Based in Wisconsin, the Center for Democracy in Action, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to increasing the spaces, places and events for inclusive dialogue and strategic grassroots action.  The organization is a broad resource for individuals and organizations to work together to build healthy, viable, proactive communities.

We are committed to assuring that voices that are too often marginalized or unheard are not only heard, but are understood as important assets and contributors to the common good.

Co-Directors

Judith Adrian has worked on numerous community projects and has done intensive outreach to communities of color. She has a Ph.D. in Adult Education and has taught for many years at Edgewood College, as well as the UW-Madison School of Human Ecology and the Department of Continuing and Vocational Education. More recently, she and Jackie Millar co-authored Because I Am Jackie Millar.
» Curriculum Vitae

Carol Lobes has worked extensively on community dialogue events, having worked to create the award-winning approach Family and Community Town Suppers (FACTS). She has taught both at Edgewood College and the UW School of Human Ecology. Carol is the former Director of Human Services for Dane County.
» Curriculum Vitae

Board of Directors

Doug Bradley has more than 30 years of professional experience in communications, media relations, writing, and marketing. He is in his third decade of service to the University of Wisconsin and has served on numerous local and statewide boards and committees. He is currently the chair of the Verna Hill-Dorothy Shannon Fund which hosts the annual Community ChangeMaker Award event in December. A Vietnam veteran, Doug has written extensively about his Vietnam, and post-Vietnam, experiences, including an article in the December 2007 edition of Madison Magazine. He has also written poetry and prose about these experiences, including several pieces in recent editions of The Deadly Writers Patrol magazine. He and UW-Madison Professor Craig Werner, chair of Afro-American Studies, are collaborating on a book about music and Vietnam and teach a course at UW-Madison entitled "The U.S. in Vietnam: Music, Media, and Mayhem."

Anthony L. Brown is Community Relations Officer for Wisconsin Housing Economic Development Authority (WHEDA). He previously served ten years as Executive Director for the City of Madison Equal Opportunities Commission. In addition, he was Vice President of Student Affairs and Executive Assistant to the President at Grambling State University, located in Louisiana.

Larry Engel is a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, serving two rural congregations in Southwest Wisconsin. Active in a variety of democratic initiatives and projects, his career has included time as a college professor, labor organizer, fundraiser, international consultant, and author. He holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies, a Masters in Theology and Philosophy, with an expertise is social ethics and community organization.

Neil Heinen is Editorial Director for WISC TV, the CBS affiliate in Madison, WI. He is also the Editorial Director of Madison Magazine, a position he has held since February 2004. He was the senior political writer for the magazine for three years.

He has won numerous professional and community awards including the 1995 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Humanitarian Award, 1996 Robert H. Wills Freedom of Information Award and the 1998 National Association for Community Leadership Distinguished Leadership Award. He was born in Milwaukee in 1951, is a graduate of Marquette University High School in Milwaukee and the University of Wisconsin. He lives in Madison with his wife Nancy.

Celia M. Jackson serves as the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing, where she and her team strive to protect the citizens of Wisconsin by ensuring the safe and competent practice of over 300,000 professionals, which the agency regulates. She believes that her charge not only includes the regulation of licensed professionals but reaching out to the consumers who are served by licensed professionals. Prior to her appointment by Governor Jim Doyle on April 25, 2005, she served as a policy advisor with Pax Christi USA, as well as a delegate for Community Services in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. In addition to working on the Archbishop's cabinet, she served as the director of the Social Concerns Office.

Celia began her career in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office as an Assistant District Attorney. She later went on to Marquette University Law School where she was an Assistant Dean. She was in private practice in Milwaukee for over ten years. In her general practice, she worked in many areas, including criminal and civil litigation, juvenile law, real estate, and corporate law. She has served on many boards in the community as well as in the legal profession, including the Board of Bar Examiners and the Board of Attorneys Professional Responsibility.

Celia has a Juris Doctorate from UW-Madison and a Bachelor of Arts from Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia.

Gloria Jones-Bey currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Edgewood College in the Graduate Program in Nursing and is President of JonesBey and Associates Consulting. She formerly served as Vice President for Patient Care at Meriter Hospital for 17 years. She has been an active member of the Madison community, serving in many roles on boards of directors and in various organizations.

Gloria is currently a member of the Executive Committee of Women In Focus, a non-profit civic organization that provides scholarships for minority youth. She has served on the Boards of African American Ethnic Academy, Leadership Greater Madison, Friends of WHA-TV, Meriter Hospital, United Way of Dane County, Rotary Club of Madison, and Madison CitiArts Commission. She has also served as a docent for the Elvehjem Museum, a facilitator for the Mayor's Circles on Race, and has lectured on nursing issues, race relations, diversity and quality improvement.

Gloria received a Bachelors Degree in Nursing from Long Island University and Masters in Public Administration from New York University. She has received many awards including Woman of Distinction an Honorary Doctorate from Edgewood College and the Athena Award, and describes herself as a community trustee.

Anne Katz has been Director of Arts Wisconsin, Wisconsin's service and advocacy organization for the arts, since 1995. Arts Wisconsin is the only organization speaking up for all the arts in Wisconsin, serving its creative constituents and the general public through advocacy and public policy, research and information, promotion and visibility campaigns, research and information, and strategic alliances and partnerships. Under her leadership, Arts Wisconsin received the 2004 Governor's Award in Support of the Arts from the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts.

Anne has also served in administrative roles for the Madison Civic Center, Madison CitiARTS Commission, Madison Repertory Theatre, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, and Madison Festival of the Lakes; Big Apple Circus, Feld Ballet and New Dramatists in New York City, and the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, CT.

Anne is a recent graduate of the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program, and served as President of Wisconsin Rural Partners in 2000-2001. She was chosen as an Arts Administration Fellow at the National Endowment for the Arts in 1988. She has consulted with communities from Savannah, GA to Rockford, IL, on arts and cultural development and planning and has served on grant funding panels for the National Guild of Community Schools in the Arts, Wisconsin Arts Board, Wisconsin Humanities Council, Iowa Arts Council, South Dakota Arts Council, and the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission.

Anne received a BA in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University in Massachusetts and studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Her spare time is spent as a dedicated soccer/baseball/basketball mom, intrepid traveler, and singer.

Andrea Potter is Development Director for The Progressive magazine. She previously worked as Assistant Director of the East Madison Community Center, a community-based human services agency in Madison, WI, and for the YWCA of Madison as a program coordinator for shelter and residential program services. In addition, she has taught courses in social democracy, public speaking, argumentation and debate, and instructional methods at Edgewood College, Madison Area Technical College, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California. She serves on a variety of local boards and advisory committees in Madison. She is a Seattle transplant to the Midwest and lives in Madison with her husband, Tom Potter.