I'm Carole Trone. I was born in San Diego to a big family and raised in the Washington, DC area. Education and educational opportunities have made a big impression on me, (although my teachers and I would both agree that this is not the same thing as being the super-student in the class.)
Early experiences also hammered home the need to serve—because I can and because I want to leave the world a better place than how I found it. Dad was a career Navy officer and Mom made a career of charity service with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity (after some dazzling early years as a June Taylor Dancer.) Thanks for the inspiration, Mom and Dad.
I moved to the Midwest for graduate school and never left. Wisconsin is a great place to live, bike, run, camp, know your neighbors and raise a family. Wisconsin is also a place, like too many other places, where your opportunities are shaped by background, income and identity. That’s what drives my “why.”
Carole J. Trone, PhD
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Education
High School: I attended Immaculata Preparatory School, a small all-girls high school in Washington, DC and cherish the lifelong bonds to tough and smart women.
College: I graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a major in English literature and an educational studies concentration. I volunteered as an English language instructor in Middletown and won the Limbach Award for Community Service.
Graduate School: I earned my master’s and doctoral degrees in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focusing on the history of education. My dissertation examined national communications campaigns to advance public education from 1890-1945: I continue to read and write about the intersection of philanthropy and education.
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Career
Entrepreneurship: I’ve led winning teams selected for gener8tor’s gBETA Social Impact program, StartingBlock Madison’s Social Impact Initiative, and Schmidt Future’s Alliance for the American Dream competition.
Teaching and Research: I have taught undergraduate classes at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in social issues in education and the history of education. I have also written major grant proposals to the NIH and NSF.
Strategic Communications: As the director of strategic diversity planning, research and communication for the Center for Academic Excellence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I developed communications strategies for reaching different audiences about the challenges of student access and success for first-generation, students of color, and low- income college students.
Education Policy: I provided early research and policy support for the launch of WISCAPE, a campuswide research and policy center for postsecondary issues at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I wrote policy papers and analyses during my time on staff in the Office of the Chancellor David Ward at UW-Madison.
Nonprofit Leadership: I served as Executive Director for a statewide education nonprofit, where we partnered with K-12 schools, students, and parents on accelerated and advanced curriculum programs.
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Service
Humanities: Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers appointed me to the board of Wisconsin Humanities, where I review and recommend funding for grant proposals and advocate for humanities support.
Arts: Dane County Executive Joe Parisi appointed me to the Cultural Affairs Commission (Dane Arts), first as an advisory panel member from 2009-2013 and from 2013-2020 as a Commissioner. We reviewed approximately 60-100 grant proposals twice a year.
Mentoring: I am a social impact mentor for Soaring Independent Cooperative, gener8tor, StartingBlock Madison, and CEOs of Tomorrow.
Basic Needs: For the last decade, I’ve coordinated a volunteer team to provide, prepare and serve a hot meal to 80-100 diners at Luke House Community Meal Program in downtown Madison.
Legal Justice: I serve on the board of directors for EJI, Inc. (Economic Justice Institute), which runs several anti-poverty, civil clinical programs through the UW-Madison Law School.
Memberships: I am a member of the Rotary Club of Madison (Downtown Rotary), StartingBlock Madison, and the Doyenne Group.