As part of the Plan for Community Well-Being, United Way of Dane County brings together partners and resources to help remove barriers to healthy living, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to live their healthiest life. This includes working with partners like Anesis Foundation to increase access to mental health services.

United Way’s support has strengthened Anesis’s ability to provide accessible, culturally responsive behavioral health services to individuals and families who may otherwise face significant barriers to care. The investment has supported the expansion of Anesis’s Drop-In Clinic model, allowing participants to receive immediate support and connect with therapy, case management, peer support, and community resources, regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.

For one participant experiencing a significant mental health crisis, that support meant finding the right therapist, developing healthier coping strategies and connecting with long-term resources. Over time, the participant regained confidence and began setting meaningful goals. Today, the participant is preparing to graduate from Operation Fresh Start and has secured employment.

United Way’s flexible investment also helps Anesis provide coordinated, wraparound care that addresses mental health needs and other factors that affect well-being, including housing, employment, transportation, food security and connection to community resources.

Through partnerships like this, United Way helps strengthen the network of support individuals and families rely on across Dane County – helping ensure the right resources are there when our neighbors need them the most.

Please note that names and photos for this story have been changed to protect the privacy of those featured.

United Way of Dane County’s Season of Caring is your premier resource for holiday volunteerism and donations. Join us in sharing the giving spirit and helping others during the holiday season. Because, while we can’t fix all of the issues affecting our community overnight, we can unite to address the most urgent needs facing families during the holiday season.

As United Way’s annual campaign season gains momentum, the success of our work depends on dedicated leaders who inspire others to get involved, give back and strengthen our community. One of those leaders is Raj Ravi, a member of Lead United, a Women United Ambassador and Employee Campaign Manager (ECM) at Hooper Corporation.

For nearly three years, Raj has helped lead Hooper’s United Way campaign, bringing energy, creativity and a passion for community impact to her role. Through employee education, relationship-building and collaboration with current donors and volunteers, she helps connect colleagues to the many ways they can support United Way’s mission.

At Hooper, Raj has helped cultivate a culture of service that is both meaningful and engaging. Working alongside a dedicated team of volunteers and HR staff, she supports special events tailored to employee interests. These activities not only generate excitement during campaign season but also create opportunities for employees to learn about the impact their generosity has across our community.

Raj’s passion for United Way’s work is rooted in its focus on financial security. She believes financial stability is often at the core of the challenges families face and has gained a deeper understanding of those realities through her involvement with United Way. While she feels fortunate that her own family has not experienced many of those hardships, she recognizes the importance of helping build a community where everyone has the opportunity to achieve financial security and a brighter future.

Raj has taken her involvement to the next level by becoming a Women United Ambassador. Women United Ambassadors serve as champions for Women United, helping to grow membership, connect women to meaningful volunteer and networking opportunities and share the collective impact women are making through philanthropy and service. In addition to serving as an ambassador, Raj recently joined Women United Membership & Engagement committee, further strengthening her commitment to engaging others in United Way’s work.

Volunteering has had a meaningful impact on Raj’s life. Through her experiences, she has developed an even greater appreciation for the people who dedicate their time to helping others. One of her favorite aspects of volunteering is connecting with fellow volunteers and learning about their unique experiences that inspire them to give back. Her involvement with United Way has also made service and philanthropy a regular topic of conversation at home, where she hopes to teach and model a strong sense of empathy, gratitude and community involvement with her children.

Raj’s leadership reflects the power of engagement beyond the workplace campaign. By investing in both philanthropy and service, she is helping build a stronger network of advocates who are committed to creating lasting change.

“To me, philanthropic leadership is about using your voice, relationships and influence to make a difference and encourage others to get involved,” Raj says. “One of my favorite parts of my job is leading the United Way campaign at Hooper. We start planning months in advance, and it is a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when we come together around a common cause. Whether it’s through your time, resources, relationships or voice, everyone has a role to play. When we each do our part, we can make a lasting difference in our community.”

As we continue through campaign season, we are especially grateful for leaders like Raj who make others feel personally invited to engage in community Raj’s commitment reminds us that when people step forward to lead, they inspire others to do the same.

After more than 30 years of service to support student learning, Schools of Hope and Achievement Connections ended in August 2026 due to reductions in federal funding. United Way of Dane County has released a report detailing the impact these programs have had on local students.

United Way is grateful to all of the volunteers, staff and partner organizations who came together to support Schools of Hope and Achievement Connections. We honor them and thank them for believing that all our community’s children can succeed academically, and for taking action to implement an effective community response.

