Sara Eskrich is the Executive Director of Democracy Found, a Wisconsin-based nonpartisan initiative committed to revitalizing democracy.

She has herself been in electoral politics, as a Madison alder, and she is concerned that widely supported, bipartisan policy is often stymied by partisan politics. There is an inability to get anything done in Congress, often due to the misaligned incentives for elected officials, who find that there is no connection between acting in the public interest and their ability to get reelected. One of the major problems lies in the two-party system today, which, in business terms is a duopoly, able to eliminate third-party and independent competition.

Democracy Found’s preferred nonpartisan solution to this situation is Final-Five Voting, a two-fold policy: a top-five nonpartisan primary election and ranked choice voting in the general election. This will allow voters to vote for candidates they really prefer, and winners will be elected by a majority. Officeholders will now be beholden to larger constituencies, rather than just their partisans. Democracy Found is working as a cross-partisan coalition on the state level to get this system adopted for Congressional elections in Wisconsin.

Sara currently serves as a Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District Commissioner and is a member of the Madison Downtown Rotary Club. She previously served on the Madison Common Council. Her career includes roles in the public and private sectors including at Deloitte Consulting, the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute, Kids Forward, the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health, and City Council President Michael P. Ross’ Campaign and Office at the City of Boston.

Sara is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin – Madison and holds a Masters of Public Affairs from the Robert M. La Follette School and Masters of Public Health from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

This will be a very timely program as New Horizon's and this program are recipients of Al's Musky Challenge.

Child sexual abuse is one of the most widespread health problem children face, often with lifelong consequences effecting many different parts of the victim’s life. Statistically, 1 in 10 children will experience sexual abuse before their 18th birthday.

For those of us who work with youth, are parents or guardians, or are active in our communities, it is very likely that someone you know or care about is suffering from, or has suffered, child sexual abuse. The dangers of child sexual abuse exist whether we are prepared or not – but we can take steps as families and organizations to lower risk and prevent abuses from occurring.

What is Stewards of Children?

Stewards of Children is an in-person or virtual training, utilizing video of real people and real stories to show us how to recognize signs of child sexual abuse, how to respond during day-to-day interactions, and ultimately how to protect children. The training is built off Darkness to Light’s foundation of The 5 Steps to Protecting Children.  Participants learn the facts about child sexual abuse, how to build safer environments, how to talk to children about safety, how to recognize the signs a child is being abused, and how to react responsibly.

During the videos, we meet survivors who lived through child sexual abuse, and we meet experts who work with children and families, who confront abuse on a daily basis. Many of these survivors and experts are also parents themselves, and their interviews work together to inform us about the steps we can take to lower the risk faced by the children we work with and care for.

Stewards of Children is available in both English and Spanish, and trainings have been adapted to be provided fully virtually or safely in-person following CDC and Health Department regulations.

About the facilitators:

Jen Scaccio is the Youth and Family Advocate at New Horizons. She graduated from Viterbo University from its Social Work Program in 2009 and has been employed by New Horizons for the past 11 years. Jen works with parents and children in both shelter and the community who have been impacted by domestic abuse and sexual assault. The topic of child sexual abuse prevention is very near and dear to her both personally and professionally as she is a survivor and has 3 children of her own.

Kim Jones, Trempealeau County Sexual Assault Advocate, New Horizons Shelter and Outreach Centers, Inc.  Grew up locally on a dairy farm, and returned to the area after graduating from UW-Madison. Joined New Horizons in March 2011, beginning as a Crisis Advocate and transferring to the Sexual Assault Program in 2017. Began co-facilitating the Stewards of Children program with Jen in 2019, they have trained more than 100 people in both La Crosse and Trempealeau Counties.