United We Stand: Fighting Against Hate-Based Violence
In 2012, six Sikh Wisconsinites were killed at the gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. This tragedy–one of the worst hate crimes in Wisconsin in recent years–was one of many that spurred President Biden and the White House to launch the United We Stand initiative calling on organizations around the country to combat hate-motivated violence and domestic extremism.
The National Endowment for the Humanities launched United We Stand: Connecting Through Culture, and invited Humanities Councils nationwide to conduct programming around hate-based violence and extremism. Youth Powered is Wisconsin Humanities’ response.
Over the next several months, Youth Powered for Unity will create and pilot a new curriculum to train young people to facilitate community conversations about hate-based violence and extremism.
What is Youth Powered for Unity?
Youth Powered for Unity (YPU) is an initiative to engage youth across Wisconsin to strengthen their understanding of one another and the many communities that make up our state. It is a humanities-based project that will train young facilitators to host community conversations around religious, racial, ethnic, gender, and other marginalized identities that have tragically been a focus of hate-based violence and extremism in Wisconsin and across the country. Through these conversations, Wisconsin youth will play a key role in sharing stories of hate, survival, and resilience in Wisconsin, bridging the divides that shape our communities, and strengthening our democratic values and institutions.
How Will Youth Powered for Unity Work?
Youth Powered for Unity is a collaboration between WH’s Community Powered initiative, the UW-Extension Institute for Positive Youth Development, and We Are Many-United Against Hate.
In Fall 2023, the collaborators will develop the curriculum for YPU. It will combine best practices for youth skills development, focusing on training youth to lead community conversations, with stories from marginalized communities around the state.
In Spring 2024, YPU will pilot the curriculum in several communities across the state with youth groups, scouting troops, 4H clubs, and others. If you know a youth organization that would be interested in partnering with YPU, please contact our project coordinator at benny.witkovsky@wisconsinhumanities.org.
Why Youth Powered?
YPU builds on Wisconsin Humanities’ successful Community Powered model. Community Powered works to harnesses the energy, inspiration, and experiences of each participating community to generate projects that matter to them. Through truly collaborative projects, everyone is invited to engage equally, and everyone is given a voice. Youth Powered recognizes that young people are vital to building change in their communities. From deep engagement with the past to concrete action for the future, young people are critical to the work of combating hate-motivated violence and domestic extremism in our state. Youth Powered seeks to recognize the tremendous capacities that young people have to serve our communities while building skills that can help cement young people as leaders for democratic values, tolerance, and compassion in their hometowns.
Meet UWS Project Coordinator, Benny Witkovsky

Benny Witkovsky, Project Coordinator for the United We Stand project of the Community Powered initiative, is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin—Madison whose work explores the potential and pitfalls of municipal politics in Wisconsin. His dissertation, Fig-Leaves or Fortresses: Nonpartisan Politics in a Polarized Time, examines material ranging from early 20th Century campaigns against Socialism to contemporary debates over mask mandates to consider how nonpartisan city politics yields to (and resists) partisan polarization. Other research projects have focused on the local dimensions of the rural-urban divide, the politics of prison building in small towns, the civic engagement of elders in rural Wisconsin, and efforts to build better relationships between the Madison Police Department and local Black, Hmong, and Latinx communities. Previously, Benny worked for religious nonprofits including Interfaith Alliance, the Shoulder-to-Shoulder Campaign, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Outside of school, Benny enjoys camping, hiking, and biking around Wisconsin with his family.
