Jason Fields, 48, has led the Madison Region Economic Partnership (MadREP) for just over a year. Last April, while speaking to the Rotary Club of Madison, the Milwaukee native was candid about his first impressions of the area. They weren’t great. For example, while searching for a place to live, his wife, La Tasha, an accomplished educator with multiple degrees, experienced telephone hang-ups, cancelled showings, and threats of credit and background checks beyond the norm. Was this the same Madison they had heard so much about?
Fast forward a year and this power couple has not only settled in, but they’ve also connected with community leaders in ways they never thought possible.
Fields, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Concordia College-Wisconsin, has founded several companies and served in the state Assembly for 12 years, representing his northside Milwaukee district. Now, as president/CEO at MadREP, he’s working with an eight-county Madison Region (Dane, Columbia, Dodge, Green, Rock, Jefferson, Sauk and Iowa) on a unified economic development strategy.
We spoke to him about his vision and working as a Black man in predominantly white, rural counties.
Article originally published on ibmadison.com
