Poverty Matters Workshop Session Descriptions

Wednesday, October 28

Welcome Keynote – 8:30a – 9:00a

Details Coming Soon

Workshop Description: 

• Coming Soon

Room – Expo 4, 3a, 3b

Presenter(s) – 

Presentation Slides

Tuesday, October 27

Session 17 – 9:15a – 10:30a

Workshop Title – Strengthening Community Resilience through Financial Empowerment and Mental Health Support

Workshop Description: 

• Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin (CAC) Rhiannon Tonies and Tricia Meinholz will present CAC’s integrated approach to advancing community resilience by addressing the intersection of financial stability and mental health. Through the Jefferson County Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) and Mental Health First Aid training, CAC equips individuals and communities with tools to achieve both economic security and emotional well-being. FECs provide free, one-on-one financial counseling to help participants reduce debt, improve credit, build savings, and plan for long-term stability. Using a structured coaching model, professionally trained financial counselors support clients in creating actionable financial goals. Nationally, the FEC model has demonstrated measurable success in reducing debt and increasing savings and credit outcomes. The Jefferson County FEC’s experience has revealed that financial challenges are often intertwined with mental health needs. To address this, CAC integrates Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid, and QPR Suicide Prevention

Room – Spruce

Presenter – Rhiannon Tonies, Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 18 – 9:15a – 10:30a

Workshop Title  – Say It Simply- Plain Language Strategies for Verbal Communication

Workshop Description: 

• Plain language is communication your audience can understand and use the first time they read or hear it. This session will focus on verbal communication. Participants will learn how to improve access to community resources for underserved populations through clear and effective communication. Through verbal strategies around word choice, organization of content, structure, and tone, plain language is a communication style that increases understanding and engagement. Participants will learn practical approaches for clearer, more inclusive verbal communication.

Room – Sands

Presenter  – Shannon Mason Young, Wisconsin Literacy, Inc., and Kimberly Wild, Wisconsin Literacy, Inc.

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 19 – 9:15a – 10:30a

Workshop Title – Diversified Funding Best Practices

Workshop Description:

• If one major funding source disappears tomorrow, how many months could your organization continue operating? Learn (Main Message): Diversification reduces risk and strengthens long-term sustainability. Other key messages: Over-reliance on one funding source = vulnerability. Government funding is limited (restricted, reimbursement-based, policy-dependent). Private funding fills critical gaps (flexibility, innovation, capacity). Each funding stream serves a different role. Strong organizations balance multiple revenue sources (like a portfolio). Learn (Main Message): Sustainability require structure. Other key messages: Without systems, fundraising is reactive and inconsistent Essential tools matter: CRM (e.g., Blackbaud Raiser’s Edge or similar). Grant calendar + pipeline tracker Standardization increases efficiency: Core program language. Defined data points & metrics. Internal alignment is critical: Development + Programs + Finance must be coordinated. Systems reduce duplication and save time. No more “reinventing the wheel” for every proposal

Room – Frontier

Presenter – Emily Peterson, WISCAP

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 20 – 9:15a – 10:30a

Workshop Title – Using the Lens of Justice and Trauma to Improve Program Experience

Workshop Description:

• At Couleecap, we operate our Homeownership Empowerment Program. This is a program designed to connect clients to the best path to homeownership for them and we focus our efforts on financially vulnerable communities. We will share why we focus on these communities, how we use trauma informed counseling techniques to build rapport, how to create connections within your community, and also what kind of regulation and policy change conversations you can be having with your partners. Structure: Narrative of systematic racism, brief history state of WI and how it is showing up in today’s world.
  • Understanding that systemic level change is possible even with small action steps within housing programs
  • Learn what action steps are achievable to start to move level the playing field in your own organization.
  • Learn what conversations you can have in your community about system change and regulation barriers.
  • Round table time, group questions (25 mins) a. What is working where you are?

Room – Evergreen

Presenter – Lacy Holmes, Couleecap, Inc.

