Linda Vakunta: Leading Multicultural Madison
byIt’s time Madison started viewing itself as a multicultural city. So says deputy mayor and Cameroonian-born immigrant Linda Vakunta.
LOCAL WOMEN
Fabiola Hamdan: Creating Connections
byHamdan’s own scrappy experience is why she became a social worker and now helps others make their way in this country.
Sehade Carter: The Economy of Empathy
byGrowing up in an Albanian Muslim immigrant family, Sehade Carter found middle school especially hard. Her classmates made fun of her name so often that she started going by Sarah.
Ankita Bharadwaj: Finding Her Voice
byAt just 34 years old, Ankita Bharadwaj has already racked up plenty of life experience. She has three law degrees — two from India and one from UW–Madison — is fluent in three languages and has worked as a lawyer, activist and university employee.
Dynamic Duos
byThese mother-daughter teams work perfectly in tandem at businesses they started — and are even providing inspiration to a third generation, who are watching and learning how to #girlboss.
Together by Design at Dybdahl Design Group
byWhen Jill Dybdahl opened Dybdahl Design Group with her husband Paul in 1992, their four-year-old daughter Anna began coming to the office with them whenever she wasn’t in school.
Wonderfully Empowering
byIn Verona in early 2014, this mother-daughter duo launched Girl Wonderful, a girl-positive brand of clothing and accessories.
A Family Business With Deep Roots
byrun Simply Rooted & Co., a home décor shop in Spring Green. It’s just down the road from the Spring Green Motel, which daughter Tami Gruber and her husband, Fred, also co-own.
Queen of the Slipstream
bySandra Henry brings an engineer’s mind and an advocate’s heart to a clean-energy nonprofit.
The Power of One
byFrances Huntley-Cooper, the state’s first Black mayor, has had a storied, service-oriented career.
