2022 Annual Report

African American Roundtable

A MESSAGE FROM OUR ED

2022 was a year of strategic growth where we focused on the sustainability and future of the African American Roundtable.

Welcome to our 2022 Annual Report, and thank you for reading!

We had an exciting 2022, including installing a LiberateMKE-inspired mural on Milwaukee's Northwest Side that was led by local youth and artists, launching our membership and influencer programs, hiring two key consultants to help us with fundraising and building our strategic three-year plan, and bringing on three new Black women as board members.

Take a look at our journey on the next few pages, and we invite you to get involved with AART in the near future.

MARKASA TUCKER-HARRIS

Executive Director

ABOUT AART

We're excited to announce that we've expanded our mission, vision and values. We're going to focus on training the next generation of Black leaders and becoming a model that other organizations can follow. That rollout will happen later this year.

THE BUDGET

Revenue

Foundations ————————————————— $998,468

Donors—————————————————————-$10,600

Expenses

Staff salaries and benefits——————————-$362,090

Leadership development and programs——-$62,111

Marketing, branding and outreach——————$72,422

Staff professional development & training—-$27,950

General administrative expenses——————-$14,034

Note: In 2022 AART began developing a three-year strategic plan that includes launching new programming in 2023, including expanded youth engagement work and a self-funded community participatory budgeting program, and adding two new full-time staff members.

NOTABLE HIGHLIGHTS

Held our first Black Joy Fundraiser
Launched a Membership Program to build community power
Launched an Influencer Program to amplify our initiatives
Installed a youth-led mural, "Blossom," on Milwaukee's Northwest Side
Added three new Black women as board members
Hired a strategist to help us build our three-year strategic plan to inform our programmatic work, operations and infrastructure
Hired a fund development consultant to build a plan to support our programs, staff, and infrastructure sustainability
Visited Wisconsin's first and only Black community, Lake Ivanhoe, WI
Lost a Democracy Organizer due to a run for public office, but continued to deeply engage residents through other civic engagement programs

BY THE NUMBERS

700 Petition signatures collected

Hundreds of Milwaukee residents joined in our fight for participatory budgeting on the local level.

78 Milwaukee youth engaged

They were supported during listening sessions, evening meetings, events and youth-led projects.

50 Black-owned entities supported

This includes Black-owned businesses and Black-led organizations, of which approximately 95% were local.

27 New members onboarded

We provided 10+ hours of training to new members and held our first Membership Intensive event.

5 New funders secured

They are Greater Milwaukee Foundation (JP Morgan Chase), State Voices, Butler Family Foundation, Milwaukee County Office of Equity and America Votes.

A YEAR IN PHOTOS

"Our movements need more people." -M. Adams

PROGRAM SUCCESS: MEMBERSHIP & COALITION

Membership

AART launched its membership program in April 2022. This was our attempt to bring more people into our movements. By the end of 2022, we recruited 27 members, and we provided over 10 hours of training to them, including during our first Membership Intensive event.

LiberateMKE

We defended local libraries' budget from being cut by the mayor, and over 700 people signed our petition for participatory budgeting.

PROGRAM SUCCESS: BASE BUILDING AND YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

Base Building

In 2022 AART set out to begin identifying future issue priorities. Through canvasses, phone banks, one-on-one relationship building, and community engagement opportunities in our target Aldermanic Districts 5 and 9, we identified housing, mental health, and safety (including gun violence, reckless driving, and meeting community needs) as three resident priority issues.

Youth Engagement

AART's work with young people remained a priority. We held five listening sessions and engaged 78 people between the ages of 13 and 24 in discussions about their communities and the world they want to see. We installed a youth-led mural, "Blossom," on Milwaukee's Northwest Side, held youth-focused evening meetings, and partnered with Mentor Milwaukee to train young men of color in basic organizing skills.

Northwest Side Stories (NWSS)

AART expanded its Northwest Side storytelling project to welcome business owners in the district and hired KQ Productions to evolve the quality of stories told. We collected eight stories in 2022, which featured businesses and discussed experiences, community needs, and the youth prison coming to Milwaukee's Northwest Side.

PROGRAM SUCCESS: DIGITAL

In 2022 AART produced a new internal messaging guide, held two digital and communications training sessions on social media best practices and the power of effective storytelling, and developed our Online Community Standards. We also increased our followers, engagement and reach substantially on all social media platforms.