Panel discussion of next-generation leaders at the 2025 Wisconsin Economic Summit
Young people preparing for careers in Wisconsin are facing harsh economic realities, from being able to afford a place to live to landing a job that gives them the quality of life they desire. But they also see a promising future here, especially if their voices continue to be heard.
Cassie Cornelius
These were among the perspectives shared in two panel discussions at the 2025 Wisconsin Economic Summit, held in mid-October. The first panel, titled “Investing in the Future: Voices of Wisconsin’s Next-Generation Leaders,” featured Cassie Cornelius and Nakeisha Holder, students at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College; Nathan Halbach, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay; Adina Kurzban, a senior at UW-Madison and an intern with the Wisconsin Office of Rural Prosperity; and Henry Thies, a recent Evansville High School graduate working in the landscape trades.
“Everybody I know has at least two jobs,” Cornelius said, adding that younger workers are looking to prioritize work-life balance because they recognize “just working hard all the time doesn’t fulfill you” and “you don’t want to spend your life working just to survive.”
Holder said young people are working hard to build their futures, but the need to work long hours or multiple jobs can interfere with the continuing education that supports professional advancement. Holder, who is living with her parents, said, “I’ll probably live with them until I’m like 38—because I want to pursue higher education, and that’s not going to be possible if I’m living by myself.”
As a 21-year-old preparing to enter the full-time workforce, Halbach voiced similar concerns, noting a mismatch between entry-level salaries and living expenses: “You get a good job but you still can’t afford the lifestyle to be comfortable.”
Boosting Wisconsin’s appeal for younger workers
Cornelius said she would like to see companies invest more in expanding internship opportunities for students while they’re still in school, so they can combine their education with real-world work experience. She noted that this offers benefits for companies too—such as the opportunity to “really mold somebody to your workplace and your work culture and show them why the work that you’re doing is important.”
Thies voiced a strong sense of connection to his small community of Evansville, where he’s spent his whole life. “It means so much to me,” he said. “I have so many people who are connected to me. I don’t want to go out of state.”
“I think one of the things that makes Wisconsin’s so special is the community,” agreed Kurzban, a California native.
The Design Gilman team, represented by students, educators, and local officials
Shaping the future of rural Wisconsin: One community’s story
Another panel at the summit featured community members from the village of Gilman in Northern Wisconsin, describing their collaborative efforts to revitalize Main Street and strengthen civic life in their community.
Gilman School District Superintendent Wally Leipart knew the future of the small rural school district depended on the vitality of the surrounding community, and vice versa. So Leipart reached out to residents and others who could help energize what he calls “a vision of hope and opportunity that lives in a small community.”
That led to a community economic analysis, design charrette, and collaboration among students, residents, and local government leaders, with assistance from the Community Economic Analysis for Rural Wisconsin Communities program, a joint effort between the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the UW Division of Extension, and WEDC.
Leipart, along with Gilman Village Clerk Candice Grunseth, art teacher Miia Vick, and students Mylie Stephens and Addy Vick, shared their experiences and achievements in the panel discussion titled “Design Gilman: How a Village and Its Students are Unlocking Wisconsin’s Rural Future.”
Wally Leipart
Efforts focused on three goals:
- Create a vibrant Main Street and community
- Increase volunteerism and engagement
- Embrace the quality of life possible in a rural community
The multifaceted approach helped local residents see the value in each individual initiative, Leipart said: “I can’t recruit staff and families into our community if we have a bunch of closed building on Main Street, so it’s important for us to be active contributors to seeing the growth of Main Street so that we have a vibrant school.”
The projects were guided by an ethos “to stay a small community but be thriving.” People got excited, Leipart said, “because they knew we weren’t trying to come in and change Gilman into something that it doesn’t want to be.”
The involvement of young people also helped to rally enthusiasm for the effort, the panelists said.
“I think that when the students got involved it was like this energy, this excitement,” Grunseth said, adding that businesses and residents were also included in the process of developing a plan to move the community forward. “We really wanted everybody to have a voice.”
Achievements to date range from converting a former nursing home into 17 apartments to creating a snowshoeing trail—and “now we have all these ideas,” Leipart said. A core team meets regularly to discuss which projects will come next.
Students are continuing to volunteer in the community, putting up Christmas lights and helping with holiday gift wrapping. “I think that the kids are starting to see what they can do in the community to continue to drive this forward,” Miia Vick said.
“We really got rejuvenated,” Grunseth said. “I think it really got people wanting to do more for our community.’
“It’s just amazing how things have transformed in just a short period of time,” Leipart said. “It’s just keeping that momentum growing in incremental steps that are attainable and achievable.”
