The 2025 Evening Celebration
Warm-up Music – The Mayfield Experience
Welcome – Rick Trietley, President, Viterbo University
Invocation – Shaundel Washington-Spivey
Opening Remarks – The evening's host, Amanda Goodenough
The Lynda Blackmon Lowery Youth Leadership Award
Presented by Laura Abellera, John Horman, and Vanessa Daughter of Lois
Presented to Leo Randall, Onalaska High School
The William "Bill" Coleman College Leadership Award
Presented by Mrs. Coleman and Family
Presented to Ishmael Dekrahn, Viterbo University
The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 2025 Leadership Award
Presented by Will Van Roosenbeek
Presented to Henry Greengrass
Still I Rise by Rosephanye Powell – Viterbo University Concert Choir
Soloist: Jamie Allen, Pianist: Judy Stafslien
James Wilson, director
Keynote Address: "A King for Our Times" – Dr. Lerone A. Martin, Centennial Chair, Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University
Closing Remarks – Amanda Goodenough
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing – All
Call to Action – Amanda Goodenough
Thank you to our generous donors: Viterbo University, Dahl Foundation, John and Kathy Reinhart, Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, GLADC, Onalaska School District, La Crosse School District, Mayo Clinic, UW-La Crosse, Western Technical College, Workforce Connections, La Crosse Community Foundation, Gundersen Health System Foundation, and our dedicated community and individual supporters. Your contributions make a last impact!
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing
Words by James Weldon Johnson
Music by John Rosemond Johnson
- Lift ev’ry voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
High as the list’ning skies
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
- Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast’ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered.
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
- God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might; led us into the light
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath, thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.
Amanda Goodenough
Amanda Florence Garcia Goodenough (she/her) is a dedicated educator operating from a cultural humility framework to center and elevate historically marginalized voices, promote belongingness and mattering, disrupt structural inequities, and advance intersectional social and racial justice. A practitioner leaning on 20 years of professional experience in justice, equity, decolonization, and interconnectedness (JEDI) efforts and decades of critically examined lived experience as a Black and Mexican multiracial woman of the global majority, Goodenough engages in systems-change work and strives to speak truth to power as an act of love and liberation.
Goodenough currently serves as the lead executive officer and founder of Goodenough Consulting, LLC (GC) and as a team member for Social Responsibility Speaks™, LLC. She is also a member of the Greater La Crosse Area Diversity Council's (GLADC) Speakers Bureau, a board member for The Pump House Regional Arts Center, co-creator of the Belonging & Mattering Institute (BaM Institute), and a cultural guide for the Waking Up White Collaborative steering committee. Previously, Goodenough served as the director of the Research & Resource Center for Campus Climate at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where she worked for 17 years.
Goodenough has presented and consulted at the international, national, state, and local levels for institutions of higher education, PK–12 school districts, non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and corporate entities on topics of cultural humility, inclusive company/campus climate, bold leadership, hate/bias prevention & response, white supremacy culture, mattering of black lives, racial justice, multiracialism, microaggressions, bystander intervention, student activism, generative conflict, social identity development, power and positionality, and healing centered engagement.
Goodenough was the 2010 recipient of the Social Justice Achievement Award for YWCA's Tribute to Outstanding Women, and in 2021, she was awarded the La Crosse Area Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Leadership Award. In 2023, Goodenough Consulting, LLC was recognized with the Black Excellence Award by Black Student Leaders and also received the 2024 Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer Award for the BaM Institute.
Goodenough resides in the La Crosse area of Wisconsin with her husband and two kids. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys camping, blogging, traveling, collecting books she hopes to someday read, and being a soccer mom.
Leo Randall
Leo Randall is a sophomore at Onalaska High School dedicated to creating change in his community. As a committed volunteer, he engages in various initiatives aimed at supporting social justice causes, with a particular focus on advocating for the trans community. Leo is an active member of Onalaska's Hilltoppers show choir and Concert Choir and is on the leadership team of GSA.
Ishmael Dekrahn
Ishmael Dekrahn is a Communication Sciences and Disorders major at Viterbo University who supports social justice and inclusivity. Ishmael serves as the Vice President of the Black Student Organization, which is important in creating an accepting and supportive environment for students of color at a predominantly white college. This organization makes all students feel appreciated, respected and included while encouraging dialogue and understanding throughout campus. Ishmael is the Vice President of the Global Connections organization, where they work to promote cross-cultural participation and collaboration among students from all backgrounds. Ishamel is also an active part of the Coulee Region Immigration Task Force, which works to help immigrant communities and address issues of fairness and inclusion. Ishmael’s work in these areas shows a strong dedication to promoting social justice, advocating and being part of the community so students don’t feel left out, and building inclusive environments in which everyone may thrive.
Henry Greengrass
Henry Greengrass is a citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation and has been a La Crosse community member for over 20 years. Professionally, Henry has had roles within Indian gaming, Tribal government, law enforcement, finance and the education fields. Currently, Greengrass is the Center Director of the Ho-Chunk Nation Youth Services at the Nį Tanį Hocira (Three Rivers House) since 2010. During his time in La Crosse, Greengrass has centered his professional career and community service on the livelihood of community members, largely focusing on advocating for and empowering the specific needs of Indigenous youth, their families, and community. In just the past year, Greengrass was instrumental in facilitating YWCA Racial Justice training and planning community events like the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women 5k, the City of La Crosse Indigenous Peoples’ Day festivities and inclusion of the Hoocąk Garden within the International Friendship Garden. Henry is also a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Truth & Healing Team, which addresses the FSPA’s history of administering the St. Mary’s Indian Boarding School in Odanah, Wisconsin. Greengrass prioritizes whole-hearted social justice work that serves people directly. Henry’s leadership encourages people around him to deepen their understanding of equity, which ripples into groundbreaking changes in decolonizing institutional practices. He is a true leader in making La Crosse a better place.
Dr. Lerone A. Martin
Lerone A. Martin is an associate professor of religious studies and the Martin Luther King, Jr., centennial chair and director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University. Previously, he was a member of the faculty in the John C. Danforth Center on religion and politics and director of American culture studies at Washington University in Saint Louis.
Martin has received multiple nationally recognized fellowships, including the National Endowment for the humanities, and his commentary and writing have been featured in national publications. He has also been recognized for his teaching, receiving institutional teaching awards as well as fellowships from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.