Please note that Middle Schools of Hope, not funded by AmeriCorps, provides one-on-one and small group literacy and mathematics tutoring, and continues to be operated by Urban League and supported by United Way.

“Dane County is fortunate to have Sheila and Kevin working to make our community better.” That’s how Gary Wolter summarizes the influence and impact of our 2026 United Way of Dane County Tocqueville Society Honorees Sheila and Kevin Conroy.

Wolter, former Chairman, President & CEO of Madison Gas and Electric, notes that he’s had the honor of working with the couple over the years on a variety of community efforts. “I first met Kevin in 2005 when he was President and CEO of Third Wave Technologies, and I was calling on local leaders on behalf of the United Way campaign,” Wolter explains. “Kevin quickly recognized the importance of United Way’s efforts and ramped up the employee campaign at Third Wave. Perhaps more importantly, Kevin offered ideas for how United Way could approach the tech sector generally, which has been a tough sector for United Way to gain a foothold. Many of his ideas are still being used in campaigns today.”

He further states, “I recently began serving with Sheila on a foundation that makes grants to support people in our community. Sheila is a quick study yet thoughtful and humble in her approach to learning. She is intentional in her approach and uses what she learns not only to help other members of the board in their decision making, but also to help inform the Conroy family giving.”

Sheila and Kevin each grew up in large families devoted to their communities and to supporting others. Kevin was the second of five children in Flint, Michigan. He attended Michigan State University. Sheila Brennan was sibling number eight of 11 growing up in Milwaukee where she attended Marquette University. They met in 1988 as incoming law students at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Married in 1996, their careers took them to San Francisco, Chicago and Milwaukee before they settled in Madison in 2006. Here, they raised three daughters, all alumnae of the University of Notre Dame: Meghan, a newlywed in Milwaukee training to become a surgeon; Grace, a consultant in New York City; and Molly, also a consultant, who lives in Chicago and plans to attend medical school. As a family, the Conroys enjoy biking, running, tennis, recreational sports, travel with family and good friends, reading and music.

Kevin served as CEO of Exact Sciences from 2009 to 2026 with a goal of helping to eradicate cancer through earlier detection. Exact Sciences developed Cologuard, now used more than 23 million times to screen for colorectal cancer. The company grew from three employees to more than 4,000 in Madison and multiple states. Before joining Exact, Kevin was president and CEO of Third Wave Technologies, a Madison molecular diagnostics company that developed a cervical cancer screening test. He currently serves as a director of Abbott, Align Technology and CereVasc.

“Many years ago, I was asked to call on Kevin to seek his support for United Way of Dane County,” reflects Jay Sekelsky. “It was probably one of the easiest and most rewarding meetings I have ever had. He not only agreed to become a donor and a volunteer, but he also asked very insightful questions. Right away, I knew that Kevin was different and that he would have a huge impact on our community. And he has. He is focused on helping others and making our community the best place possible for all.” Sekelsky, a partner at Zermatt Investors, continues. “Over the years his leadership at United Way and other charitable organizations (such as Overture Center for the Arts and the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce) has been inspirational to me and many others. I’m grateful for Kevin’s friendship, his leadership, his compassion, but most of all, for helping to make Madison a better place for all of us.”    

Inspired by Kevin’s leadership, over the years Exact employees and corporate giving totaled nearly $6 million for our Dane County campaigns. The company provided and sponsored loaned executives for United Way to support workplace giving across the county, and Exact has been well-represented on United Way committees from leadership councils to the Board of Directors. Meanwhile, the United Way partnership extended to all of the company’s locations serving communities from coast to coast including a Give Back Day in 2018 involving thousands of employees donating hundreds of hours of volunteer service at projects as diverse as nature trails, home building sites and food pantries.

In 2016, Kevin chaired United Way’s Community Campaign. Volunteers, donors and staff saw his dedication to helping others and responded generously achieving the $18.6 million goal, an incredible total. That year, a decade ago, was Renee Moe’s first as President & CEO of United Way of Dane County, and Kevin set the standard for volunteer leadership.

“Kevin provided a positive, accountable energy to his year as United Way’s Campaign Chair, the same passion and forward-tilt leadership he brings to his cancer-eradication and community work. He also mentored me, building my confidence and skills as I assumed leadership at our organization. I continue to count on him as a thought leader, coach and partner. Kevin and Sheila exemplify what it means to be engaged community leaders unafraid to ask the tough questions that lead to deeper understanding and measurable impact.”  

