Jacqueline DeWalt, Executive Director of the University Of Wisconsin-Madison’s PEOPLE (Precollege Enrichment Opportunity Program for Learning Excellence), is taking on a new and expanded role within the university as Director of External Relations, Partnership and Development for the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement.
In her new role, DeWalt will report directly to the Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer, and work closely with donors, alumni, and campus and community partners to create substantive resources and support systems for PEOPLE as well as the other student programs in the division.
“I can’t think of anyone more appropriate to take the PEOPLE program to new heights of partnership, outreach and growth,” said UW-Madison Interim Vice Provost and Chief Diversity Officer Patrick J. Sims said. “Given what Jackie has been able to accomplish to date with the PEOPLE program, I can’t wait to see what evolves under her leadership in developing division-wide external relationships, partnerships, and development opportunities.”
A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, DeWalt is an alumna of UW-Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Education and a Master of Arts in Cultural Anthropology, specializing in Educational Policy and Youth Culture, coupled with a 30-year career of academic, community relations, and professional diversity development. She began working with the PEOPLE Program as a graduate student in 1999, and worked her way through the ranks to Executive Director. During DeWalt’s tenure, she helped design and foster the program’s initial growth as a true pipeline from an initial cohort of 66 students in 1999 to an annual total of over 1,300 PEOPLE participants throughout elementary, middle school, high school and undergraduate college programs.
Moreover, she has effectively represented PEOPLE and the university at national and international forums and successfully led the replication of PEOPLE Prep at Cardinal Stritch University and Edgewood College. With regards to funding, Jacqueline has developed and sustained positive donor and grant relations with such key PEOPLE partners as AT&T, American Family, Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, Target, John Deere, Department of Public Instruction, Milwaukee Public School District, and American Baptist Homes and Caring Ministries.
PEOPLE has become one of the most comprehensive talent-development diversity scholarship pipelines for underrepresented, economically-disadvantaged and first-generation students in the nation, providing year-round pipeline learning adventures that challenge and stimulate students toward and through higher education. The program’s collaborative work with Wisconsin K-12 public education systems and Indian Tribal Nation schools is expanding the pool of students from underrepresented groups who qualify to attend top-ranked universities.
Speaking to the values that are foundational to her new role in the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement, DeWalt says:
“My vision has always been to fully actualize the Wisconsin Idea by ensuring that the benevolence of the university—relative to teaching, learning, and service—reaches historically under-represented students in underserved communities. I believe that access to such valuable resources will ensure that more of these students graduate globally competitive and prepared to lead in the humanities, STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and math), entrepreneurship and international relations, thus mobilizing capacity and actively contributing to the economic development of the state of Wisconsin and the nation at large. To achieve this requires the expansion of access to funding, internships, resources and other support systems that make such opportunities possible.”