The La Follette School of Public Affairs’ director, Susan Webb Yackee, was selected as one of ten influential women from around the Madison area for Brava Magazine’s 2024 Women to Watch issue released this month.
Yackee has served as La Follette’s director since 2018. She also served in the same position from 2013 to 2016. Brava selected her as a Woman to Watch for her leadership and vision that have helped La Follette grow considerably in the last few years. She helped establish the La Follette School Policy Poll that surveyed Wisconsinites about an array of policy topics that matter to them. In 2022, La Follette began the Main Street Agenda project, where citizens engage with La Follette faculty and experts from around the state about health care, inflation, climate policies, and other issues.
Under Yackee’s leadership, the school began holding the La Follette Forum, an annual conference that brings together researchers, policymakers, and community leaders to address major policy issues. During this period of growth, La Follette has nearly doubled its faculty and staff, created two undergraduate certificate programs in public policy that are among the fastest-growing programs on campus, and is on the verge of establishing an undergraduate major alongside its current master’s programs.
“I am honored to be selected as a Woman to Watch by Brava Magazine, a publication I have admired since I moved to Madison nearly 15 years ago. This is especially meaningful because empowering women to thrive and become changemakers is a mission I share with them,” Yackee says.
Since joining the La Follette School in 2010, Yackee has established herself as a leading voice in public policy research and education. In 2019, she received the Herbert A. Simon Career Contribution Mid-Career Award from the Midwest Public Administration Caucus. It is one of the top awards for scholars studying public administration. She is also a member of the National Academy of Public Administration, and last year she was appointed as a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS).
Another important factor in Brava’s recognition of Yackee is her work to rebuild civility and trust in America. She is spearheading a new major platform for La Follette around civil discourse, and some of Yackee’s latest research aims to assess the effectiveness of civil dialogue strategies that may help reduce polarization. She also teaches students how to have productive and civil policy discussions with people who disagree with them. This will be the focus of a new course she’ll teach in the new undergraduate major and a foundational aspect of the major overall.
“Helping usher the La Follette School into a new era has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and I’m excited to see what’s next for this incredible program,” Yackee says. “The transformative things taking place at this school have been a team effort all the way, and I am lucky to be surrounded by amazing faculty members, staff, and students who help make La Follette better each and every day.”
Many of these ambitious projects have been made possible thanks to the generosity of Herb Kohl, a great friend to Yackee and the La Follette School who passed away in December. The former senator provided a $10 million donation to La Follette in 2019 that has helped the school grow in size and influence.
Brava Magazine is one of the most popular magazines in the Madison area, with a cumulative readership of over 60,000 each month. Their annual Women to Watch issue, one of their most popular features, celebrates champions for change in the Madison area. Yackee and the other recipients of this honor will be celebrated at the 2024 Women to Watch event on April 16, from 5:30 to 8 pm, at the Wisconsin School of Business.