The African American Roundtable (AART, Norman grantee 2021–present) was founded in 2012 with over 20 Black-led organizations to collectively develop a long-term plan for improving the quality of life for Milwaukee’s Black communities through year-round grassroots organizing. In 2019, AART launched Liberate MKE, a campaign to divest from the police and invest in community-based programs, after a police officer was acquitted after fatally shooting a Black resident, and upon learning that 46% of the city’s general fund was allocated to the police department. Since its inception, Liberate MKE has secured $4M for housing, library services, and youth employment programs. They also allocated $40K of its general fund to pilot a participatory budgeting program in Milwaukee’s Northwest Side, training Milwaukeeans on how to participate in the city’s budgeting progress. In 2025, after 5 years of organizing, AART achieved a major victory when Milwaukee’s Common Council voted to invest $600K in the MKE Community Impact Fund, giving residents real decision-making power over public funds, and leading AART to sunset its successful Liberate MKE campaign.

More info:

• Video: AART’s participatory budgeting pilot program 
• AART’s Liberate MKE Toolkit, created to help communities launch their own participatory budget campaign: Liberate MKE Toolkit