The Morgridge Center for Public Service is excited to welcome Emma Gleed as its new educational programs manager. Gleed is making a return to the center, having begun her tenure there in 2020 as an undergraduate social media intern and later on as the Achievement Connections campus coordinator until her departure in 2023.
“I think coming back, in a way, it feels like home,” Gleed describes. “I think the Morgridge Center will always have a special place in my heart.”
The educational programs manager is a brand new role designed to provide guidance and program planning efforts to foster strong community partnerships for the Badger Volunteers-Tutoring and Mentoring program. Gleed will further develop these relationships within the position, creating a sustainable structure for future collaboration and program implementation. 
While Gleed has continued to pursue a career in community engagement, she initially started her undergraduate journey at UW-Madison as an environmental engineering student. After signing up for the university’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, an organization that spearheads projects that positively support communities in other countries, Gleed fell in love.
She discovered that it was the nonprofit side of things that brought her fulfillment and decided to pursue a degree in community and nonprofit leadership. She took on certificates in global health and graphic design and immediately entered the master’s program at Concordia University upon graduating from UW-Madison with her bachelor’s.
Gleed recently earned her MBA in nonprofit management and public administration earlier this month, and believes it will help her to succeed within her new role leading the expansion of programs and educational services.
“Public service and volunteering have always been a part of my life,” Gleed explains. “It was something that I felt really passionate about, and I felt like the best version of myself when I was doing those things, but I didn’t really realize the way that it could translate into a career.”
Gleed hopes that her most recent position as program manager for Schools of Hope, a literacy tutoring program for the Madison Metropolitan School District funded by AmeriCorps and the United Way of Dane County, will help her succeed in this new role. She hopes to further the Morgridge Center’s vision of bridging campus and community, and take the lessons she has learned from her time in higher education and the community sector to improve the center’s Badger Volunteers – Tutoring & Mentoring program.
Bringing a fresh perspective to the role, Gleed feels that her time working for a community partner will only help her to better work alongside them in her role connecting campus and community. She hopes to leverage UW-Madison’s resources and the Morgridge Center’s position to better support those educational partners who may need more long-term help than the eleven-week Badger Volunteers rotation.
While Gleed has several steps to go within enacting her vision, she appreciates that her next steps include building a community for herself as well as others.
“I struggled with community in college a lot,” Gleed says. “After joining the Morgridge Center, I was like ‘Oh, this is what it feels like to feel connected on campus and to have a space.’”
Gleed enjoys surrounding herself with like-minded individuals who are as committed to getting other students plugged into public service as she is.
“It just feels like a great next step for me. I love UW-Madison, and I love the campus,” Gleed explains.
The Morgridge Center is pleased to welcome back Gleed and her ideas for improving the center’s educational outreach, program planning and implementation in the future.