Welcome to a series introducing the women who were nominated by professionals and will be honored at "The Rad Women Celebration: Being Rad for Social Change." The event is hosted by the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee and will take place on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Italian Conference Center. The idea was inspired by the bestselling book "Rad American Women A to Z," by Kate Schatz, who is the keynote speaker at the event. More information at womensfundmke.org.
Margaret J. Henningsen, a community activist who has run The Women's Fund of Greater Milwaukee since 2011, will retire on Friday.
Henningsen has won more than 100 awards during her career, including the Black Enterprise Magazine Trailblazer Award; Milwaukee Business Journal Woman of Influence and the Professional Dimensions Sacagawea Award.
Currently she is the board chair and founding sponsor of the I Have A Dream Foundation and a Friends of Housing board member. Previously, she has served on dozens of boards for organizations including Walnut Way Conservation Corp., Habitat for Humanity, North Avenue Community Development Corporation and many more.
Henningsen’s favorite quote, by an unknown author, sums up her own rad approach to everyday living.
"Life is not a cautious journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body but rather to skid in broadside – thoroughly used up, completely worn out, proclaiming ‘WOW! What a ride!'"
OnMilwaukee: What is your personal "mission" with your work?
Margaret Henningsen: My personal mission is that all people – but especially women and girls – are treated with respect and dignity and are able to control their own destiny.
What do you personally receive from the work you do?
A quote I like comes to mind: "We rise when we lift others." That’s how I feel.
How do you define success?
Actually, I don’t define it in terms of myself because I am never 100 percent satisfied with what I am doing. Maybe it could be that women and girls coming behind me take my cue and work hard towards social change.
Who has taught you the most in your life?
My parents. My father was pretty hard on me because I was always breaking the rules, but the lesson he taught me is that if I was going to be a rule breaker I should consider the consequences and ask myself if I was willing to pay the consequences. It’s something I never forgot and it made me pretty fearless because I was not afraid of the consequences. My mom said to me many times, "Margaret, learn how to pick your battles and you will win more. You can’t solve everything – even if you think you can." That advice made me so much more effective as I moved towards changing the things I could.
How would you like to see the workplace change for women in the future?
The primary change is that a question like this would no longer need to be asked! And that we would not have to celebrate or even make note of women’s accomplishments in the workplace.
What does a perfect day off from work look like for you?
Laying around thinking about how I am not going to do anything unless I want to. That usually lasts for about 10 minutes and then I’ll get a call from someone that starts out like this: "Hi, are you busy … ?"
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
