Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/100910
guiding BUSINESS Charlene Mouille: Focused on financial literacy Charlene Mouille wants young people to dream big by setting their sights on the future: their finances. The district director of Dane and Rock Counties at Junior Achievement of Wisconsin aims to improve financial literacy today to help even the economic playing field down the road. ��� ���Junior Achievement empowers young people to own their future economic success by focusing on three pillars: financial literacy, entrepreneurism and work readiness. It���s an especially important topic because the average student debt after college is about $26,000 in Wisconsin and we are seeing more credit taken out than ever before. In Dane County we reached 489 classrooms and 9,800 students last year. But that is not enough. We hope to reach 10,000 students in 2013. But we need more volunteers. It���s really important for our program to generate community participation. We need to close the achievement gap and prepare our young people so they can contribute to their own economic success.������RG 38 BRAVA Magazine January 2013 Lori Compas: A new voice for Wisconsin businesses It wasn���t just Lori Compas��� grassroots campaign to run for Sen. Scott Fitzgerald���s seat in the recall election last year that showed she was a force to be reckoned with. It was that when she came up short, this Fort Atkinson-based wedding photographer didn���t stop her unlikely journey to the State Capitol���and now she���s building an inroad many say is sorely needed. Founder of the recently launched Wisconsin Business Network (WBM), Compas��� new mission is to be a resource for businesses and advocate for their needs. And with this nonpartisan entity already growing its membership it���s clear Compas��� voice, in a conversation that can often be bitterly divided, isn���t falling on deaf ears. Do you think you would have started an organization like WBM if you wouldn���t have run for state Senate? No, I wouldn���t have seen the need for it. Throughout the campaign I saw a huge disconnect from what representatives at Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce said businesses need and what actual businesses were telling me. How challenging is it going to be to remain nonpartisan? We���re dealing with facts���and there���s nothing partisan about that. I see my job as helping the government and legislators understand what���s going on with Wisconsin businesses. Is it safe to say you���ve caught the bug for working in politics? I feel like I���ve been awakened. Before all this my life revolved around my business and family and that was great. But now that all this has happened, I can���t go back to the way it was.���MP