Photo by Erin Bloodgood
JoAnna Bautch
JoAnna Bautch
JoAnna Bautch grew up on Milwaukee’s South Side and knows the neighborhoods Burnham Park, Silver City and Layton Park intricately. Now the executive director of VIA Community Development Corporation (VIA CDC), she serves the people of the neighborhoods she has always called home.
At a young age, she started her path toward community building and saw the power that work could create. When she was 19 years old, Bautch’s sister took her to a conference that trained women who were interested in running for elected office.
“I learned how the issues we face as women, women of color, and queer people intersect, and how the intersection of our problems is what really brings us together,” said Bautch.
That led to her first job as a community organizer, which opened her eyes to many of the unique challenges her community faces. “I realized how challenging it was for folks to get family supporting jobs, how college seemed inaccessible to people from my neighborhood, and that a lot of folks didn't have access to good, quality health care.”
Civic Engagement
Her passion quickly turned to civic engagement and a goal of getting more of her community to the polls. “When our communities are civically engaged, that impacts the resources we get.”
After years of work in electoral nonprofits—and a run for state legislature—she found her way to VIA CDC where she gets to work directly with her own neighborhood. The organization has three main focuses: economic development working with small businesses, housing support, and community connections alongside civic engagement.
Through economic development, the organization helps businesses navigate resources and connects them to community events. Under their housing sector, they support renters and homeowners through trainings, legal support, and home improvement grants. In their Turnkey program, they renovate foreclosed homes and build new homes in collaboration with the City of Milwaukee to provide affordable starter houses to new home buyers under market value.
Lastly, with community connections they build stronger relationships between neighbors and help people understand the public policies that impact their lives. “We believe that if our neighbors can know each other, that is a form of community safety,” said Bautch.
Increase Voter Turnout
Since Bautch has led the organization starting in March of 2022, she has worked to grow the civic engagement programming. Her experience in prior jobs showed her that Latinos are one of the lowest voting constituencies in the state—and she wants to change that.
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She has seen firsthand the barriers in front of her community that make it harder to vote. Political mailers, for instance, often are not translated into Spanish – directly excluding people who do not speak English as their primary language. Many Latinos are also undocumented or face challenges obtaining a voting ID.
But Bautch has seen that when teaching folks how policies and city budgets truly affect them, and what candidates are doing for their communities, they want to become engaged with the process.
Bautch and VIA CDC are creating real change and community ownership that is building strength among their southside neighbors. “I think if we talk more to each other and can understand one another, we can really see changes in our neighborhoods, our community, and in our city.”
Learn more about VIA Community Development Corporation at viacdc.org.
