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Over 120 AmeriCorps members, AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers, and program staff from across Wisconsin came together for AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol on March 19. Participants from over twenty programs throughout the state joined together to celebrate the difference that AmeriCorps service makes in Wisconsin. The attendees helped bring greater awareness to the service done by more than 8,000 AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers at over 900 service sites throughout our state.
During AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol, the participants visited with legislators about the programs serving their districts. They also operated informational tables in the First Floor Rotunda to share the impacts that AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps Seniors programs make for communities and the people of our state.
The celebration of AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol culminated during the program in the First Floor Rotunda, with speakers highlighting the leadership experience they gained as part of their service and how their service made a difference in the communities they have served. The program featured remarks from three AmeriCorps alumni currently serving in the Wisconsin Assembly, Rep. Darrin Madison, Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde, and Rep. Amaad Rivera-Wagner, who spoke about impacts that service makes for others and the leadership experience they gained while serving. Following these speakers, multiple current AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors program representatives shared about their service.
Below are excerpts from the remarks by the AmeriCorps alumni in the Assembly:
Representative Darrin Madison
There are so many gaps in the needs that our constituencies around the state are facing, and they're being filled by every single one of you. When our government fails at the federal level, at the state level, at the local level, you will always find a AmeriCorps member coming to save the day…The work that you are doing right now, and the sacrifice that you are making to ensure that your neighbors, your friends, live in a society where everyone has the ability to thrive. And so, I just wanted to take the time to thank you all for the critical work that you're doing.
Representative Supreme Moore Omokunde
I'm a second generation legislator. My mother also served in this building. However, I'm also a second generation AmeriCorps member. My mother was a VISTA…my sister was also a VISTA volunteer in Milwaukee…
I will say this, Public Allies changed my life. I would not be standing here right now if not for PA. They played a critical role in my pathway here….I was at a tipping point in my life where I could go in many different ways and I was questioning a lot of the things that I learned and I needed some guidance…We learned how collaboration was the hardest thing to do, but the most necessary thing to do…We learned about all the principles…But it changed my life and it changed my perspective. I was able to meet people and have things that I thought I knew challenged. And it was the way it was that I could not just give back to my community as though I was leaving, but how do I enrich my community while I'm still living in it.
Representative Amaad Rivera-Wagner
One of the things I love about the pledge that we take as AmeriCorps members is we are taught that when we are faced with apathy, we take action…We can show the world and be a shining beacon is that through our actions we can build the world that we deserve, the world that we see every day and the world and the future that we want.
And we can do that one service member at a time, one volunteer at a time, one pick-up, one conversation, one volunteer engagement, one nail that gets built for every house. Every moment that we turn apathy into action, we are building a world that we deserve. So I just want to be here this morning and thank you because you are the dreamers of dreams and you are the builders of the possible future.
Recordings and Media Coverage of AmeriCorps Day at the Capitol 2025
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