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Ousmane Kabre made a memorable impression while at Madison College

Alumnus Ousmane Kabre Creates Future Leaders of Change

1 minute read

Kabre is the recipient of Wisconsin Technical College System’s 2021 Distinguished Alumni of the Year award.

Determination is what makes a dream turn into a goal. Effort makes that goal become a reality.

Madison College Business Management alumnus, Ousmane Kabre, started his journey from West Africa. He came to the United States to learn English and find opportunity.

At Madison College, Ousmane put in that determination and effort, earning himself prestige as a Student Senate President, a Wisconsin Technical College State Ambassador, and by earning the Karen Roberts Student Life Leadership Award. Ousmane also earned a seat at the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and was awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship.

With a list of accomplishments like that, it’s without wonder that Ousmane Kabre would now earn the Wisconsin Technical College System’s 2021 Distinguished Alumni of the Year award, presented by the District Boards Association.

Provost Turina Bakken shared, “In my 25 years at Madison College, I have had the honor of working with many outstanding students—students who have modeled the ideals of the WTCS with integrity, work ethic and great success. Yet there is one who simply rises above all, in character, in occupational and educational success, in serving our communities and quite literally in changing our world. That is Ousmane.”

Ousmane doesn’t intend to stop there. He earned a Master of Accountancy from UW-Madison. This gave him the foundation for his career in finance. It also led him to a way to show people of his home country their own potential: he started the nonprofit organization, Leading Change.

His Leading Change dream is to transform more than 1,000 young Africans into leaders by the year 2030. Ousmane plans to make that dream happen by jumpstarting the road to success for 24 Leading Change Scholars journeying from West Africa to Wisconsin.

For those aspiring scholars, Leading Change opened an educational center in Africa, opening its doors for those taking their first steps of success. Just like Ousmane, some of those scholars will begin their journey here at Madison College.