Milwaukee Mosaic Partnerships Program

Currently recruiting for the fourth year, The Milwaukee Mosaic Partnerships Program will engage approximately 80 individuals– 40 white, 40 individuals of color – in a nine-month journey to build trust, friendship and communication across the current divides towards the investment and growth of Milwaukee’s social capitol.

Our Process

The Milwaukee Mosaic Partnerships Program pairs leaders of the community across race and/or ethnicity and guides them through a nine-month process of relationship, understanding, and trust building. The Program is designed with two levels of interaction, which combine to create a holistic approach to driving personal and social change.

Partner Face-to-Face Meetings: Individual meetings are the heart of Milwaukee Mosaic. Dialogue questions of increasing depth are provided to the participants to act as a catalyst to encourage the deepening of their relationships. This personal level of interaction promotes fellowship and trust across differences; fosters meaningful interactions; causes personal reflection; and enhances the partners' racial and cultural understanding.

Cluster Group Gatherings: Each participant is part of a Cluster Group ( approximately 10 partner-pairs—20 participants). The Cluster Groups discuss and reflect on various topics related to relationship building, race, culture, higher societal ideals and regional challenges. Two coaches from the local community facilitate the gatherings.

The gatherings are experientially based and primarily designed to further strengthen the relationships among the participants. The content of the Cluster Group Gatherings begins with lighter topics and evolves into increasingly substantive discussions as the trust among the partners grows. It is an organic process fashioned to engender the level of trust necessary for the partners to engage in truly meaningful and productive dialogue.

Our Purpose

To build social capital within racial and ethnic diversity: The integration of social networks and the trust that binds  them are the foundation for sustainable community development. When the bonds that unite people of different races and ethnicities are strengthened communities are elevated to a higher degree of social connectedness, trust, and mutual cooperation. These relationships, the building blocks of a community, enable communities to actualize the latent talents and skills embodied within it, encouraging the realization of its full social and economic potential.

Our Principles

Build Social Capital in Diversity: Mosaic Partnerships approaches community building by addressing what is likely  this country's greatest social divide—race and ethnicity. The Mosaic Process advances a community along the path of trust building and social connectedness, both individually and across networks. In this way, it works to increase a community's level of social capital–the "invisible glue that holds a community together".

Start with Natural Opinion Leaders

The opinions and actions of a small percentage of influential members of a group ("natural opinion leaders") have great influence on the rest of the population. When they influence a sufficient number of people, a shift in common values occurs and cultural transformation begins.

Trust Development

Recognizing that trust is the first step to create and sustain positive social change, building that trust through developing deeper relationships is at the heart of  Mosaic Partnerships. We have found that increased trust leads to improved communication and understanding, the integration of professional and personal networks, enriched and meaningful dialogues, and community action on the part of the participants.

Personal Transformation

Heart-to-heart exchanges are the most powerful, as they cause the participants to question their unconscious, pre-conceived notions. Through fostering genuine interactions, prompted and secured by the trust developed between the participants, the Mosaic Process provides a prime opportunity for the recognition of our human oneness.

Hello Alumni! 

If you have participated in and graduated from one of the Mosaic Partnership Programs, Join Us On Facebook!

Rafael Acevedo
Mayor Tom Barrett
Tina Chang
Gwen Dansby 
Ralph Hollmon
Doug Jansson
Rhonda Kelsey
Jeanette Mitchell
Janan Najeeb
Joan Prince
Kip Ritchie
Mark Sabljak
Paula Simon

For more information, please contact:
Genyne Edwards
Milwaukee Mosaic Program Consultant 
101 W. Pleasant, Suite 210
Milwaukee, WI 53212
414-801-6167
414-875-0881 (fax)

mosaicmilwaukee@gmail.com