Defender of Potential.

These are the words that define Sandy Morales. As the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County and one of the founders of Latino Professional Association of Greater Madison, Sandy has dedicated her life to uplifting others.

With an emphasis on cultivating strong, lasting, and meaningful relationships, Sandy enters each conversation with the goal of creating and maintaining genuine connections. She believes that this method of approach is key to the mentoring relationship, which has been such an important aspect of her life. Perhaps Maya Angelou describes it best by stating, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Mrs. Morales, takes these words to heart as she interacts and mentors those around her. As you speak with Sandy, her passion for mentoring and seeing others’ potential radiates from her. Sandy recounted on how mentoring has impacted her life in the past and how she now has the privilege and opportunity to mentor others.

Sandy started at United Way before moving to a Development Director position at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County (BBBS). Prior to this position at BBBS, Sandy was mentored by the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Dane County. It was through this relationship that she was able to join BBBS and create a network that supported her as she pursued the CEO position.

This pursuit emphasized that being genuine and willing to learn outweighs the need to meet all requirements of a position. Sandy is thankful to those who believed in her throughout this process and recognizes that this empowers her to let the young people know that she believes in them and all they aspire to be in life.

Sandy’s profession allows her to foster relationships every day that makes a difference in the lives of others. Whether we are talking about those who participate in one-on-one mentoring through BBBS or the connections that members of the Latino Professional Association of Greater Madison make with corporate partners, Sandy’s dedication to serving others is evident.

Sandy notes that part of what makes her profession so great, beyond impacting the lives of youth and Latino professionals, is knowing that she works among others who share this same passion. Together they are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their mission as Defenders of Potential.

Sandy lives out the words of Maya Angelou through her everyday interactions, as she sees what others have to offer and does what she can to help them flourish. This November, let’s be thankful for those who have helped us get to where we are while also considering how we too, can be Defenders of Potential.

The TEMPO Madison Board of Directors is pleased to announce that our organization is evolving (scholarships, events, initiatives, and more). To keep pace with our needs, an RFP has been opened to select a contract provider that is positioned to provide Association Management Services.

It is with heavy heart to inform you that Kristin DeGroot’s contract will conclude at end of year. We wish Kristin continued success and are thankful for the dedication Poise Management LLC has provided to TEMPO. Kristin shared she enjoyed her time working with TEMPO and wished us the best as we move forward.

Effective immediately Megan Purtell will serve as interim member point of contact, she can be reached at tempomadison@tempomadison.org or 608-358-8458.

The RFP will not be publicly advertised, the board has targeted potential candidates. If you have a candidate who should receive the RFP, please reach out to Megan Purtell.

It is hard to know what to think about the status of women in business today.  This past month, I read the article in the Huffington Post about the seminar offered by accounting giant, Ernst & Young, to its female executives, which included advice about the importance of manicured nails and the right skirt length, and compared the brains of women and men to different breakfast entrees, i.e., “Women’s brains absorb information like pancakes soak up syrup so it’s hard for them to focus, the attendees were told.  Men’s brains are more like waffles.  They’re better able to focus because the information collects in each little waffle square.”  It was deflating and disappointing to read about such institutional misogyny. 

However, I literally read this article moments after reading Milwaukee Women’s Inc.’s Building Momentum! 2019 Research Report, which described the organization’s progress toward its goal of increasing the number of women directors in the Top 50 Wisconsin Public Companies to 25% by 2025.  As Milwaukee Women, Inc., explains, they have already achieved their goal of 20% by 2020, so they are well on their way.  In direct contrast with the Huffington Post article, this report was inspiring and uplifting. 

Milwaukee Women, Inc., is a nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving balanced representation of women on boards of directors to maximize the performance of Wisconsin businesses.  The members of Milwaukee Women, Inc., have been working on this effort since 2002.  TEMPO Madison has recently taken on a similar objective with the Project Reach Committee, whose mission is to increase the number TEMPO Madison members serving on corporate and business boards. The Committee is already planning for surveys, workshops, mentoring, and networking opportunities, designed to get our members ready for corporate and business board service and to make sure corporations and businesses looking for board members know that TEMPO Madison is a great resource.  In upcoming TEMPO Madison newsletters, we will provide you with additional information about Project Reach and how to get involved. 

In addition, TEMPO Madison’s second leadership series breakfast, in partnership with the Wisconsin Evening & Executive MBA Programs at University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with exclusive sponsor, Summit Credit Union, will highlight the issue of women on corporate and business boards.  Lindsey Hammerer, who is a partner at KPMG and chair of Milwaukee Women, Inc., will be discussing pathways to corporate board leadership to change the face and quality of leadership in the Wisconsin business community by increasing the number of women corporate directors.  Please consider registering for the breakfast event, which is scheduled to take place on April 28, 2020, at the Madison Club, starting at 7:30 a.m.
 
After considering the depressing messages from the Ernst & Young seminar and the encouraging news of the Milwaukee Women, Inc., report, I am left to conclude that we have come a long way, but there is still a lot of work to do, so we mustn’t lose focus.

Shana Lewis, 2019-2020 President