ann SESSIONS

Greater Chippewa Valley and the Eau Claire Area School District, Ann helped build the Summer Youth Drama Camp and Shakespeare workshop for teens that the guild hosts in order to give kids in the community a chance to perform on stage – and learn some valuable lessons along the way.

“We have hundreds of kids here during the summer and just hearing their voices is so uplifting and so hopeful,” Sessions said.

“I mean, these are our future leaders of the world and letting them grow and be themselves and improve their skills and talents, is a joy and that’s why I spend so much time here working on it.”

“Kids involved in theater just become better communicators,” she added. “They work better with other people. They’re more likely to be involved in their community and they just have more empathy for other people.”

Even through the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shut down of all businesses, Ann worked on virtual proj - ects – including “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” – in order to keep the theater scene thriving in the area.

“I think we learned a lot and I feel like we’re more resilient than we knew we were,” Sessions said. “I think we worked better together and I think people really figured out what was important because you’re missing the things that you didn’t have and one of those things was art. Being together and being able to experience something together was important, and we’re grateful that it’s back.”

The Eau Claire community is incredibly important to Ann, which is why she works so hard and with so many different groups to make the area more well-rounded, allowing opportunities for everyone.

“I feel like it’s my responsibility to just be a good citizen and be involved in taking this city to another level,” Sessions said. “You know, it’s important to me. I love the people here, I loved raising a family here. So being involved is important and sometimes it’s just important that you step up and make things happen.”

Dennis Beale is dedicated to uplifting underserved and underrepresented groups within his community through his non-profit, Power of Perception Inc. Beale founded the organization in hopes of giving black, bi-racial, and minority students more opportunities in the community through mentoring programs, activities, and excursions.

Dennis Beale is a familiar face to many in the Chippewa Valley –especially to its minority youth populations – thanks to his extensive advocacy and mentorship.

Founder and CEO of Power of Perception Inc.; operator of his own consulting business, Beale Consultant; and a member of the Pablo Foundation Board, Dennis is practically a jack of all trades. Arguably most impactful, though, is his sheer presence: Dennis a vital force in the growing advocacy in and diversity of the Valley. As he makes sure to point out to others, though, it didn’t come easy and the grind doesn’t stop.

Originally from inner-city Chicago, Dennis made his way to our slice of the Midwest back in 2009 when he came to study at UW-Eau Claire. After completing his bachelor’s degree, he was excited to finally move back to the city he’d grown up in, now with a completed college education. However, it was there that Dennis realized how much he’d changed, and he remembers those first few months out of school as a turnout point.

“I wanted to be back home and around my people, around what I knew and was comfortable with,” he recalled. “But having a different mindset after getting my degree, being around people that were successful and taught me the different ropes. … I just remember going back home and losing everything after being there for about six months. That was one of the hardest times of my life.”

After returning to Chicago he went out with one of his friends and had a gun pulled on him. His life flashed before his eyes at that moment. Dennis remembers looking to God, his family at home, and the family he’d made back in Eau Claire, for guidance.

“I remember calling my old coach in Eau Claire and just telling him, ‘Look, I feel like I’m either gonna end up dead or in jail.’ Chicago is different than Eau Claire, and obviously, you hear the stories, but it’s real out there,” he said. “My coach was like, ‘I will always look out for you; Come back to Eau Claire, come get into grad school and take your education to the next level.’ So, that’s what I did.”

Dennis had worked at the Menards Distribution Center through his undergraduate years, and when he moved back to Eau Claire to attend graduate school at UWEC, they readily offered him his position back, something that reminded him to never burn bridges and stick to the grind.

“Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t all peaches and cream after that,” he recalled, laughing. “The grind got real when I got back.”