For some, playing an active role in your community is an afterthought; for others, like Laneice Runnels, service is in her bones. It’s a natural extension of who she is, and she’s spent her entire career doing everything she can to improve the lives of those around her.
Through her work as District Director with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and Co-Founder and Host Committee Chair of Milwaukee’s Together We Create 4 Kids organization, she’s a positive force for progress, empowerment, self-sufficiency, and literacy in our communities.
What is your background?
I was born and raised right here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up in Milwaukee’s inner city. Milwaukee is more than where I live—it is home, and it is a major part of the person I have become.
My childhood was not always easy. I grew up in a home impacted by domestic violence. Eventually, my mother found the strength and courage to leave that situation and raise us as a single mother. Watching her persevere taught me about strength, sacrifice, faith, and resilience, even before I fully understood those lessons.
I eventually left Milwaukee to attend college in Nashville, Tennessee, becoming one of the first in my family to go away to college. My journey took me outside of Milwaukee for a season, but being able to come back and pour into the city that helped shape me has been incredibly meaningful.
Any stories from your youth that define your path?
My childhood has a lot to do with the woman and leader I am today.
Growing up around domestic violence, I learned at an early age how to survive by being quiet. For a long time, I didn’t really understand the power of having a voice or how to use mine. I also struggled academically at different points in school. There were times when my circumstances could have easily determined what I believed was possible for my future.
But through hard work, perseverance, faith, guidance, and people who encouraged me along the way, my story began to change.
Over time, I found my voice. I began to understand that the things I had experienced did not have to define or limit me. In many ways, they helped reveal my purpose.
The little girl who once struggled to find her own voice grew into a woman who is passionate about helping other people find theirs. That is why education, literacy, workforce development, mentorship, leadership, and creating opportunities for young people are so personal to me.
When I tell a young person that their voice matters, their story matters, and their circumstances do not determine their future, those aren’t just words to me. I lived that journey.
Where did you study (if you did higher education)?
I attended Fisk University, a historically Black university (HBCU) in Nashville, Tennessee, for my undergraduate education. Leaving Milwaukee to attend Fisk was a major milestone because I was one of the first in my family to go away to college.
I later continued my education at Springfield College, where I earned my master’s degree. Years later, I was also honored to receive an honorary doctorate from T.I.U.A. (Trinity International University).
My educational journey means a great deal to me because I was not always the strongest student growing up. I had challenges both at home and academically, so every educational milestone became part of a much larger story of perseverance. It reminds me that where you start does not have to determine where you finish.”
What do you do for work now?
I currently serve as a District Director with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Division of Employment and
Training, Job Service.
My work focuses on workforce development, employer engagement, community partnerships, and helping connect people with employment and career opportunities. I work with an incredible team and with partners throughout the community to help strengthen our workforce system and ensure individuals and employers can access the resources they need.
One of the ways I often describe what I do is “connecting the dots”—connecting people to opportunities, employers to talent, organizations to resources, and community partners to one another.
Can you talk a little bit about your career journey? How’d you get to where you are now?
My career journey has been one of growth, service, hard work, and learning to recognize opportunities even when the path wasn’t
always clear.
As I grew professionally, I learned that leadership is not simply about having a title or being the person in charge. Leadership is about responsibility. It is about how you use your position, relationships, knowledge, and influence to make things better for other people.
My career in workforce development has allowed me to see firsthand how interconnected people’s lives really are. Employment is connected to education, transportation, confidence, family stability, technology, mentorship, exposure, and access to resources.
That understanding has shaped the kind of leader I have become. Whether I am working professionally or serving in the community, I naturally look for ways to bring people together and ask, “What can we accomplish if we connect these resources?
Can you talk more about your community involvement?
Community service is not something separate from my life—it is part of who I am.
I have served in a variety of community, leadership, faith-based, and volunteer capacities focused on children and families, workforce development, education, leadership, and community empowerment.
One initiative especially close to my heart is Together We Create 4 Kids, a literacy and empowerment movement. I serve as the Milwaukee Co-Founder and Host Committee Chair for the Milwaukee experience. The initiative brings businesses, nonprofits, educators, community leaders, volunteers, families, and young people together around literacy, education, empowerment, exposure, and opportunity.
I also serve in other community leadership and advisory capacities and have been blessed to support initiatives that allow me to advocate for people, build partnerships, and help organizations work together.
I strongly believe that we don’t always need to create something new to solve a problem. Milwaukee already has incredible people and organizations doing meaningful work. Sometimes our greatest opportunity is simply to connect them.
What are some ways you have impacted the community in your line of work?
Some of my greatest impact has come through creating connections and opening doors.
Throughout my career, I have helped connect job seekers to employment opportunities, employers to talent, community organizations to workforce resources, and partners to one another.
I have learned that impact doesn’t always mean being the person standing at the front of the room. Sometimes impact is making the introduction, sharing a resource, inviting someone to the table, advocating for someone who isn’t in the room, or helping a person see an opportunity they didn’t know existed.
That philosophy carries directly into my community work.
Through Together We Create 4 Kids, for example, we are working to expose young people and families to literacy, technology, career possibilities, entrepreneurship, financial education, mentorship, books, community resources, and experiences designed to help them see what is possible.
For me, it all comes back to access. Sometimes one connection, one opportunity, or one person believing in you can change the direction of a life.
What do you like about living in Milwaukee?
I love Milwaukee because of its people.
There is so much history, culture, talent, creativity, resilience, and heart in this city. Milwaukee certainly has challenges, but I refuse to believe our challenges tell the entire story of who we are.
There are incredible people doing meaningful work throughout our neighborhoods every single day—educators pouring into children, organizations serving families, businesses investing in communities, mentors showing up for young people, and residents working quietly to make their neighborhoods better.
Having been born and raised here, I have seen different sides of Milwaukee. I understand some of our struggles, but I also know our potential.
I especially love seeing what happens when Milwaukee comes together. When we move beyond individual organizations and titles and start asking what we can create collectively, this city is powerful.
What do you want to see for Milwaukee’s future?
I want to see a Milwaukee where a child’s ZIP code does not determine the opportunities they are exposed to.
I want our young people to grow up knowing that their voices matter, their stories matter, their ideas matter, and their futures matter.
I want children throughout Milwaukee to have access to literacy, technology, career exploration, entrepreneurship, financial education, the arts, mentorship, leadership development, and experiences that allow them to dream beyond what they may see in their immediate surroundings.
I also want Milwaukee to continue moving toward deeper collaboration. We already have incredible businesses, nonprofits, schools, institutions, government agencies, churches, community leaders, and residents doing great work. Imagine the impact if we became even more intentional about connecting those resources.
My hope is for Milwaukee to be a city where we don’t just talk about our children and communities—we invest in them together.
Anything else we should know about you, your job, community involvement, or life in general?
At the center of everything I do is service.
I have been blessed to grow professionally, continue my education, serve in leadership roles, receive an honorary doctorate, and be recognized with honors including the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award. I am grateful for every recognition, but I never want the titles or awards to become more important than the reason behind the work.
I know what it is like to be the little girl who didn’t fully recognize her own voice or potential. That is part of why I am so intentional today about seeing potential in other people.
I believe relationships are one of our greatest resources. A conversation can become a connection. A connection can become an opportunity. And one opportunity can change someone’s life.
For me, success isn’t simply about what I accomplish personally. It is about how many doors I can help open, how many people I can bring to the table, and what we can create together for the next generation.
My story began in Milwaukee, and being able to use what I have learned, overcome, and achieved to give something back to Milwaukee makes this chapter of my journey especially meaningful.