The Madison Equity Data Institute is the nonprofit research home for TresPies — a bilingual equity-data organization built on a straightforward premise: community-level data should be in the hands of the people it concerns. MEDI is where that premise becomes grant-funded, methodologically rigorous, and institutionally durable. It provides the infrastructure to apply for federal and foundation research grants, partner formally with universities, and publish findings under an independent board — all in service of work that is, at its core, about closing the gap between what the data says and what the community actually experiences.
MEDI is organized around Dane County and the communities in it that are underrepresented in the datasets that supposedly describe them — Latino-owned businesses, informal-economy workers, bilingual households, families navigating systems built in a language not their own. Its flagship project, the Equity Atlas, translates community-level indicators into accessible, bilingual form. The Institute is designed to grow: Dane County is the starting point, not the limit.
The people invited into this space — as advisors, principal investigators, or founding partners — are being asked to help build something from the ground up. That means contributing judgment on research direction and methodology, lending credibility and networks that open grant and university doors, and participating in governance as the institute takes legal shape. It is a working relationship, not a courtesy mention. MEDI is a 501(c)(3) in formation; formal roles and agreements will be documented as the entity is established.
The invitation letter — addressed to the two people whose work and lives shaped this institute — describes the specific roles being offered and the reasoning behind each. If you are reading this page, you have been invited to that table.