Jason Fields Named Center for Black Excellence and Culture COO: Building a Dream (Part 2 of 2)
Jason Fields was a State Representative from Milwaukee and CEO of MadREP before joining the Center.
by Jonathan Gramling
Jason Fields, the newly announced COO, chief operating officer, of the Center for Black Excellence and Culture, brings a wealth of experience to the Center as it rises from the grounds of the old Nehemiah building and seeks to become a Wisconsin and national destination point for the Black community and beyond.
Fields is a native of Milwaukee who worked as a stockbroker, financial advisor and banker before he entered the rough and tumble world of Milwaukee politics and then worked as the CEO of MadREP for four years. Fields’ blend of private and public sector experienced will complement the skills of Rev. D. Alex Gee, the founder of the Black Center.
“You can’t be the CEO and trying to manage the day-to-day operations,” Fields said. “One person can’t do that. So when I looked at this opportunity, the plus was here is a CEO who is phenomenal. I don’t have to be the face out there fundraising because he’s done that. Now if I get the chance to handle the day-to-day operations and manage programs and do some things and watch his back, I can do that. And I realized that I am a decent number one. But I am a helluva number two though. And so it wasn’t a hard leap for me to go, ‘Hey, I don’t desire to be number one. Nor am I as good as him in being what that role dictates. But I am from my experience, I think, a very good number two who can help with some fundraising aspects, who can help manage and take off some stuff on his plate.’”
Fields is content to be the second in command because, in part, he feels that he admires Gee and can learn so much from him.
“I’ve watched Dr. Gee,” Fields said. “I told him that he is a walking phenom. When you look at what he has done in this community, you can make the argument that you haven’t seen a person of the cloth, a reverend, who has been awarded an honorary doctorate from UW-Madison, who has somehow managed to try to unite a community and go ‘Hey, there are tough conversations that we need to have.’ And not just have them, but offer courses and research on what we need to do. When I got here to MadREP, I had white CEOs talk to me about
him from out of nowhere. ‘Have you ever taken his class?’ These are white CEOs going ‘You need to take his leadership class and you need to take his …’ And I’m sitting there going, ‘This guy has white guys telling me that they enrolled in his Justified Anger.’ I thought it was fascinating. And it just goes to show that his leadership is just uncanny.’”
On a very fundamental level, the Center will have a positive impact on South Madison just by its very existence.
“I was running some numbers. This hypothetical that even if we were to create 20 around jobs, that’s a contribution of over $1.6 million in economic activity. So when the center is offering leadership, offering entrepreneurship and wellness, now you are looking at the economic base growing. Even what is more important, what I have said to economic developers is if you really want to change cities, you have to put them in a position where they can sustain their communities.
The Center for Black Excellence is a visionary project that seeks to be one of national significance on a par with the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis or the Juneteenth Museum going up in Houston, TX.
“One of the things that Dr. Gee and I talked about is this needs to be a tourist destination,” Fields said. “And we would do an injustice if this is just looked as a space for just Wisconsin Black folks. There is no space like this in Wisconsin. Success to me would be the entire Black African Diaspora coming to Wisconsin. Blacks who lived in Wisconsin can go, ‘Let’s go and celebrate and look at the culture. Let’s take our kids on a field trip to see who were some of the first Wisconsin Black folks who no one knows about? You hear the same names like Vel Phillips. As we should. Why aren’t we talking about the first Black mayor in Wisconsin, Frances Huntley-Cooper? Do these kids know?’”
By attracting people far and wide, the Center will have a positive impact on Madison and Dane County.
“Now we aren’t just talking about the typical hospitality retail,” Fields said. “Now you’re talking about, ‘Hey can we attract vice-presidents here to Madison? Can we attract artists who will drive past Madison because they are going to either Milwaukee or Chicago or Minneapolis? Now you are looking at a platform or a destination where for our theater and films, helping to grow and produce film directors, film producers, film stage crews. Now we are touching those jobs that typically you don’t even see, but a place that Madison is known for their at, their economics and their environment. Madison is a great place for that. How do we contribute to make sure that Black folks are a part of that and then grow those populations and targets.”
