YWCA Madison

06/11/2026

Thank you UMOJA Magazine for sharing this piece and helping us tell the story of our first-ever, Solidarity Sunset Soirée. We look forward to continuing this NEW tradition next year!! 🧡 Read all about the Soirée below ⬇️

06/11/2026

This week, our Restorative Justice in Education team had the joy of gathering with MMSD partners and collaborators from across departments to begin a big-picture conversation about how we can strengthen a more proactive, holistic, and interconnected approach to our shared work.

It was beautiful to reflect on and acknowledge our long history that started with the first pilot led by YWCA Madison in collaboration with MMSD at La Follette High School 16 years ago.

So much has evolved since those early days. We are grateful for the relationships, learning, and commitment that continue to shape this work, and we are excited for the journey ahead through new and ongoing initiatives rooted in youth leadership, adult professional development, and culturally responsive family and community engagement.

A special thank you to our partners who joined us:

✨ MMSD Office of Strategy & Innovation: Sonia Spencer and Cindy Green
✨ MMSD Student & Staff Supports: Leia Esser, Cinthya R. Moore, Lonna Stoltzfus, and Kathleen Nichols
✨ MMSD Family, Youth & Community Engagement: Tyson Jackson, Cesar Morales, and Jason Busack
✨ YWCA Madison Restorative Justice in Education: Eugenia Highland Granados, Bill Baldon, Sam Jeschke, and Jules Banayag

In community, love, and restoration,
Geraldine Paredes Vasquez


| Madison Schools - MMSD

06/11/2026

📣Calling all builders, visionaries, storytellers, artists, bridge-builders, healers, and dreamers... the 25th Annual Racial Justice Summit is coming on October 7-8, 2026!

📆Save the Dates:
October 7 - In-Person Experience at Monona Terrace
October 8 - Virtual Experience

REGISTRATION OPENS EARLY JULY!

✨Be the FIRST to know when registration opens by registering for YWCA Madison's enewsletter: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/lQSNi2V

For returning attendees: Yup you read the dates☝️ correctly! This year, the in-person day at Monona Terrace comes ahead (October 7) of the virtual day (October 8).

06/10/2026

👏🦋 We believe that when we create space to listen, understand, and learn from one another, we build stronger schools, communities, and relationships. We're grateful to support youth as they develop these skills through restorative justice practices in collaboration with our community partners and schools.

Thank you to Dane County Department of Human Services for capturing the on-the-ground impact of restorative justice and for being our partner, leading visionary work in OUR community.

06/09/2026

Celebrating the power of PLAY! ✨ We recently gathered with families, participants, staff, and community partners for a day of fun, commemorating another incredible year with our partners at MMSD Play and Learn Program!

A special thank you to our wonderful Play and Learn Coordinators, Rissel and Debra, whose care, dedication, and leadership help create opportunities at our Downtown Residence for children to build early math, literacy, and social skills through play while caregivers learn about child development and positive parenting practices.

We look forward to another year of learning, play, and community together. 🧡

05/31/2026

It’s gonna be an awesome summer in our neighborhood 🧡

📍 May 30 | 🕛 12–5 PM | The Hub (2352 S Park St) ULGM's Black Business HUB

Our Pop-Up Market is back—and it’s moving different this time.

🎶 Music in the air
🎨 Free face painting
🎈 Free balloon artist
🛍️ Local vendors all around you

🔥 Lineup:
Prolific Juicery • Humana • We Cake’n Bundt & Pound Cakes • Remi Clothing & Jewelry • LuxeShea • Ancestral Tribe + Unique Hair Accessories • A Taste of Gambia • POONI LLC • Wild Wind Organix

Want to be a vendor?
🛍️ Register here: https://forms.gle/e8tP8o2PAWLCjryd6
📩 Or email us at: [email protected]

05/27/2026

YWCA Madison is proud to help lead restorative justice in our community, partnering with Dane County Department of Human Services, local school districts, and community organizations to reshape how our community responds to conflict, harm, accountability, and community-building. 🧡

Grateful to our beloved Restorative Justice Coordinator, Sam Jeschke, whose featured voice in this video offers a critical in-circle perspective while helping deepen the conversation around restorative and youth justice. Thank you to all members of our Restorative Justice team for your leadership in seeding restorative culture throughout our community and for helping us move closer to the world we dream of, grounded in our mission.

Continued partnership and investment from Dane County help make this healing-centered work possible across our community, and we are grateful for the ways we continue shaping change, together, in circle.

05/26/2026

Golden hour belongs to all of us. 🌅https://ywcamadison.pixieset.com/2026solidaritysunsetsoiree/

We created something beautiful together. Thank you for helping make our first-ever Solidarity Sunset Soirée a powerful evening of connection, joy, and collective impact. Explore the gorgeous gallery and relive the moments with us!

Please note that the gallery images belong to YWCA Madison, courtesy of Hedi LaMarr Photography. Photos from the Solidarity Sunset Soirée may not be used for commercial, promotional, or altered purposes without permission from YWCA Madison.

05/14/2026

Thank you for joining us for YWCA Madison’s first-ever Solidarity Sunset Soirée. 🧡

On the evening of Friday, May 8, as the sun set around us, something else rose alongside it: our collective light, a reminder of what becomes possible when community gathers in solidarity, hope, and shared purpose.

Because of your incredible generosity, we not only met but surpassed our fundraising goal, raising just over $59,000 during the evening’s Moment of Solidarity to support Housing Justice, Restorative Justice, Economic & Employment Justice, and Learning & Movement Building.

👉🏾If you were moved by the evening and would still like to make a gift or give again, donations to Fund Our Legacy Forward remain open through Friday, May 22 at https://www.ywcamadison.org/donate

Thank you for helping carry this legacy forward and for reminding us of the power of shared abundance, collective care, and community!

Photos Courtesy of Hedi LaMarr Photography

05/11/2026

🧡 Our Third Street and Family Shelter moms had a great time sharing a FABULOUS meal cooked by our beloved Family Shelter Case Manager, Natalia Garay, with the care and love of Jennifer Caldwell, Thirt Street Case Manager/Coordinator, and the creative support of Mimi for decorations. 🥰🎉 Natty Garay