A few years later, Moe remembers, Sheila and Kevin were the first to step up to invest in a Relief and Recovery Fund to help Dane County families at the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic. “Support for our local community was paramount, as they recognized the urgency of the situation and the need for individuals, businesses and nonprofit organizations to collaborate and leverage United Way’s unique role during a crisis.” In addition to being the first to support, Kevin went on to invite others to support the fund, ultimately raising $2.3 million to bridge nonprofit service support and family well-being until unemployment and other systems of support caught up three months after the start of the pandemic.

The Conroy household became leadership donors in 2006 and joined the Tocqueville Society just three years later. Their personal commitment deepened when United Way of Dane County celebrated our Centennial in 2022, and they agreed to endow their annual support through the Tocqueville Legacy Circle which included establishing the Kevin and Sheila Conroy Family Fund in our United Way Foundation. The fund will forever support United Way’s mission.

Honoring United Way’s history and looking to the future prompted a major corporate gift from Exact during our Centennial celebration. The company made a five-year investment to amplify our volunteer center and 211 services to connect community members to resources and engagement opportunities for years to come. The gift fulfillment concludes next year and represents a true partnership.

For the past 35 years, Sheila has litigated and counseled organizations in private and public sector employment. Sheila is a partner with Lake Effect Human Resources & Law, specializing in employment law matters; she has been a part of the firm since its opening day in 2018. Sheila has also worked in Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle’s administration, first as a Division Head and then as Director of the Office of State Employment Relations.

Sheila brings her professional expertise and care for others to her community involvement. She currently serves on the boards of the Madison Area Sports Commission and the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation. Previously, she served on the boards of the Madison Public Library Foundation and Girls on the Run of Dane County. Meanwhile, Sheila co-chaired and contributed to the successful Overture Center for the Arts’ $30 Million endowment campaign—Overture Forever. Additionally, she serves on advisory councils at Marquette University and the University of Notre Dame.

“Sheila’s care for the community has made her an advocate for the people we are trying to serve, both as organizations and as individuals,” observes Jenni Jeffress, President of the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation. Their paths have crossed over the years, originally volunteering together as mothers of daughters at Girls on the Run of Dane County (now South Central Wisconsin), later through Sheila’s board service at Madison Public Library Foundation and now with Rennebohm. Jeffress notes that Sheila is a hands-on board member and has used her skills as an employment attorney to improve institutional processes, “Sheila is asking questions and requesting data so that grants can make a difference in systemic solutions and address root causes.”

The Conroys have made an indelible impact on our Dane County community through their professional and personal involvement, which is far-reaching, compassionate and generous.

“To date, our philanthropy has focused heavily on education, and specifically on providing scholarship opportunities to students so that they can pursue their personal and professional goals,” they explain. “We’ve also focused on healthcare, supporting organizations that fund research and seek to improve patient care. Lastly, we care deeply about our immediate community of Madison, Dane County and Wisconsin, and we have tried to support organizations that make our community stronger and more vibrant. We do feel an obligation to give back to this community that welcomed us and has done so much for us and for our daughters.”

We’re pleased to recognize Sheila and Kevin Conroy with the 2026 Tocqueville Society Award.

At United Way, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to live in an affordable, safe, stable home and for homeowner readiness to be an achievable goal for every family. That’s why we bring together community resources and invest in partners like Habitat for Humanity of Dane County to create solutions that help families access housing and build a stronger future.

For Kate, homeownership had been a dream years in the making. A mother of three, she worked hard to provide for her family while balancing the demands of raising her son and twin daughters. Yet despite her determination and persistence, her own seven-year path to homeownership was filled with challenges.

When Kate learned about Habitat for Humanity of Dane County’s Homeownership Program, she was inspired by the opportunity it could provide families. Being accepted into the program became a life-changing moment and a pathway to achieving the goal that once felt out of reach for her and her children. As they settle into their new home, Kate looks forward to putting down roots, building relationships and creating new opportunities for her family’s future.

Through our Plan for Community Well-Being, United Way invests in strategies that support financial security, such as homeownership programs, and works alongside partners like Habitat for Humanity to help families overcome barriers to housing and achieve economic stability. When families have a stable place to call home, children are better positioned to succeed, parents can focus on their goals, and our entire community grows stronger.

Please note that names and photos for this story have been changed to protect the privacy of those featured.