The Center itself is being built to be multi-functional so that it can mold itself to the activity that is taking place.
“We have innovation space where we are looking at doing some small business owners, but we have The Hub, so that’s not necessarily a focus,” Fields said. “And then the performing arts. We have two theaters that seat over 100 people. And I’ve been contacted by individuals who want to discuss having plays written by African American playwrights and things of that nature. And then we’ll have spaces for performances, poetry unplugged. We’ll have a shop where we can showcase and sell materials like books from poets and authors.”
According to Fields, the Center is not intended to create new programs as much as it is meant to complement and enhance programs and initiatives that already exist.
“We are not here to create programs that already exist,” Fields emphasized. “We know that our strength is partnering with other locations. That’s why you see us talking about a partnership with UW-Madison and we have that faculty doing research on issues that affect the Black community. You’re looking at partnerships with the community. Are there items and events we can look at where we will have pipeline for entrepreneurs. If The Hub is doing business entrepreneurs, can we also piggy back on that and offer a leadership program? It’s one thing to do entrepreneurship. It’s another thing to do leadership because those two go hand-in-hand. I can be a decent businessperson, but if I am a horrible leader, eventually I will be a bad businessperson. How do we look at partnering and making a whole ecosystem out of what we have. And I think the beauty of the center being here is we are in an environment where we can tap into those partnerships, which would tap into places like UW Health and do some collaboration.”
What the Center plans to do is bring people together in a synergistic fashion to promote idea creation and generate economic opportunity.
“I imagine a place where business owners can come and meet with doctors, researchers, and other CEOs and learn how to develop their business from a holistic perspective,” Fields said. “You don’t just get dollars or connections. But you get a holistic approach to say, ‘Hey, here is how, if you want to be a successful owner, here are the steps and here is who you should be networking with in order to generate that long-term success. If we can put you with the right people and create the right environment, then we enhance your possibilities of success. And if that is done, then that contributes to the economic growth of Madison. It contributes to the economic growth of Dane County. And it is just a perpetual cycle where if we can do this with the talent we have, then the sky is the limit.”
The Center can also help stimulate the growth of local businesses.
“We plan to have events, can we bring in different caterers and different restaurateurs who want to go connect on the next level,” Fields said. “If this can be a place where there is a conference or summit, we hire them. Now they have a testing ground to go, ‘Hey, we know there is a demand for what I am doing here. People would like to see it.’ Now you have a road map to go into creating a business in the retail or food service sector. The sky is the limit. But I think the one thing that we need to do is make sure that people are aware of those possibilities. The ability to help master economic activity through restaurants and other businesses is important and bring in talent from other places like Atlanta and Chicago and Florida who wouldn’t mind coming to one of the best places when you look at the rankings of cities. I saw in an article that we were number seven as one of the happiest places to be. I’d love to bring my family here. I did. If the center can be that, now it helps us economically as much as it does culturally.”
And it could positively impact the Black service industry and beyond.
“I think that’s why you will see the effort of us making sure the Center is being positioned as a tourist attraction,” Fields said. “There is no place in the state that has this. And we want people from all over to come and see and spend some time here in Madison. If you spend a couple of days here, you’re going to ask, ‘What kinds of Black-owned restaurants are there? Where can I get soul food? Where can I get Caribbean food?’ Now you have reason and data for those kinds of places to do well because there is a market here for them.”
The Center for Black Excellence and Culture is slated to open in late 2025. It’s opening will have an immediate economic impact on South Madison. The breadth of its ultimate impact will depend on its ability to collaborate with other South Madison entities like the Urban League’s Hub and Madison College in a way that enhances each of their missions for the greater good of the community and prove top be able to have a regional impact on Dane County and beyond. Its leadership team of Rev. Dr. Alex Gee and Jason Fields put it in a position to achieve its vision and goals for the benefit of South Madison and the greater Madison area. We await to experience the outcomes.