Photo taken by Duke Virginia
|
My name is Maia Pearson and I am a third generation Madisonian, born and raised on Madison's South Side. I am a mother of three wonderful children, whom all attend Lincoln Elementry School. I attended Madison public schools, I am a first cohort PEOPLE Alumni, and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin - Madison.
|
|
MY EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND I graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a B.A. in International Studies, focusing on Cultures in the Age of Globalization. I studied cross-cultural interactions at the: local, national, and transnational levels. I am familiar with five languages including Japanese, Spanish, Yucatec Mayan, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese. As a board member I will always craft policy and approve curriculum that will expand our students knowledge of the world. I am one of the inaugural members of UW-Madison's PEOPLE program, where I met a group of people from our community who were determined to support my education; just like my teachers throughout my primary and secondary education.
|
Photo taken by Melissa Austin Photography
|
MY OCCUPATION
I am the owner and illustrator of Sweet Sorrel LLC, which provides culturally relevant greeting cards and art. Currently, I am a Revenue Agent with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. I am a Certified Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt expert, certified by the state of Wisconsin, which focuses on eliminating avoidable costs in order to implement cost-effective processes and improve efficiency. As a school district we are spending money on things that do not work for our teachers and for our students. Its time to move the funding to things that work in our communities.
Prior to working for the Department of Revenue, I worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County. While at the Club, I took on many roles. Whether I was a Junior Staff or the Accountability Manager (writing and reporting for grants) my main focus was on providing programs and processes that allowed the children to reach their full potential every day. This meant working with our children's parents, teachers, and community. In my career, I have had the responsibility of securing outside funds for a non-profit; I specialized in areas of transparency and accountability, which included data analysis and auditing for grants and programs, internally and externally.
Prior to working for the Department of Revenue, I worked for the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County. While at the Club, I took on many roles. Whether I was a Junior Staff or the Accountability Manager (writing and reporting for grants) my main focus was on providing programs and processes that allowed the children to reach their full potential every day. This meant working with our children's parents, teachers, and community. In my career, I have had the responsibility of securing outside funds for a non-profit; I specialized in areas of transparency and accountability, which included data analysis and auditing for grants and programs, internally and externally.
Photo taken by Melissa Austin Photography
|
MY COMMUNITY WORK My community work started when I was teenager. I volunteered and organized many community activities, in which I was awarded the Joe Thomas Community Service Award and the Milt McPike Student Athlete award.
As an adult, with other South Madison neighbors, I co-founded South Madison Unite!, a grassroots community organization created in response to South Madison's possible loss of a grocery store. We started our "Save our Supermarket" campaign, which we successfully advocated for South Madison to not become a food desert. With neighbors, I surveyed the various South Madison neighborhoods and organized community meetings to ensure that the community had an input during this process. Currently, we are working the developer, the City of Madison, and with the grocer chosen to ensure that we get a development that is beneficial and sustainable in our community. |
Community Engagement
|
Education
|
