Reflecting Back/Jasmine Winston
An Interview with Alder Jael Currie
This year, I have had the honor to become an intern at the Madison Mayor’s Office, Sustainability Branch through 100 Black Men of Madison Inc. I started my internship in late February, and since then, I have been able to access another side of sustainability outside of my corporate sustainability interest, which is the governmental sustainability side. I work under Stacie Reece who is the sustainability program coordinator for the city of Madison.
I have been able to shadow Ms. Reece during city meetings and listen to the development of projects, like the Sustainability Plan for Madison. I have also had the opportunity to assess projects on my own like reviewing the city of Madison’s scorecard from the American Council of an Energy-Efficient Economy (A.C.E.E.E). A big highlight for me was that I had the opportunity to present my scorecard review to Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
I have learned a lot about our local government, its systems, and how they affect the sustainability of Madison. While interning in the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability Branch, the alder role was brought up as an important figure in our city’s policies. After locating the district that I live in and identifying my alder, I was given the opportunity to interview Alder Jael Currie, alder for Madison District 16 in the Common Council. During the interview, I learned about her role in the community and her background. Below, I summarize my interview with Alder Currie and her views on many topics.
Just like me, Alder Currie is a Robert M. LaFollette High School graduate. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. What people may not know about her is that she earned these degrees while being a young mother to her son, Malachi. Having to persevere through the challenges of being a college student after becoming a mother at 17 displays her great resilience as a person.
After college, she started as a child protective services case worker before moving to a position at Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development as a program director. She then continued to serve her community as an Independent contractor for WI FACETS, assisting families with enrollment in the Wisconsin Promise Grant. In 2015, she started her work at the YWCA Madison to assist in identifying and overcoming the challenges that homeless families face. Throughout the seven years she has been there, she worked her way up to the position of housing director.
In 2021, she started her role as an alder for District 16. She stated that her idea of an alder’s role has drastically changed since first coming into the position. She entered not interested in policy or politics but felt the need to get involved in the community and interject her voice as a Black woman in a predominantly white space.
She initially entered the alder role as a part-time position, but that soon changed. After having to make herself accessible to her community, attending meetings, attending appointments, events, and answering emails, the role was undeniably full-time. While balancing the busy schedule of an Alder, she still serves in her role as housing director at YWCA Madison. She informed me that being accessible to her community is both the most important and challenging aspect of this role. The most time-consuming meetings are the Common Council meetings which can run from the afternoon until after midnight. Even though the meetings can be extremely lengthy, they provide a platform for residents, with title or no title, to voice their concerns or opinions about the current state of their community. She informed me that the meetings run smoother when people look over the agenda and come prepared.
Even though the role comes with a lot of challenging responsibilities, it comes with a lot of aspects that Alder Currie enjoys. She said the reconnection with the community, getting to know the people she represents, and the overall support from the community are what bring her joy in her alder role.
Witnessing the idea, development, and creation of projects is another one of her favorite aspects of being an Alder. Throughout the remainder of her term, she hopes to use her platform for change and assist in policy or legislation to uplift the Black community. Having the experience of being a teenage mother that relied on public assistance and one who understands some of the struggles that many Madison families face, gives Alder Currie a unique viewpoint that differs from the privileged backgrounds of the majority of people with whom she works.
Towards the end of our interview, we were able to relate to each other in terms of the positions we are put in as Black women. She states that even though there has been an improvement in diversity efforts, there is still a lot of work to be done. The same system promoting diversity does not realize that while promoting diversity, they tokenize certain Black people. Personally, throughout middle school and high school, I felt tokenized by many teachers and staff, because I spoke up a few times about racial injustices. I was then often called on to speak on racial issues. Alder Currie recognized the same pattern in our community. There are many Black voices to be heard and yet we still have the same rotation of people speaking on behalf of Madison’s Black community. She informed me that where the people in power fall short is when they are more interested in checking boxes than diving deeper into making actionable steps towards solutions for problems in the Black community.
During her term as alder, Alder Currie plans to continue her public service by becoming vice-president of Madison’s Common Council. After achieving that goal, she plans to become the common council president.
Interviewing Alder Currie emphasized to me the importance of Black voices in predominantly white spaces that can help increase our sustainability as a community. Most importantly, hearing her story strengthened the point of how Black women have to persevere through the challenges of the system meant to break us, yet we are the ones that find the strength to fight against the system, not only for ourselves but for others as well. In my future career position as a chief sustainability officer, I hope to do the same work Alder Currie does. I hope to transform systems and policies with actual solutions and preventative measures for sustainability to improve the quality of life for everyone, but especially for communities of color.
