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Editor’s note: NNS reporter Sam Woods is an alumnus of the Public Allies Milwaukee apprenticeship program.
Jaime Uzeta has resigned as CEO of Public Allies after backlash from a recent “restructuring” that led to the terminations of 30 staffers, according to a statement from the Public Allies Board of Directors on Wednesday.
The staffers were laid off July 7, which alumni — organized under the moniker Save Public Allies — said was in retaliation for “openly voicing concerns about Uzeta’s leadership and negligent oversight of operations and programs.”
Uzeta said in a July 11 statement that the terminated staff would receive a severance package “above industry standard” but did not respond to a request for further details.
Public Allies is an AmeriCorps program that places people, usually 30 years old or younger, in apprenticeship programs with nonprofits to develop community-building skills. Alumni of the program locally include Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley; artist and educator LaShawndra Vernon; activist Elle Halo; and entrepreneur Tonda Thompson.
Within 24 hours of the layoffs, the website savepublicallies.org was created and issued four demands, including Uzeta’s resignation. More than 900 Public Allies alumni nationwide, more than 300 in Wisconsin, have signed on to the demands, which also include rescinding the layoffs, acknowledging the harm caused “to primarily BIPOC staff and allies” and appointing new board members.
In its statement to Public Allies alumni announcing Uzeta’s resignation, the board did not state whether it will meet Save Public Allies’ three other demands. But the board did say that it is “committed to sharing what we are learning and decisions we are making as we do the work to heal and repair our network of valued staff, Allies, alumni and partners.”
Shavonda Sisson is an alumnus of the Public Allies Milwaukee apprenticeship program and a former staff member of Public Allies Milwaukee for five years who left shortly before the layoffs. She said the last three weeks have been a mix of emotions, including disbelief, anger, “a lot of grief,” pride and even moments of joy toward the unified response to the terminations.
Sisson noted that the local effect of the organization’s restructuring plan goes beyond the more than 30 staffers who were terminated.
Each year, the program staffs around 40 people in apprenticeships within Milwaukee nonprofits to provide services such as youth engagement, policy development, volunteer coordination and social services.
With staff suddenly let go, Sisson said that a program that nearly 40 Milwaukee nonprofits and organizations tap into annually was placed in jeopardy.
While acknowledging that harm had been done to the program and the people involved in it, Sisson said she hopes board members can move forward in good faith.
“It’s OK to say ‘I messed up.’ That’s a mark of good leadership,” she said.
Thompson participated in the Public Allies Milwaukee apprenticeship program in 2015 and 2016 and has gone on to build a successful career as an entrepreneur. She also hosted an apprenticeship member, or “Ally,” during the 2021-’22 apprenticeship year. The Ally worked on marketing and communications to support the work of the National Coalition for Healthy Black Families, or NCHBF, one of Thompson’s ventures.
She credits Public Allies for making her entrepreneurial success possible, starting with her work organizing “HaRUNbee,” a family-friendly 5K that supports the mission of the NCHBF. Thompson created the 5K when she was an Ally at United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County.
She compared her feelings over the last three weeks to “watching someone very close to you go through a breakup,” but she’s encouraged by the way Public Allies alumni rallied around a common goal and attained it.
“This is a family… and they messed with the wrong cousins,” Thompson said, laughing. “We still have a lot of work to do, but I’m really proud to be a Public Ally.”
In case you missed it: Public Allies CEO lays off employees, citing ‘restructuring’ needs, but alumni call move retaliation
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