Bio
Guide by the heart. Lead by the mind.
Madison Sauke is seeking your support for the position of Public Relations Coordinator at LeadMN. Madison started her journey as a Governing Council Representative of the Southeast region last year. She is currently serving as the Student Senate President at Riverland Community College in Austin. Serving as both a Student Senate President and Governing Council member has given Madison enough experience to move into a position that will ultimately serve and work to inspire a larger group of students in Minnesota. Madison's campaign supports improved mental health resources, assistance programs for lower-income students, and helping build leadership among students in order to empower them. Aside from roles in leadership, Madison serves on the Basic Needs Committee at LeadMN, and she serves as a chair for the Mental Health Wellness committee on her own campus' senate.
1. What degree or certificate program are you seeking?
I am currently working on a Business Transfer Pathway Program through Riverland Community college. I plan on transferring after next year to a university somewhere in Minnesota.
2. What are your future career plans?
I intend on owning my own business at some point in my life. I have several passions. My passions include: environmental sustainability, finance, community service, and creative arts. I'm undecided on which path I will take, maybe all of them, but I know I have time to figure that out. Whatever I do, I want to positively impact as many people as possible.
3. Please describe your previous student government or professional experience, and how it has prepared you for this position.
One of the biggest successes I've had as president this year is creating a quiet space for students and staff to use on campus. This has started a chain reaction at the administration level to start taking care of the mental health needs at our school. I am currently working with the dean of students at our college, Chelsea Anderson, in order to bring on-site counseling to our campus as well as restructuring how our current academic counselors are used for scheduling. This year, I've ingrained the concept of leadership in the senators at Riverland; it's honestly been so inspiring to me to see the changes that students have had from the beginning of the year spanning to the end of the year. This year, we've successfully built our team of senators from 6 students to 20 students. We've seen huge increases, so that has inspired more students to be more involved all around. I've also been working a lot as a Governing Council Representative this year. I've been keeping the campuses in my region on track to success not only with their personal senate groups, but at LeadMN as well. This is going to give me a lot of headway into my position as Public Relations Coordinator. I won't stop until the deserved outcomes and goals of students are met.
4. Why are you running for this position?
I'm running for the position as Public Relations Coordinator because I feel like my time will be best spent helping the students at a very personal level. I connect with and care about the students here at LeadMN because I see a lot of potential in any student I connect with. That aspect means so much to me and I want to give back to those who have honestly inspired me to do much more than I thought I ever would have. I love Public Relations work. I love meeting new people and following up with the ones who have reached out to our organization.
5. What challenges do you see facing Minnesota's community and technical college students?
The thing that I am so passionate about changing is the way we face students that are low-income earning. Under this bracket, there is food insecurity, housing insecurity, transportation issues, lack of health resources, and more damaging issues that low-income students are facing. I work at a credit union, so I know how stressed-out people can get about their finances. People are generally not happy when they don't have money. College is supposed to be the best years of your life, yet students are facing it without money to buy basic necessities for themselves. I am willing to work on and advocate for assistance programs set up at the system-level at schools in order to get the help that these students deserve to receive.