The stripe for Wisconsin represents the historic milestones of women’s suffrage and the role of education in overcoming the status quo.

Education has always been a key driver in women’s empowerment and leadership. In 1869, Wisconsin women won the right to run and vote for school board in a landslide. But because many suffragettes were involved in the temperance movement, Wisconsin’s brewing industry saw women’s empowerment as a threat. The industry lobbied against women’s suffrage, and in 1915 Wisconsin overturned the 1869 law and revoked women’s power on the school board, which they had already held for 46 years. Despite this loss, just four years later, Wisconsin became the first state to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1919.

The successes and setbacks for women's suffrage imply something profound. Women had the greatest impact through their voice in education. Their power was the most feared in the face of the status quo.

In April 2019, Madison, Wisconsin officially swore in its first All-Women School Board: Ali Muldrow, Ananda Mirilli, Cristiana Carusi, Gloria Reyes, Kate Toews, Mary Burke, and Nicki Vander Meulen. This is also the most diverse school board in Madison history. This is coming at a time when teachers of color represent only 13% of Madison’s teaching staff, compared to 57% of students of color. With the addition of Savion Castro to the school board in July 2019, the MMSD School Board is now 57% people of color.

About the MMSD Members Featured in the Her Flag stripe: Ali Muldrow is the Co-Executive Director of GSAFE (Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools) whose work centers on LGBTQ+ youth of color and preparing young people to become leaders. Ananda Mirilli is a former MMSD employee and Department of Instruction consultant whose work focuses on resolving racial gaps and educational equity. Muldrow and mirilli ran a successful joint campaign in the 2019 race. Cristiana Carusi has directed two nonprofits in Sustainable Agriculture and comes from a long history of educational advocacy. Gloria Reyes is a former Madison police officer and Deputy Mayor and in 2018 became the first Latina elected to the school board. Kate Toews comes from the entrepreneurial and startup world and brings her background in logistics to improve the public school system. Mary Burke is a lifelong philanthropist who ran a close race for Wisconsin Governor in 2014, and though she stepped down from the school board after a seven-year tenure, she has continued to support women and children through her nonprofit and philanthropic work. Nicki Vander Meulen is a lifelong disability advocate, who fought to attend the public school system and law school at UW-Madison and now advocates for other students with disabilities to have equal access to education and opportunities.

I am honored to create a symbol that embodies the legacy of women’s leadership in education. Industry and the status quo thwarted women. Education has always moved women forward.

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