2025 MANDI
Awards Complete Program
On August 14th, 2025, the community came together at the 26th Annual Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation (MANDIs) to honor the people and organizations making Milwaukee stronger, healthier, and more vibrant.
Nearly 500 neighbors, leaders, and friends filled the room at Potawatomi Casino Hotel for a night of inspiration and celebration. This year’s event was extra special as LISC Milwaukee marked 30 years of impact—three decades of investing in resilient and inclusive communities across our city.
And the spotlight shined brightly on our incredible 2025 MANDI Award Winners:
🏥 Serenity Inns Treatment Centers – Community Health Award
🚀 Bridge Builders, Inc. – Trailblazer Award
🌱 Walnut Way Conservation Corp. – Cornerstone Award
🛹 National DIY Skatepark – Public Space Award
🌳 Urban Ecology Center – Washington Park – Building Blocks Award
💼 HoneyBee Sage Wellness and Apothecary, LLC – Economic Development Award
🌟 Brenda Campbell, SecureFutures – Navigator Award
🎖️ Wells Fargo People’s Choice Awardees (chosen by more than 3,200 community votes!):
🏆 The Bread of Healing Clinic
🏆 Urban Ecology Center – Washington Park Renovation & Expansion
🏆 HoneyBee Sage Wellness and Apothecary, LLC
Each honoree received a commemorative trophy and a $1,000 award to continue their amazing work.
A Night of Inspiration - “MANDI 2025 was a powerful reflection of Milwaukee’s resilience,” said Theodore Lipscomb, Sr., Executive Director of LISC Milwaukee. “We remain committed to uplifting local voices and investing in the changemakers shaping our city’s future.”
Thank you to everyone who joined us in celebrating. Together, we’re building the Milwaukee we all believe in—one award, one neighborhood, one story at a time.
🌟 Thank You to Our Sponsors 🌟 The MANDIs would not be possible without the incredible generosity of our sponsors. From our Presenting Sponsor, U.S. Bank, to our Category Sponsors — Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment, Associated Bank, BMO, Brewers Community Foundation, Husch Blackwell, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo — your leadership makes this celebration possible.
We are also deeply grateful to Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago and all of our Supporting Sponsors, whose partnership strengthens this event and amplifies the work of our finalists and winners: Potawatomi Casino Hotel, Bader Philanthropies, Inc., Northwestern Mutual Foundation, PNC, Zilber Family Foundation and Greater Milwaukee Foundation.
Together, each of you helps us shine a spotlight on Milwaukee’s neighborhood heroes and fuels the movement to build safe, healthy, and vibrant communities for all.
We also want to send out a big thank you to our 2025 MANDI Team Sheree Dallas- Branch, Amelia Peña, Christian Dennik, JJ Burkart & our AV partner Events By Design for helping us bring the show to life! Events By Design worked hand-in-hand with our team to help take the MANDIs to the next level once again!
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is the organization that host's the MANDIs and one of the nation’s largest community development organizations, having invested $35 billion to build stronger communities of opportunity across the United States, leveraging more than $93 billion in total development. In 2024 alone, LISC deployed $3.2 billion, helping create over 24,000 affordable homes and supporting thousands of small businesses and community facilities nationwide. LISC works through 37 local offices and a rural program that is active in 49 states.
LISC and its affiliates have invested nearly $275 million in Milwaukee neighborhoods and over $783 million in Wisconsin - fueling affordable housing, economic development, and community-led revitalization efforts. LISC opened the LISC Milwaukee office in 1995, making 2025 the 30th anniversary of LISC in Milwaukee.
Learn more at mandiawards.com lisc.org or lisc.org/milwaukee.