Awards & Acknowledgements 

Madison 365 Power 100 

Nancy Hanks isn’t just one of the most influential black leaders in Wisconsin, but one of the heaviest hitters in the nation. At least, that’s according to The Root, which put her on “The Root 100” list in 2016 after she spoke at the 25th anniversary Teach for America summit. 

Root 100 - 2016 Honoree 

In a speech that had her whole audience dabbing at tears at the 25th anniversary Teach for America summit, Hanks recalled how encountering a student she’d previously expelled changed her approach to school discipline. Using her authority as an administrator to help black students stay out of the school-to-prison pipeline, she revamped zero-tolerance discipline policies that failed to explore and solve student misbehavior. She then eliminated suspensions in preschool through third grade and revised the list of offenses punishable by suspension or expulsion for grades 4–12.

Brava Magazine - Women to Watch 2017

As a child in Chicago, Nancy Hanks was sitting in the front room of her house doing homework and watching TV when she heard gunfire. Her family was safe, but a bullet had pierced the headboard in Hanks’ bedroom. “I could see shell casings on my pillow,” she says. “I thought to myself, ‘What kind of way is this to live?’ Education at that point became not just knowledge but a means to a better life.”