Skip to content

Meet the Fellows Working to Strengthen Democracy in 2025

Meet the Fellows Working to Strengthen Democracy in 2025-Image
Say Hello to These Community Connectors!

Community Powered is proud to welcome our second class of Wisconsin Humanities Fellows who will be trained in Community Powered methods. They will spend the first six months of the year-long fellowship program learning humanities tools and then spend the last six months building resilience in their respective communities. We are so excited to have them join us this year!


Trinaty Caldwell | Keshena, WI

Trinaty Caldwell is currently an intern at Menominiyou working to learn the Menominee language. She lives with her family in Keshena, spending valuable time in community and on the land. In her spare moments, she likes to read and explore new art mediums.

Mercedes Falk | Waumandee, WI

Mercedes Falk is the director of Puentes/Bridges, a non-profit organization that works to build bridges between the community that immigrates to work here and our rural and farming communities. She works with dairy farmers and their employees from Mexico to increase their understanding of one another through interpretation, trips to Mexico, and learning about each other’s cultures. Mercedes grew up in Milwaukee and slowly gravitated towards rural life when she started working on a CSA farm during her teaching career in the city. She discovered that she loves learning about all forms of agriculture and moved to Buffalo County in 2014 to work on a small farm. Her work has taught her how powerful it is when people from different walks of life take the time to get to know each other on a deeper level.

Melissa Fowler | Cumberland, WI

Melissa “Niigaaniigaabowikwe” Fowler is an Anishinaabe birchbark and diverse media artist and owner of Creatively Indigenous. She is a Lac Courte Oreilles tribal member and has been a St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin community member for over 20 years where she lives with her husband, Thomas, and her seven children. Melissa’s passions include traditional and endangered Anishinaabe art forms. Her personal and professional experience includes family science, foster care and adoption, positive indigenous parenting, and special needs parenting. Melissa and her family host a monthly gathering, Cumberland Deaf Socials, for deaf, hard of hearing, interpreters, ASL learners, friends, family, and anyone wanting to practice sign language. She is a 2025 recipient of Minnesota Historical Society’s Encouragement Award and is excited to exhibit her artwork in upcoming exhibits and shows. 

Waqnahwew Benjamin Grignon | Keshena, WI

Waqnahwew Benjamin Grignon is the Traditional Menominee Arts instructor at the Menominee Nation High School. He represents the Menominee Nation and approaches culturally responsive education by using Menominee Language, Culture, and art to promote and preserve tribal history as a pathway for future generations and positively influence the education of the youth in his community.  He is the 2019 Wisconsin High School Teacher of the Year; the recipient of the 2019 Wisconsin Education Association Council Award for Teaching Excellence; the recipient of the 2020 National Education Association’s Leo Reano Memorial Human and Civil Rights Award; and the 2022 First People’s Fund Education Fellow for the We the People’s Before Education initiative at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. 

Tracey Robertson | Sturgeon Bay, WI

Tracey Robertson is a distinguished leader in business, entrepreneurship, and community engagement, with a passionate commitment to anti-racism and social justice. She is the Founder and Lead Equity Strategist at QUAD DEI Consultants, LLC, where she provides coaching and consulting on equity initiatives, driving meaningful change within organizations and communities. Recognized for her dedication, Tracey has been honored as one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential African Americans and featured on platforms such as Wisconsin Public Television’s Here & Now, WBAY’s Power 2 Change series, and TEDx Oshkosh. Her voice is often heard as a keynote speaker at local and statewide events. An accomplished author, Tracey has published two books, with her memoir, Growing Up Stained, slated for release this year. In 2024, she was elected to the Board of Directors for Friends of PBS Wisconsin, where she contributes to its Advocacy and Engagement Committee. Outside of her professional endeavors, Tracey enjoys spending time with family and friends and takes pride in being a grandmother to three boys. She finds joy in perfecting her American Sign Language skills, learning guitar, reading, cooking, baking, and cherishing moments with her dog, Nikki.

Nateya Taylor | Milwaukee, WI

Nateya Taylor is a multimedia storyteller based in Milwaukee, WI. As a strong advocate for racial equity, health equity, and Black liberation, she intersects written and visual storytelling to interrogate the anti-blackness that is endemic in our social structures and the internalized anti-blackness that accompanies it. Instead, she reveals the multifacetedness of Blackness through her work. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science degree in Urban Studies with a certificate in Digital Cultures. Her research focuses on residential segregation, Black geographies, and Black resistance. She incorporates her academic expertise into her storytelling practice to tell informative and educational stories. Nateya is also the founder of Naesthetycs, an emerging multimedia production company that aims to use authentic storytelling and aesthetics as a catalyst that inspires empathy, ignites activism, and leads to more equitable futures for Black folks and other historically marginalized groups.

Kate Van Haren | Pittsville, WI

Kate Van Haren is an innovative educator and scholar dedicated to empowering communities through civic engagement and social studies education. As a Wisconsin Humanities Fellow, she brings extensive experience in curriculum development, primary source instruction, and culturally relevant pedagogy to her community work. Currently serving as Vice President of the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies, Kate has a demonstrated commitment to advancing educational practices that promote critical thinking and civic awareness. Her work spans multiple domains, from teaching 4th and 5th-grade social studies to developing statewide curriculum initiatives and leading professional development workshops. With numerous publications, conference presentations, and awards, Kate consistently demonstrates her passion for creating meaningful educational experiences that connect local communities to broader historical and civic narratives.

Feather Wilkens | Crandon, WI

Feather Wilkens is a unique, intelligent, independent, wonderful, giving, and open-minded person. A single mother of two girls, ages two and six, her home life keeps her quite busy. Professionally, Feather has completed the Digital Stewardship Program through OCLC, Tribal Business Management through Nicolet Area Technical College and Genealogy through IAP College. She has volunteered and worked for the Sokaogon Chippewa Community all her life. Being a tribal member herself, she searched to find her place within the community. Stumbling upon the Mole Lake Cemetery, she found a purpose in finding our past and respecting our ancestors, by finding the unmarked and unnamed Graves. She has given it her mission to help the new generations learn about their past, always saying, “you can’t know your future unless you know your past!”

Follow along to learn more about the Fellows, their Community Powered training, and the work they’ll be doing in their communities! Subscribe to the Wisconsin Humanities e-newsletter to get all the good news a few times each month, or follow us on Instagram or Facebook.

Subscribe to our e-newsletter

Keep up to date with Community Powered and all of Wisconsin Humanities programs

pencil