Malika Monger talks the talk, walks the walk, and dances the dance — and she’s helping to break down barriers along the way.
For nearly four years, Malika has been director of Dane Dances!, and she presently serves as employment and workforce diversity administrator at Madison Area Technical College.
Malika assumed her current position at MATC a year ago, previously serving as diversity recruitment and employment coordinator for two-plus years. She oversees the entire employment process of the college’s 1,700 parttime and 900 full-time employees. Her job encompasses myriad responsibilities, including training, recruiting, working with unions and building relationships within the community.
In her role, she also holds monthly public information sessions for those interested in learning about employment opportunities at the college. Malika talks about the hiring process, job qualifications, résumé writing and interviewing tips. Through outreach efforts, she increased community awareness about these free sessions, and as a result, attendance has grown from a handful of folks to up to 25 per session. Starting this year, the regional campuses (Watertown, Fort Atkinson, and Reedsburg) are offering sessions as well.
Malika serves as MATC’s affirmative action officer and, since last year, also supervises the human resources staff. “It’s been a very challenging and humbling experience,” she says. “[It’s] challenging because MATC is a very unique environment,” and “what you deal with today may be totally different than tomorrow.” Humbling because she now supervises “a dynamic group” of four women, some with 20-plus years experience, each having a large area of responsibility. “I love what I do, even though it’s challenging.
That’s the great thing about it,” she says. Malika is also the college’s representative on the Diversity Round Table, a group with participants from 20 major employers that addresses minority recruitment, retention and best practices. From the group arose the resource, Madison Spectrum Magazine.
Malika’s commitment to the future is evident on and off campus. She serves as co-advisor for the Black Student Union, and for three years, has been a mock job interviewer for young people through Common Wealth Development.
Malika also teaches résumé writing and interviewing skills to high school students during career days at local schools. She helps youth
develop the skills they need to find fruitful employment. Through her work and community activities, she consistently tries to “motivate
young people beyond complacency.”

Committed to “everyday people”
Malika demonstrates her ardent commitment to diversity day and night. Besides her full-time job, she puts her leadership and community-building skills to use directing Dane Dances!, a weekly multicultural gathering atop Monona Terrace each August.“It’s the most diverse, sought-after event in the Madison area,” she says. About 4,000 people come out every Friday evening to enjoy
family-friendly music and dancing. The organization“brings everyone together regardless of race, age, color, ethnicity,” Monger says.
The best thing about being involved with Dane Dances!, she says, is the mission.“Everything this group does really centers on
diversity and unity.”
Malika is amazed by Dane Dances! volunteers’ commitment and their dedication to“making magic every [dance] night.” She’s also awed by the sponsors, some of whom, like the volunteers, have been with the organization since its start 10 years ago.

Not in Kansas anymore
Active in the community since she moved to Madison seven years ago, Malika spent most of her childhood in Wichita, Kansas.
Her parents instilled in her a strong work ethic and a solid spiritual base. “We weren’t middle class, we were lower class,” she
states, “but I wanted to be better.” She got her first “real job” at age 16, in telemarketing. After six months, she was promoted to manager. While going to school for her master’s degree, Malika decided to leave Wichita and initially looked at North Carolina. But her brother, then living in Madison, encouraged her to apply for positions in Dane County. Sending out 15 résumés yielded three job interviews. “The way that came together, it was just God all the way,” Malika says. Relocating as a single mother of a firstgrader, Malika felt it was essential to have a
support system awaiting her. Life took an unexpected turn, though, and within two years, her brother was deployed to Iraq.
Thankfully, by then Malika had built a strong support system of friends, many of whom were also single mothers. In the absence of kin in Madison, her friends have become like family. “Some of the women I’ve had the privilege to associate with — but really who have been part of my life — have just been such a blessing.”
Malika is no stranger to personal struggles. She was married and divorced in a relatively short timeframe, and three years ago, faced thyroid cancer. Yet an attitude of gratitude seems to permeate all facets of her life.
“I feel abundantly blessed, because I have had my challenges, yet I think I’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit,” she says, adding,
“I’m always grateful for life’s perks.” Indeed, her accomplishments thus far are many. She currently co-chairs the Madison Network of Black Professionals, a growing organization 80 strong. “I was there when it first started, since its inception, so it’s been really great to watch it bloom,” says Malika, who’s also been active at Mount Zion Baptist Church in the choir and on the praise team.
The accomplishment of which she is most proud, however, is that she’s “been able to raise a really stable, well-rounded daughter.”
She’s thrilled to see Khaleah’s leadership skills develop and her commitment to community flourish. To help ensure her daughter’s
success through potentially turbulent teen years, she’s stepping down from Dane Dances! next season.
Malika, nominated in 2008 for the ATHENA Young Professional Award, strives to make a positive impact through all her endeavors.
“I want to make sure I make my mark,” she concludes.

Anita Martin is an area freelance writer.