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 21 – 9:15a – 10:30a

Workshop Title  – Internal Controls: Segregating Financial Duties in Small Offices

Workshop Description:

• Do you consider your accounting department “understaffed”? Do you have a hard time spreading work around to employees to maximize your internal controls? Do you get segregation of duties comment on your management letter every year? If any of this applies to you, then this is the session to attend! During this session, we’ll discuss setting up good internal controls, what functions are incompatible, and how to recruit people to help out with the accounting functions

Room – Stonefield

Presenter  – Tammy Jelinek, Wipfli, Inc

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 22 – 10:45p – 12p

Workshop Title – Homeowner and Future Homeowner Bill of Rights

Workshop Description:

• This session is a continuation of the anti-displacement work the CDA has been a part of for the last 5 years. Displacement has been elevated by residents as posing a risk to Black & Latino homeownership strategies. If recent community conversations have taught us anything, it’s that we do not have a consensus on what the causes of displacement are, what policy solutions are available to combat displacement, and how those policy solutions should be prioritized. If our aging neighbors cannot afford their homes, they will be displaced from their neighborhoods. This leaves aging neighbors without stable housing, and neighborhoods lose quality inventory for future generations when investors buy those homes. Communities across the country have helped solve this problem by providing for a lower property tax rate for aging neighbors. For too long in Wisconsin we have been intimidated by our state’s Uniformity Clause, but other states have successfully amended their Uniformity Clauses to protect aging neighbors. Join us in an intentional conversation to set a path forward to protect aging neighbors in Wisconsin

Room – Spruce

Presenter  – Johanna M. Jimenez, Community Development Alliance Inc.

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 23 –10:45p – 12p

Workshop Title – Government Relations

Workshop Description:

• Coming Soon

Room – Sands

Presenter  – Dr. Courtney Hayward, WISCAP

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 24 – 10:45p – 12p

Workshop Title  – Direct Service to Lived Experience: Roles in Homelessness Policy Advocacy

Workshop Description:

• This session examines how policy around housing and homelessness can be influenced by both direct service and lived experience. While many policies aim to address poverty, housing instability, and economic opportunity, individuals most impacted are often engaged too late—or in ways that do not influence decision-making. Drawing from experience across direct service roles and system-level advocacy within the Dane County Continuum of Care, this session will explore where current advocacy in homelessness efforts fall short, as well as opportunities for perspective shift when individuals move across roles—from navigating systems to influencing them. Participants will gain insight into: * How advocacy is currently practiced within direct service settings (using example of Dane County Education and Advocacy Committee) * Where gaps exist between intention, engagement, and impact * The difference between participation and shared decision-making (using example of Dane County Lived Experience Council) * Strategies for strengthening advocacy by more meaningfully integrating lived homelessness expertise Through real examples and guided discussion, participants will reflect on their own organizational practices and identify opportunities to better align service delivery, community voice, and system-level decision-making to promote more effective and equitable outcomes in housing and homelessness policy.

Room – Evergreen

Presenter – Madelyn Peppard, The Road Home Dane County, and Aurelius Leslie, Lived Experience Council of Dane County

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 25 –10:45p – 12p

Workshop Title – Appreciation v. Appropriation

Workshop Description:

• A facilitated conversation addressing the differences between cultural appropriation and appreciation. There will be various tools used to guide the conversation

Room – Stonefield

Presenter  – Kayla Oestreich, Community Action Inc of Rock and Walworth Counties

Presentation – Coming Soon

Session 26 – 10:45p – 12p

Workshop Title – Decoding Financial Statements: What to Ask, What to Request, and How to Interpret

Workshop Description:

• Understanding financial statements is essential for making informed decisions when sitting on a board of directors. This session will guide participants through the key components of financial statements, the types of reports to request, and the critical questions to ask when reviewing financial data. Designed for professionals who interact with financial information but may not have a formal accounting background, this session will demystify financial reports and empower attendees to engage confidently in financial discussions.

Room – Harvest

Presenter  – Tammy Jelinek, Wipfli, Inc.

Presentation – Coming Soon

12p – 2p

Closing Keynote

Workshop Description:

• Information Coming Soon

Room –

Presenter  – Information Coming Soon

Presentation – Coming Soon