin, Mei Ling Hansen is an undergraduate student at Alverno College, majoring in psychology with a minor in biology. She is active on campus working as a Peer Leader, Peer Tutor and Greenhouse Lab Assistant. Mei Ling is also a Doherty scholar and member of the student organization, Women of Asian Ethnicity (WAE). Off campus, she has her own small business as a swim instructor, incorporating her love for swimming with teaching others. Mei Ling is considering careers in neuroscience after graduation.

JoAnna Bautch '17

Executive Director
VIA Community Development Corp.

JoAnna Bautch '17 is a community organizer and communications professional who has spent her career working with advocacy and nonprofit organizations.

Growing up in Milwaukee, Bautch graduated from Milwaukee Public Schools and received her bachelor’s degree in communication from Alverno College.

As the executive director of VIA Community Development Corporation, Bautch works collectively and collaboratively to create a Milwaukee with healthy and equitable neighborhoods that empower all of our people to rise and thrive together.

Committed to structural change, Bautch believes we all deserve to live in a place that nourishes us with a healthy and sustainable environment, equitable economic opportunity, and grassroots community leaders.

She serves on the board of True Skool Inc., an arts-focused nonprofit collaborative dedicated to empowering youth and families, and Citizen Action of Wisconsin, an organization dedicated to economic, racial, and environmental justice.

Dynasty Ceasar

Senior Organizer
Redress Movement

As an agent of change, Dynasty Ceasar is dedicated to creating pathways for Black Liberation in the city of Milwaukee.

Dynasty Ceasar started her career in Lindsay Heights as a community organizer at Running Rebels where she focused primarily on eliminating silos, helping residents define their community, and supported efforts to challenge gentrification and displacement.

She then went on to facilitate anti-racism trainings at various organizations and businesses in Milwaukee and Racine with the YWCA Southeast Wisconsin. In her role as the environmental sustainability program coordinator at the City of Milwaukee, Ceasar focused on creating a more equitable environment for Communities of Color and developed “Climate Change 101” to connect them to the effects of climate change.

She also served on the Racial Equity and Inclusion Leadership team of the City of Milwaukee as the policy committee chair.

Ceasar has also developed curriculum for Marquette’s 414 Fellows program as well as facilitated several discussions about organizing, community leadership, and racism.

She has also been a volunteer member of the advisory committee for the City of Milwaukee’s Fond du Lac and North Avenue Comprehensive Plan as well as the organizing chair for Black Youth Project 100’s (BYP 100) Milwaukee Chapter. Ceasar currently serves as the Stewardship Committee co-chair on the Milwaukee Community Land Trust Board.

She will continue to strive for a more equitable Milwaukee as she works to desegregate housing in her role as the senior organizer for the Redress Movement.

She is also a boy mom and is a lifelong part-time vegetarian.

Derek Mosley, JD

Lubar Center Director
Marquette University Law School

Derek Mosley graduated from Marquette University Law School in 1995. After graduation he served as an assistant district attorney for Milwaukee County from 1995-2002. As an assistant district attorney, he represented the State of Wisconsin in over 1,000 criminal prosecutions. In 2002, Mosley was appointed municipal court judge in Milwaukee. At the time of his appointment, he was the youngest African-American to be appointed judge in the State of Wisconsin. For 10 years Mosley served as the chief judge of the Milwaukee Municipal Court. In 2023, he became the director of the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education at Marquette University Law School. Mosley has been a lecturer at both Marquette University Law School as well as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He sits on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s Judicial Education Committee. He also serves on the board of directors of several organizations throughout the city and has received numerous awards and recognition in law enforcement, philanthropy and leadership.

Mosley routinely speaks both nationally and internationally about Unconscious Bias and Black History. Also, as a kidney transplant recipient, he is an ardent supporter of Donate Life Wisconsin, the National Kidney Foundation, and Versiti (formerly the Blood Center of Wisconsin). He currently serves as a Donate Life Hollywood advisor to the television and movie industries to promote accurate depictions of organ donation and transplant on television and in movies. In his spare time, Mosley is a local Milwaukee foodie, and served as a 2022 James Beard judge for the James Beard Foundation.