Mona Adams Winston is a very proud African American woman who has dedicated her life in the most selfless way to improving our community. She is a dedicated daughter, sister, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She was a Dane County foster parent for 20 years to 22 children.

She is currently one of the busiest and hard working retired people in this community as she is working part time in the Agency Services Department of Second Harvest Foodbank, and is an Outreach and Special Events Consultant. She also found time to work on a local team for the Barack Obama for President Campaign.

Mona has provided significant leadership on improving race relations in our community through her outstanding work in the City of Madison Study Circles on Race. She extended her commitment beyond what was expected as the project coordinator, spending time with participants in off hours as they met in informal groups to fulfill the dream envisioned in Study Circles, of people from diverse races spending their time together learning about and enjoying each other. But, Mona’s work doesn’t stop here.

Mona is Co-Chair of Kujichagulia-Madison Center for Self-Determination, Inc. and also one of the founding members of Madison’s Juneteenth Celebration that has been celebrated here for 20 years. She is on the Board of Directors for the National Juneteenth Day held each year on June 19th in Washington D.C., which includes working towards making Juneteenth a national holiday. She is also currently Co-Chair of the City-County Martin Luther King Celebration. Mona serves on several local boards; they include serving as Vice Chair of the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, Future Madison Housing Fund, and as a member-at-large of Dane Dances!. She also serves on several committees; they include Diversity and Inclusiveness for United Way of Dane County, Affirmative Action Advisory for Madison Metropolitan Schools, Communities United, and South Central Federation of Labor Community Service, Grants for the Foundation for Madison Public Schools, and Community Change Maker Awards.

Adams Winston is a member of several organizations Urban League of Greater Madison, Urban League Guild, Wisconsin Women of Color Network, Inc., and the N.A.A.C.P. She is an active member of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, where she serves as on the Trustee Board, Usher Board and as a member of the Food Pantry Ministry.

Mona is community advocacy defined. Her community service is outstanding, such that it has been awarded in numerous ways including Madison Community Foundation’s Community Asset Builder Award, the State of Wisconsin Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Humanitarian Award, YWCA Racial Justice Award, Women of Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Women of Color Network and the 2009 Whitney M. Young Equal Opportunity Award from the Urban League of Greater Madison.